Skype and Skype for Business have been mainstays in the remote work ecosystem for years. These popular programs have helped people get and stay connected at a reasonable price. Adding captions and subtitles to recorded meetings makes Skype sessions even more useful.
Captions enhance accessibility for a wider range of people. If someone has to replay the meeting in a noisy environment where they don’t have access to headphones, the captions can make all the difference. For participants for whom the language of the meeting may not be their native tongue, captions may help as well. As they review the meeting, they can pause it and read the text. This gives them two ways of absorbing the content: hearing and reading.
What’s the Difference Between Skype and Skype for Business?
The biggest difference between Skype recordings and Skype for Business recordings is the number of people that can be in the recording. With a normal, free Skype account, you’re limited to 25 participants in a call. With Skype for Business, you can have up to 250 participants, which allows you to record larger meetings. Other than the number of people you can record, the recording experience is the same for both versions of Skype. To record your Skype call, you just have to tap or click the three dots on the screen. Then you click Start Recording or tap the recording symbol on your device.
How to Add Captions and Subtitles to Skype and Skype for Business Recordings
To add captions and subtitles to Skype videos, you only need to take a few simple steps:
1. Record your Skype call
Learn how to record a Skype for Business call here and how to record a regular Skype call here.
2. Download & save the recording on your computer or device
It may be helpful to choose a distinct name or add a date and time to the title. You can save your video as a MP4, WMV, M4A, MOV, AVI, VOB, or AMR file.
3. Go to Rev.com and click on “Captions”
Pro tip: The “Foreign Subtitles” link allows you to order subtitles in multiple languages, allowing you to send videos to viewers who speak multiple languages.
4. Click “Get Started” and you’ll be taken to the “Order Captions” page
Click here to get taken straight to the order captions page.
5. Under “Where are your videos?” choose how to deliver your files to Rev
- UPLOAD FILES allows you to either take the files from your computer or somewhere in the cloud. You can click on the UPLOAD FILES button and then drag the files into the dotted rectangle. You can also click Choose Files and navigate to the files on your computer.
- If you have a Dropbox, FTP, Box, Google Drive, or OneDrive account, you can transfer the files from the cloud to Rev. You just have to click on the one that corresponds with where your Skype or Skype for Business recording is. You then allow Rev to access your files. You can navigate to your recorded video without leaving Rev.
- You can also paste a URL of the video if it’s online. Click PASTE A URL and enter the URLs of the videos you’d like subtitled.
- If you’ve posted your Skype recording to YouTube or Vimeo, you can click on one of those options. You will sign in to your account and provide Rev access to your content. Then you select the recording for close captioning.
6. After adding your files, you choose your delivery options.
- To get your order up to five times faster, you can select the Rush My Order box.
- If you would like foreign language subtitles, you can choose to add them as well.
- You can also choose to have your files delivered in one of many formats, including SRT, SCC, TTML, VTT, and more. It’s important to choose a format that’s compatible with your video editing software.
- To help keep track of your order, you can also give it a reference number.
Rather have the captions added straight to your videos? Rev now offers burned-in captions (open captions). Just check the “burned-in captions” box at checkout and you’ll receive a video with permanent, hard-coded captions added straight to your videos. Also available for foreign language subtitles!
7. Rev’s professional captioners will send you a fully complete caption file, usually in under 24 hours
Rev captioners work 24/7, so you’ll always have a short wait time no matter when you order. Read our extensive guide on How to Add Captions & Subtitles to Videos to learn how to add your caption file to videos with a variety of software & media platforms.
Skype & Skype for Business recordings captions and subtitles are easy with Rev. After handing them off to Rev, you can sit back and wait for them to arrive—or use your newfound free time to plan the next moves for your business.
