Backchannel turns Zoom calls into accurate transcripts and structured notes on your Mac. No bot joins the meeting, and your audio never leaves your device.
Most Zoom note-takers — Otter's OtterPilot, Fireflies, Fathom, even Zoom's own AI Companion — work by adding a participant to your meeting and streaming the audio to their servers. Everyone sees the bot, and your conversation lives in someone else's cloud.
Backchannel takes a different route. It captures your Mac's own audio — your microphone and the Zoom audio you can already hear — so nothing joins the call and nothing is announced. The transcript and speaker labels are produced on your machine.
Open the app before or during your Zoom call. It can also detect the meeting and offer to record.
Your mic and Zoom's audio are recorded together, with screenshots when the shared screen changes.
On-device transcription labels who said what and writes a structured summary where you choose.
Recording, transcription and speaker separation all run on-device. The only step that can involve the cloud is writing the summary — and that uses an AI model you choose, with your own key, or a local model. If a bot in the call or a third-party cloud is a non-starter for your team, that is exactly the gap Backchannel fills.
No. Backchannel records your Mac's own audio — your microphone and the Zoom audio — so nothing joins the call or shows up in the participant list.
No. Recording, transcription and speaker separation run on-device. Only the notes step uses an AI model you choose, and you decide what is sent to it.
No. Backchannel captures the audio your Mac plays and your microphone directly, so it works regardless of Zoom's own recording settings.
Backchannel is in active development. Register your interest and we'll tell you about availability and pricing.
Yes — recording others is a consent and legal matter. Backchannel keeps a human in the loop and never records silently.
Backchannel is in active development. Leave your details and we'll tell you the moment you can try it — no spam, just the launch.