of 6— Create your Otter.ai account

What you'll accomplish

Otter.ai set up on your phone or computer to automatically transcribe and summarize your in-person and virtual advising appointments. Instead of writing notes from memory after each session, you'll have an AI-generated summary to review, edit lightly, and paste into Navigate in about 2 minutes instead of 10–15.

What you'll need

A smartphone (iOS or Android) or laptop with a microphone
Otter.ai account (free tier includes 300 transcription minutes/month, about 10 hours of advising)
Student consent to be recorded, required by FERPA and general professional ethics
Your institution's approval. Check whether your school has policy on AI meeting transcription
Cost: Free (300 min/month) or $17/month for Otter Pro (unlimited)
Time needed: 15 minutes to set up; 2 minutes to start recording each appointment

Transcribe Advising Appointments with Otter.ai

Step 1: Create your Otter.ai account

Go to otter.ai on your computer or download the Otter.ai app from the App Store (iOS) or Google Play (Android)
Click Sign Up and create an account with your email or Google/Apple login
Choose the Free plan to start. It includes 300 minutes per month, which covers roughly 10 one-hour advising appointments

What you should see: You'll land on the Otter home screen showing "My Conversations," currently empty. No errors. Troubleshooting: If you're blocked from creating an account on a work device, use a personal device. Otter is a personal tool you own, not an institutional system.

Tools:Difficulty: EasyStepBefore appointmentStart of appointmentDuring appointmentEnd of appointment2 minutes afterFinal step