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Zoom captions

Live captions in Zoom for public meetings

Hybrid meetings have residents in the chamber and on Zoom. SentraCaptions captions the meeting once and sends it everywhere: the chamber screen, residents' phones in their language, YouTube Live and Zoom closed captions.

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How it works

One meeting, captioned everywhere

  1. Step 01

    Caption the chamber

    Your encoder sends the meeting's audio to SentraCaptions, as it already sends it to YouTube. Captions appear in about a second.

  2. Step 02

    Connect Zoom

    When the Zoom meeting starts, the host copies Zoom's caption API token and pastes it on the meeting in SentraCaptions, or your agenda platform sends it through our API.

  3. Step 03

    Everyone reads along

    Zoom attendees turn on CC. People in the room read the chamber screen or scan the QR code for their language. Viewers at home read YouTube captions.

In Zoom

Built for hybrid public meetings

  • Zoom CC

    Captions under CC

    English captions arrive in the Zoom meeting's closed captions, sent in two-line pieces so they read well.

  • Names

    Who's speaking

    Name the voices on the live desk ("Councilmember Rivera") and captions in Zoom start with the speaker's name when the speaker changes.

  • 75 languages

    Translation alongside

    Remote attendees open the meeting's phone page next to Zoom and read along in Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese or any of the meeting's languages.

  • Review

    Checked before it goes out

    For high-profile meetings, turn on a few seconds of review: an operator fixes, holds or drops captions before they reach Zoom and the screens.

  • Closed session

    Pause with the meeting

    Pause captioning for recess and closed session; nothing is captioned or billed until you resume.

  • Alerts

    Know if Zoom stops listening

    If Zoom stops accepting captions (for example, the token expired), you get a warning by email; the chamber screen and phones carry on.

Questions

Zoom captions questions

How do Zoom attendees see the captions?

They turn on CC (Show captions) in Zoom, as they would for any captions. SentraCaptions sends the English captions straight into the Zoom meeting.

What does the Zoom host need to do?

Turn on third-party closed captioning in the Zoom settings, then, once the meeting has started, copy the caption API token (Captions → Set up manual captioner → Copy the API token) and paste it on the meeting in SentraCaptions. If you use CivicCA or another agenda platform with our API, it can send the token for you.

Can Zoom attendees read the meeting in Spanish or another language?

Zoom shows one caption language from us, English. Remote attendees can open the meeting's phone page (the same link as the QR code on the chamber screen) next to Zoom and read along in any of the meeting's languages.

Where does the audio come from?

From the encoder you already use to stream the chamber (Pearl, OBS, vMix and others), the same as for the chamber screen and YouTube. Zoom only receives the captions.

Do the captions show who's speaking?

Yes, once a name is given to each voice on the live desk, captions in Zoom start with the speaker's name when the speaker changes.

What does it cost?

Nothing extra: Zoom is one more place the same captions go. You pay for minutes captioned, as with any meeting. See pricing.

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