To run a formal study with tags and fields you will compare later, see Experience research. To work with high-volume feedback from support, reviews, and surveys, see Run a voice-of-customer program.
Set up automatic imports
1
Connect your calendar
Connect Google Calendar or Microsoft Outlook Calendar, then add up to four rules. Each rule watches one calendar for keywords in the meeting title and sends matching recordings to a project you choose. For example, meetings containing “Discovery” can go to one project and “User interview” to another.A meeting matches if its title contains any one of the keywords on the rule, so consistent meeting names are what make the routing reliable.
2
Connect the tool that records the call
The calendar rule needs a source to fetch the recording from. Google Calendar pairs with Zoom or Google Meet. Outlook Calendar pairs with Microsoft Teams or Zoom. For Zoom recordings routed through Outlook, you need to be the event organizer.Both connections have to stay live. If either expires, imports stop until you reconnect, and meetings held during the gap are not backfilled. Treat a Needs reconnect badge in Settings as urgent rather than as routine admin.
3
Turn on Automation in the destination project
Automation converts a raw recording into a transcript, a summary, and highlights. It is on by default in new projects, and you set it per project from the
••• menu. See Projects.Set the transcription language, or leave it on auto-detect. Choose a summary framework that matches the conversation, because a customer call and a usability session need different structures. Set Highlight key moments to On so Dovetail marks the notable quotes for you, or to Suggest if you would rather approve them first.Add project Context in the same menu: a few objective keywords and links to your strategy docs. Context is the background the AI reads before it summarizes or answers, so it affects the quality of every step that follows.Ask questions about your calls
Once several calls have been imported, open the project and ask Chat. Chat scopes itself to what you are viewing, so a question asked inside a project is answered from that project’s calls. Write questions in plain language rather than as search terms:- “What did people say about pricing, and who said it?”
- “Which frustration has come up most in the last month?”
- “Did anyone contradict what I heard last week?”
Share what you have learned
When a Chat response is worth circulating, select Create doc on it. The draft includes the citations and clips, so the evidence stays attached to the claim when other people read it. You can share the doc, present it full screen, or send it to Jira or Linear. See Getting started with docs and Share and organize docs. For an update you write on a regular schedule, use an Agent instead. A scheduled agent runs on a cadence you define, such as the first Monday of every month, and writes the summary from whatever has arrived since the last run. Attach a doc you liked as a skill and the agent follows that format. See Agent triggers.Common mistakes
- Manual imports are the most common reason a discovery routine stops. Set up the calendar rules instead.
- Vague meeting titles prevent matching. If a rule looks for “Discovery” and the invite says “Chat re: Q3”, nothing is imported.
- Empty project context reduces the quality of summaries, highlights, and answers.
- Waiting for a large data set is unnecessary. Chat can answer useful questions after five calls, and the answers improve as more arrive.
- A single project used for everything becomes hard to query. Split by product area or audience when the calls no longer form one coherent set.
Where to go next
Projects
Automation settings, project context, and what a project holds.
Chat
Cited answers across your calls, projects, and docs.
Agents
Recurring reports that write themselves.
Integrations
Every source you can connect to Dovetail.