How to use BabelTree

BabelTree listens to a Google Meet call and shows what people say, translated into English, as text. It never speaks into the call and never uses your microphone.

Before you start

• Use Google Chrome on a computer.
• Be on the Trilogy VPN or the corporate network. The page does not load from the open internet.
• Sign in with your work Google account. Access is limited to the people on the BU access list; if you see "No access" and think you should have it, ping Leonardo Lima in Google Chat (leonardo.lima@trilogy.com).
• Tell the other participants you are using a translator. Their speech is sent to Amazon (inside Trilogy's AWS account) to be transcribed and translated.

Start translating

1. Join your Google Meet call in a Chrome tab, as usual.
2. Open BabelTree in another tab and set "They speak" to the language of the other side.
3. Click Capture Meet tab. Chrome asks what to share: choose the "Chrome Tab" option, pick your Meet tab, and turn on "Also share tab audio" (or "Share tab audio").
4. Click Share. The dot in the transcript bar turns green and the level bar moves when people talk.
5. Read the English as it appears: each phrase shows a few seconds after the speaker pauses. You keep hearing the call normally.
6. Click Stop capture (or "Stop sharing" in Chrome) when the call ends. Save the transcript first if you want it.

What each control does

Capture Meet tab

Starts listening to the tab you pick. Click it again (it then reads "Stop capture") to stop.

They speak

The language the other side speaks: French or Portuguese. Everything is translated into English. Change it before or during the call.

Names to keep

Names, product names and acronyms that should stay as spoken, separated by commas (for example: ProGest, Spiral, Leonardo). Changes apply from the next phrase.

Green dot and level bar

The dot is green while capturing. The bar shows the call's audio level; if it stays flat while people talk, the capture has no sound.

A- / A+

Make the English text smaller or larger.

Save transcript

Downloads a text file with every phrase: the time, the original and the English.

Your email, Log out

The account you are signed in with, and the button to sign out.

Each phrase

The small grey line is what was said in the original language. The large line below it is the English. "translating..." shows while the English is on its way. A red line means that phrase failed; the next ones carry on.

If something goes wrong

• Nothing appears and the level bar is flat: you shared without tab audio. Click "Stop capture", then capture again and turn on "Also share tab audio".
• No "Also share tab audio" option: you picked a window or the whole screen. Choose the "Chrome Tab" option instead.
• "No access": your account is not on the list. If you think you should have access, ping Leonardo Lima in Google Chat (leonardo.lima@trilogy.com) with the email shown on that page.
• You are sent back to the Google sign-in: your session expired (after 8 hours). Sign in again.
• A phrase mixes two languages: the transcription follows the language set in "They speak", so mixed phrases come out rough.

Back to the translator