Automating Media Transcription Through Dropbox

Otter.ai builds AI-powered speech-to-text and speaker identification technology. Its flagship product, Otter Voice Meeting Notes, is a cloud-based note-taking and collaboration app that captures and shares meeting notes live. The service transcribes live recordings and imported files, extracts keywords, and identifies speakers. Users can search audio-synced transcripts, edit with highlights, photos, and comments, and organize or share conversations. Customers range from freelancers to large enterprises, with common uses including business meetings, interviews, research, podcasting, and live events.

Animation of a media file being automatically transcribed in Dropbox by using the Otter.ai integration
Otter Voice Meeting Notes for iOS, Android, and Web

Why Automate Transcription for Media Teams

Transcribing interviews is often the least popular task for journalists, writers, and media producers. It is tedious and time-consuming, so creative teams benefit when audio and video files are transcribed automatically, letting them stay focused on storytelling. Media teams are among Dropbox’s most active users, creating and saving more than a billion files in 2017 alone. Given Otter.ai’s speech-to-text and speaker identification capabilities, a Dropbox integration was a direct way to streamline those workflows.

How the Integration Works

Otter.ai aimed for an integration that is frictionless for users while keeping the implementation simple. The approach: Otter automatically transcribes any media files moved into a dedicated app folder in Dropbox.

The integration relies on four steps:

  1. Users authorize the Otter app to access their Dropbox via the Dropbox API OAuth guide.
  2. Dropbox creates a dedicated “Otter” App Folder under Dropbox > Apps.
  3. Through Dropbox webhooks, Otter receives real-time notifications when files change in the app folder.
  4. Otter transcribes any new audio or video files and saves the transcripts back to the folder.
Animation of a media file being automatically transcribed in Dropbox by using the Otter.ai integration
Animation of a media file being automatically transcribed in Dropbox by using the Otter.ai integration

Development Experience

The Dropbox API and DBX Platform documentation were straightforward, which aided the initial launch. The team encountered some minor issues while testing the webhooks integration, but Dropbox’s developer support helped troubleshoot to resolution.

Since launch, automatic transcription has become one of the most popular integrations among users of both Otter.ai and Dropbox. The company continues to explore additional ways to support users through the platform.