844-897-3935IMPORTANT: To use Zoom Linking, it's critical to update your TypeWell software to revision 875 or higher. We also recommend updating your Zoom desktop client.
Quick Overview
To stream live text from TypeWell (V8 Premium Transcriber or V8 Connect) into a Zoom meeting:
- The host needs to enable the 3rd-Party Closed Captioning feature in their Zoom account settings before starting the meeting. (This is a one-time change in the host's account settings; then it will stay enabled for all future meetings unless they turn it off.)
- The captionist needs to paste the API token from the Zoom meeting into their TypeWell software.
Once linked, Zoom makes captions available to meeting participants.
Participants may see a brief notification such as “Closed Caption available,” but this behavior varies by Zoom version. To display captions, participants can select Show captions in the Zoom desktop app, or More → Show CC in the mobile app. Some participants may have configured Zoom to show captions automatically when available.
A TypeWell transcript can appear in the form of short captions at the bottom of the Zoom meeting screen.
Host: Enable 3rd-party Closed Captioning in your Zoom account settings online
As the Zoom host, you need to enable two settings in your Zoom.us account before you start the meeting. Please go to zoom.us/profile/setting and toggle on both of these advanced meeting options:
- Closed captioning
- Allow use of caption API Token to integrate with 3rd-party Closed Captioning services
Log into your Zoom account in your browser. Select "Settings" from the menu on the left, and "Meeting" from the menu at the top.
Scroll down to "In Meeting (Advanced)" and find the options for "Manual Captions" below. This section may be difficult to find among a long list of other options; use Ctrl + F and type "manual" to find it quickly.
Host: Obtain the API token from Zoom and share it with the captionist
As the Zoom host, you need to make the API token available to the captionist. To do this, you can select Copy the API token to your own clipboard, and then share that API token with the captionist via chat or email.
In the host's view, expand the Closed Caption menu, select "Set up manual captioner", then toggle "Enable manual captioner" to ON, which brings up a dialog box with the options "Assign a Participant to Type," "I Will Type," and "Copy the API Token." From here, click the "Copy the API token" button to copy it to your clipboard. Then you can paste it in a private chat message to the captionist.
NOTE: If the host account has enabled both manual captions and automated captions in their Meeting settings, this adds an additional step for the host during the meeting. The host will have to "Enable manual captioner" by clicking the "On" radio button, before they can get the API token or assign a participant to type.
When manual and automated captions are enabled at the same time in the host's account settings, then their Closed Caption menu will include the* additional option, "Enable manual captioner," which can be toggled "On" and "Off."*
In most cases, the API token must be copied by the meeting host and shared with the captionist. Alternatively, the host may temporarily assign the captionist as the meeting host so they can copy the API token themselves, then take back hosting privileges.
In older versions of Zoom, hosts could also assign a participant to type captions directly from the Participants list. That option is no longer consistently available and is not recommended.
Captionist: Paste the host's API token into TypeWell app
Under the Link menu in TypeWell, select by Zoom. Click the Enable Zoom linking checkbox.
Paste in the Zoom API token for 3rd party closed captioning.
In this animated view of the TypeWell Transcriber window, the captionist clicks on the "Link" menu and selects the option "By Zoom..." This brings up a dialog box called "Zoom Linking Setup," which prompts the user for the API token. The captionist pastes the API token into the blank space provided, selects, "OK," and the "Link" menu title changes to "Linked."
Also, make sure the Link menu says Linking on.
The Linking menu is expanded, with "Linking On" selected.
Check the Zoom Linking status
Look for the Zoom status in the lower-right corner of the TypeWell window:
- Zoom (searching) means TypeWell cannot currently verify the connection to the Zoom meeting.
- Zoom means TypeWell has verified that the meeting is available and the API token is valid.
TypeWell checks the connection approximately every 10 seconds. If the meeting ends or the token is no longer valid, the status should change to “Zoom (searching)” shortly afterward.
A “Zoom” status does not guarantee that captions are visible to participants. For example, captions may not appear if manual captions are disabled in Zoom. Confirm that captions are appearing in the meeting, and remind participants that they may need to select Show captions in Zoom.
If the host ends and restarts the same meeting, TypeWell may reconnect automatically using the same API token. However, even if the TypeWell program shows a steady Zoom status and the Zoom app indicates that captions are on, the host must re-enable Manual Captions in the Zoom meeting before the transcriber’s text will appear. Participants may also need to select Show captions again.
