Yes — the Fieldy Desktop app can transcribe phone calls and online meetings. It does this using your computer's own microphone and system audio — no wearable device is involved. Here's exactly what it captures in each situation.
Quick answer
Put your call on speaker, or use the Fieldy Desktop app for online meetings. On desktop, Fieldy captures two kinds of sound at once, every session:
Internal sound — a loopback of the audio your computer is already playing out loud (like the other person's voice on a Zoom call).
External sound — whatever your computer's microphone picks up: your voice, the room around you, or a phone on speaker.
Both are attempted automatically. If internal (system audio) capture isn't available for some reason, the app falls back to microphone-only, silently — without needing you to do anything.
This is separate from the Fieldy wearable
The Fieldy wearable device pairs with the mobile app only. It has nothing to do with desktop transcription — the desktop app never uses the wearable as a microphone. On desktop, your computer's own built-in or selected microphone is always what captures external sound.
Examples
📞 A phone call
You put your phone on speaker during a call. Your computer's microphone picks up both sides of the conversation as external sound.
💻 A video call, playing through your speakers
You're on Zoom or Google Meet with your laptop speakers on. Fieldy Desktop captures the other participants as internal sound (system audio loopback), and your own voice as external sound through the microphone. Both sides get transcribed.
🎧 A video call, through headphones or AirPods
System audio capture is a loopback of what your computer is playing — it generally isn't affected by whether that audio is routed to speakers or headphones, so other participants should still come through as internal sound either way. The main thing headphones changes is that your microphone alone won't pick up the other party acoustically from the room, but that's not needed since the internal path covers it. (Note: system audio capture is permission- and platform-sensitive on macOS, so this is worth confirming against actual behavior before this article goes live.)
🗣️ An in-person meeting, laptop on the table
No system audio involved here — it's all external sound, picked up by your computer's own microphone. There's no wearable in this picture on desktop; if the mic is far from the conversation, that's the main limiting factor.
Quick reference
Situation | What Fieldy captures | Works out of the box? |
Phone call on speaker | Both voices, via your computer's microphone (external sound) | Yes |
Video call through speakers | Others as internal (system audio), you as external (microphone) | Yes |
Video call through headphones/AirPods | Others as internal (system audio), you as external (microphone) | Should be yes — confirm on macOS before publishing |
In-person conversation | Everyone, via your computer's microphone (external sound) | Yes |
Still not picking up a call correctly?
Check your system audio and microphone permissions for the Fieldy Desktop app. If you're still having trouble, see Troubleshooting Microphone Issues with Your Fieldy Device or reach out to support.