The Clerk Interface: Your Daily Workflow

The Clerk Interface is MediaScribe's simplified recording control designed for city clerks, meeting coordinators, and administrative staff. It's a single screen with one job: start and stop transcription without logging in or understanding technical settings.

While administrators configure presets, vocabularies, and broadcast settings in the main MediaScribe system, the person managing the recording gets a stripped-down interface showing only what matters: whether transcription is active, and a button to control it.

What the Clerk Interface does

The Clerk Interface provides no-login access to recording controls. An administrator generates a unique link (called a "clerk slug") in MediaScribe settings, and anyone with that link can access the interface. The link can be regenerated anytime to change access, and a preview button lets administrators see exactly what clerks will see.

This design serves a practical reality—the person recording meetings doesn't need full administrative access to MediaScribe settings. They need to start transcription when the meeting begins and stop when it ends.

The interface layout

The Clerk Interface shows three key elements:

Start/Stop Transcription button in the center—large, clearly labeled. When no transcription is active, it says "Start Transcription." During transcription, it changes to "Stop Transcription."

Status indicator below the button shows "Ready" when stopped and "Transcribing" when active, confirming MediaScribe is capturing audio and generating captions.

Preset selector in the bottom right corner allows you to choose which meeting configuration to use. Click it to open a window showing available presets like "City Council," "Planning Commission," or "Public Hearing." Each preset contains pre-configured settings for languages, vocabularies, and speaker profiles.

The interface is mobile-friendly, allowing clerks to manage recordings from a phone or tablet.

Getting access to the Clerk Interface

Before using the interface, an administrator generates your unique clerk slug in MediaScribe settings—a URL like mediascribe.local/clerk/xyz123 that gives access without requiring login.

The administrator can regenerate this link whenever needed. If the link is shared incorrectly, generating a new one stops the old link from working.

A preview button in settings shows administrators exactly what you'll see when accessing the interface.

By default, the link works only on your local network. If you need external access, your IT staff must configure an external IP address or DNS address pointing to your MediaScribe unit.

Your workflow on meeting day

Open the Clerk Interface using your administrator's link.

Select the appropriate preset by clicking the preset selector in the bottom right corner. A window opens showing your available presets. If you're recording a City Council meeting, choose the "City Council" preset. For a Planning Commission meeting, select that preset instead. Each preset automatically configures languages, vocabularies, and speaker profiles appropriate for that meeting type.

When the meeting is called to order, click "Start Transcription." The button changes to "Stop Transcription," and the status indicator changes from "Ready" to "Transcribing." MediaScribe immediately begins capturing audio and generating real-time captions based on the preset you selected.

During the meeting, keep the interface visible to confirm transcription is active. You don't monitor caption quality, adjust audio levels, or fix speaker identification from the Clerk Interface—those tasks happen in the main MediaScribe backend or during post-meeting editing.

When the meeting adjourns, click "Stop Transcription." MediaScribe saves the recording and begins processing caption files and translations in the background. Your work is done.

Common tasks walkthrough

Recording a meeting:

1. Open your Clerk Interface link
2. Click the preset selector (bottom right corner) to open the preset selection window
3. Choose the appropriate preset (e.g., "City Council," "Planning Commission")
4. Click "Start Transcription" when meeting begins
5. Leave interface visible during meeting
6. Click "Stop Transcription" when meeting ends

Total active time: Under 10 seconds. Caption generation, translation, and broadcast outputs happen automatically based on the preset you selected.

Switching between meeting types: If your organization records different types of meetings, use the preset selector before starting each recording. City Council meetings might need Spanish translation, while Planning Commission meetings might use different custom vocabularies. Click the preset selector, choose the correct preset, then click "Start Transcription."

What you cannot do: The Clerk Interface limits access to recording control and preset selection. You cannot edit presets themselves, edit captions, adjust audio levels, access completed recordings, modify speaker profiles, or configure translation languages within presets. Contact your MediaScribe administrator for these functions.

Sharing access: Anyone with the link can use the interface and select from available presets. To revoke access, ask your administrator to regenerate the clerk slug, which invalidates the old link.

Understanding your role

The Clerk Interface exists because meeting recording shouldn't require technical expertise. Administrators handle the complex work—creating and configuring presets, setting up vocabularies, managing speaker profiles, and editing recordings.

Your role is operational: select the appropriate preset, start transcription when the meeting begins, stop when it ends, and confirm transcription is active during proceedings. You can choose between pre-configured presets, but you don't edit the presets themselves—that's administrator work.

This separation reduces training requirements, reduces risk of misconfiguration, and speeds up operations. You need to know which preset to use for which meeting type, but you don't need to understand what's configured inside each preset.

If you need more than what the Clerk Interface provides—the ability to create or edit presets, caption editing, or access to completed recordings—talk to your administrator about accessing the main MediaScribe backend. For most clerks managing routine recordings, the simple interface with preset selection is intentionally all you need.

What's next

The Clerk Interface gives you simple recording control, but it's only one piece of MediaScribe's accessibility workflow:

Understanding MediaScribe Presets explains how administrators configure the settings that run automatically when you click "Start Transcription."

Editing Captions and Transcripts covers post-meeting caption refinement, showing how recordings become polished, accessible content.

Setting Up In-Room Caption Displays details how captions reach screens in your meeting room and mobile devices in attendees' pockets.

The Clerk Interface fades into the background of your routine—open the link, start transcription, stop transcription, close the interface. Your focus stays on the meeting, while MediaScribe handles accessibility automatically.