> For the full page index, fetch https://echonova.ai/llms.txt # Live transcription Switch the Speech to Text page to Live, speak, and watch the text arrive after each pause. Learn what it costs, how long a session runs and where it is saved. **Live** mode turns what you say into text as you say it. You speak, pause, and the sentence appears. Use it for dictation, a meeting you want to follow, or a quick check of how a dialect reads. For a recording you already have, use [Transcribe a file](/docs/playground/transcribe-a-file). ## What you need - A microphone, and a browser that can use it: Chrome, Edge or Safari. - Credits. Live is charged per second of speech. See [Speech to Text limits and credits](/docs/playground/stt-limits-and-credits). ## Steps ### Step 1: Switch to Live Open **Speech to Text** and press **Live** in the switch at the top of the box. The status line reads **Ready to listen**. The box shows **Press Start live and speak. The text arrives after each pause, in the dialect it was spoken.** The button on the right reads **Start live**, with **Charged per second of speech** under it. You cannot switch while a take is being recorded in **File** mode. The page says **Stop the recording first.** ### Step 2: Set the language and your terms Pick **Language**, **العربية** or **English**, before you start. It is off while a session runs. **Numbers as digits** and **Identify speakers** are for files and do not appear in **Live**. The session uses your terms as they are when you press **Start live**. A change made while it runs applies to the next session. Press **Edit** in the **Terminology** row to change them. See [Your terms](/docs/playground/your-terms). ### Step 3: Start and speak Press **Start live**. The first time, the browser asks for permission to use the microphone. The status line then follows the session: | Status line | What it means | | -------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Connecting…** | The page is opening the session. | | **Listening** | Ready for you to speak. | | **Hearing you** | You are speaking. | | **Transcribing…** | Your last sentence is on its way. | | **Reconnecting…** | The connection dropped. The page is trying again. What you say now is not transcribed. | | **Finishing the last sentence…** | You pressed **Stop**. The last words are arriving. | A timer beside the status line counts the session. Pause between sentences. Each pause sends what you said, and the text appears as a new line with the time it arrived. Words your terms corrected, and close matches, are highlighted. To accept or dismiss a close match, open the saved transcript. Press **Stop** to end the session. The words you already said still arrive. If you open another page while a session runs, the page asks **Stop live transcription?** Press **Stay** to keep going, or **Leave** to stop. The text so far is saved. Closing or reloading the tab shows the browser's own warning. ### Step 4: Copy or download the text Under the lines are three buttons: **Clear**, **Copy** and **TXT**. **Copy** copies the text. **TXT** saves it as `EchoNova_Live_` followed by today's date, for example `EchoNova_Live_2026-11-03.txt`. Both use your terms, so they hold the corrected text. **Clear** empties the box and is off while a session runs. It does not touch the copy that was saved to your transcripts. ## Cost and limits - You are charged per second of speech. Long pauses are not sent and not charged. Each line is charged on its own, rounded to a whole credit, at least 1. - A session stops at 25 minutes. The page says **Live sessions stop at 25 minutes. Start a new one to continue.** - A session also stops after 5 minutes without speech. The page says **Live stopped after 5 minutes without speech. Start again when you are ready.** - Only one live session can run at a time for your account. ## Where it is saved When the session ends, the recording and its text are saved to your transcripts. The line under the box reads **Saving…**, then **Saved to your transcripts**, followed by the name and an **Open in Assets** link. The row in the **Transcripts** table carries a **Live** tag. Open it like any other transcript. See [Read a transcript](/docs/playground/reading-results). If the page had to reconnect, the part before the drop is saved as its own transcript. If you said nothing, the page says **Nothing was said, so nothing was saved.** ## Troubleshooting ### Allow the microphone in your browser, then start again. The browser blocked the microphone. Allow it in the site settings, then press **Start live**. ### This browser cannot use the microphone. Use Chrome, Edge or Safari. Open the page in one of those browsers. ### You are out of credits. Add credits to keep transcribing. The balance ran out. Add credits from **Subscription & billing** in the user menu. What arrived so far is kept. ### The connection dropped. What arrived so far is kept. The page tried to reconnect and could not. Press **Start live** to begin a new session. ### Live stopped after 5 minutes without speech. Start again when you are ready. No speech was heard for 5 minutes. What arrived so far is saved. Press **Start live** to go on. ### A live session is already running in another tab. Stop the session in the other tab, then start again. ### Not saved. Copy the text before you leave this page. The session ended but could not be saved. Press **Copy** or **TXT** before you leave. ### We could not confirm the save. Check Assets in a minute. The page did not hear back in time. The session may still have been saved. Open **Assets** in a minute. ### Other messages - **Your session expired. Sign in again.** Sign in, then start again. - **The microphone stopped working.** Check the microphone, then start again. - **Live transcription is not enabled yet.** Live is switched off for everyone for now. Use **Record** in **File** mode instead. - **The transcription service is unavailable right now.** Try again in a few minutes. - **Live transcription stopped. Try again.** The session ended for another reason. Start a new one. ## FAQ ### Why does the text wait until I pause? The page sends each stretch of speech when you stop talking. A long run without a pause is cut after about 8 seconds, so the text keeps coming. ### Can I use Live in Arabic and English? Pick one language per session. Arabic covers every dialect, Fusha and mixed Arabic and English. ### Is the audio kept? Yes. The recording is saved with the transcript, so you can play it from the **Transcripts** table. It holds only the speech: long pauses are left out, so it is shorter than the session. ## Related - [Transcribe a file](/docs/playground/transcribe-a-file): upload or record, then transcribe. - [Your terms](/docs/playground/your-terms): spell names, products and acronyms your way. - [Read a transcript](/docs/playground/reading-results): open the saved session. - [Speech to Text limits and credits](/docs/playground/stt-limits-and-credits): the live rate and every limit.