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Can’t follow a client’s accent? Live captions for any meeting app

It happens to everyone who works with clients in other countries. Three things help: habits that need no tool, the captions already inside Teams, Zoom and Google Meet, and captions that work in any meeting app.

Published 11 November 2026 · 5 min read · Published by Interview Sarthi, makers of Meeting Sarthi (help in client meetings on Windows)

Short answer: Turn on live captions and read while you listen. Teams, Zoom and Google Meet each have captions built in. When the host has captions off, or the client uses another app, Meeting Sarthi shows live captions for any meeting app on your Windows PC, free, and never joins the meeting.

Why a client’s accent is hard on a call

It is not your English. An accent you have not heard much takes time to get used to, and on a call people speak fast and names and numbers arrive with nothing written to hold on to. The fix is to get more of the meeting in writing: before, during and after.

Five habits that need no tool

Ask for the agenda and names in writing first. Names and ticket numbers are the hardest words to catch. Seeing them once makes them easy to hear.
Say it early, once. “The line is not very clear for me. Could you say that once more, a little slower?” Nobody minds this in the first five minutes.
Repeat back what you understood. “So the go-live date is Friday the 14th, correct?” This catches a wrong date before it becomes a wrong commitment.
Move numbers into the chat. Ask for dates, amounts and names to be typed in the meeting chat.
Send a short written recap. What was decided, who does what, by when. Ask the client to correct anything.

The captions already in your meeting app

All three big meeting apps can show what is being said as text. The steps below are from each company’s own help page, read on 11 November 2026.

Microsoft Teams

In the meeting controls choose More actions, then Captions. Microsoft says to set the meeting’s spoken language to the language people are speaking for more accurate captions, and that Teams does not save captions after the meeting. Microsoft’s help page

Zoom

Press Show captions in the meeting controls. Zoom says you can turn captions on if the host has not disabled or restricted them for the session, and that captions will be inaccurate when someone speaks a different language from the one Zoom is expecting. Zoom’s help page

Google Meet

At the bottom of the meeting, point at Captions and translation and choose Turn on captions. Google says captions are turned on only for you, and show only for the parts of the conversation you were in with captions on. Google’s help page

Turn them on in the first minute, not after you are already lost.

Where built-in captions leave a gap

The host can turn captions off, and then you cannot turn them on yourself (Zoom).
The text is gone when the meeting ends (Teams does not save captions).
Captions show the words. They do not tell you what to answer.

Live captions in any meeting app

Meeting Sarthi is a Windows app for client meetings. It runs on your own PC beside the meeting, whichever app the meeting is in:

Live captions of what is said, on Teams, Zoom, Google Meet or any other app.
A short reply from your own project to what the client just asked, so you know what to say.
A recap after the meeting, drafted for you to check.
It never joins the meeting. Nobody is invited and nothing is added to the call.

Captions and recaps are free. Live answers are free for the first 30 minutes on each computer, then ₹299 for 30 days, paid once. It needs Windows 10 (version 2004 or later) or Windows 11 and your own Google Gemini key, and your projects, notes, documents and transcripts stay on your computer.

One honest limit: captions are made by software and can still mishear a name or a number. For anything that matters, repeat it back and get a yes. Follow your workplace’s rules on AI tools.

Questions people ask

How do I turn on live captions in Teams, Zoom and Google Meet?

In Microsoft Teams, choose More actions in the meeting controls, then Captions. In Zoom, press Show captions in the controls, if the host has not turned captions off. In Google Meet, point at Captions and translation at the bottom and choose Turn on captions. In all three, the captions you turn on are shown on your own screen.

Is there a captions tool that works in any meeting app?

Yes. Meeting Sarthi is a Windows app that shows live captions of what is said in a meeting on Teams, Zoom, Google Meet or any other app. It never joins the meeting, and captions and recaps are free.

Is it rude to ask a client to repeat something?

No. Asking once, early and politely, is far better than agreeing to something you did not catch. Say that the line is not clear for you and ask them to say it once more, then repeat back what you understood.

Are Meeting Sarthi's captions free?

Yes. Live captions and the recap after each meeting are free. Live answers, a short reply to what the client just asked from your own project, are free for the first 30 minutes on each computer, then ₹299 for 30 days in India ($29.99 elsewhere), paid once.

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