If TypeWell does not reconnect automatically when a meeting ends and is restarted, ask the host for a new API token and enter it in the Zoom Linking setup box.
Captioning the meeting
Once Zoom Linking is connected, whatever you type into TypeWell Transcriber or Connect is sent to the subtitle feed in the Zoom meeting.
If you are teaming with another transcriber using the same API token, only one transcriber should type at a time. Otherwise, the text will appear garbled in Zoom.
What about breakout rooms?
Unfortunately, each breakout room has its own, separate API token. The captionist should be assigned to the breakout room where their services are needed most; they cannot simultaneously be assigned to multiple breakout rooms, nor can they caption more than one conversation at a time.
For captions to appear within a breakout room, the captionist needs to get the breakout-room-specific API token, paste it into the Zoom Linking setup box in TypeWell, and wait for TypeWell to reconnect to Zoom. Participants in the breakout room may also need to turn captions back on in Zoom.
Once the captionist and participants return to the main meeting, the captionist must enter the original meeting's API token again in TypeWell. Participants may also need to turn captions back on in Zoom.
If this seems too cumbersome, the captionist could simply type directly into Zoom's "Closed Caption" box using TypeWell Everywhere while they're in the breakout room — provided the meeting host has assigned them captioning privileges in Zoom. However, it's important to remember that whatever they type into the closed-captioning window will NOT automatically be saved in the TypeWell transcript. It will need to be manually copied, saved, and then added into the TypeWell transcript after the meeting is over.
Things to consider
Participants can view TypeWell captions within the Zoom meeting by selecting Show captions in the desktop app or More → Show CC in the mobile app. Zoom offers options for adjusting the caption display.
Participants may also be able to view the TypeWell text in Zoom’s transcript panel, depending on the meeting settings and Zoom version. For another way to view the full transcript, enable Web Linking and share the Web Reader URL with participants.
We recommend enabling Web Linking and sharing the Web Reader URL with the meeting participants, so they have the option to view the full transcript in a separate browser or even on a separate device. (Yes, you can enable both Zoom Linking and Web Linking in TypeWell and stream your text to both places simultaneously!)
We recommend sharing instructions with the meeting participants via the Zoom Chat box, so they understand how to access both the subtitles and the full transcript. Here's an example that you or the meeting host could share:
In the Zoom chat box, the captionist might write something like, "To view captions in Zoom, select 'Show captions' in the meeting controls. If you don’t see it, select 'More', then 'Show captions'. On a phone or tablet, select 'More', then 'Show CC'. To view the TypeWell transcript in a separate browser, visit:https://east.typewell.com/xxxxxxxx" Depending on the captionist's permissions within that meeting, such a message can be sent to a specific participant or to all participants in the meeting.
Note that when participants join the meeting late, they cannot see previously-typed messages in the Zoom Chat box. So, when possible, you should share the how-to instructions at the beginning of the meeting and then again, a few minutes into the meeting for latecomers to see.
Troubleshooting
Host doesn't see the Closed Caption menu control?
The host needs to enable the Manual Captions feature in their Zoom Account Settings — before starting the meeting. Also, please note that the menu control is a tiny "up-arrow" on the upper right corner of the CC control in the host's view.
TypeWell continues to show “Zoom (searching)” or changes back to it?
First, confirm that the Zoom meeting is still running. If the meeting has ended, “Zoom (searching)” is expected.
If the meeting is running, try these steps:
- In TypeWell’s Link menu, turn the master linking control off and then back on.
- Check your internet connection.
- Ask the host for a new API token and enter it in the Zoom Linking setup box.
- Restart your computer.
TypeWell says “Zoom,” but captions aren’t appearing?
The “Zoom” status confirms that TypeWell can verify the meeting and API token; it does not confirm that captions are visible. Check that the host has enabled manual captions in the meeting. Participants may also need to select Show captions in the Zoom desktop app, or More → Show CC in the mobile app.
TypeWell says "Be sure to use the Closed Caption token, not the Invite link."
This message appears when you have pasted a URL that TypeWell does not recognize as a Zoom API token. Check that you're pasting in the full API token, and not the Zoom meeting invitation link.
Note that if you're trying to paste a link in that contains a "zoomgov.com" API token and you still see this message, then you need to update your TypeWell software to the latest version! To update, click Help > Check for Updates and follow the on-screen instructions.
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