In this article, you’ll learn how Upwork's new Uma-powered video meeting feature enables seamless in-platform collaboration within Upwork Messages. Scheduling, starting, or joining a meeting is easy. You can adjust audio and video settings before joining. When AI is enabled, you’ll get a meeting recap, which includes a recording with highlight reels and an AI-generated summary and action items. You’ll be able to access these later from your messages. You can turn off AI recording and transcription if you prefer. Note that data rates from your phone or internet carrier may apply to meetings. - AI helped create this summary
Upwork has introduced a new video meeting feature powered by Uma, Upwork’s Mindful AI, directly within the Upwork Messages platform. This feature is being gradually rolled out and is not available to everyone yet. (Our Zoom meeting integration is still available in Upwork Messages.)
How to use Upwork video meetings
Start an instant video meeting
- Initiate a call: Open Upwork Messages, find the camera icon in the top-right corner of your conversation, and select Upwork video meeting. This will send a message with the meeting link in it to participants
- Open the meeting link: Open the Join Upwork video meeting link in your messages
- Learn more: First-time users will see an informational modal with links to Upwork’s Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You can review the information, and if you accept, you may choose Continue
- Prepare for the meeting: Before joining, you can check and adjust your video and audio settings to ensure a smooth call. If you’re initiating the call, you can also choose to turn off recording. If you turn it off, AI features will also be disabled
- Join the meeting: Once you're ready, select Join to enter the meeting
Schedule a meeting in advance
If Upwork video meetings are available to you, you’ll see that as a drop-down option when you choose the calendar icon in a conversation. Learn more about scheduling meetings on Upwork.
Join an ongoing or scheduled meeting
- Open the meeting link: Open the Join Upwork video meeting link in your messages. Only people in the conversation room can see and access the meeting
- Learn more: First-time users will see an informational modal with links to Upwork’s Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
- Prepare for the meeting: Before joining, you can check and adjust your video and audio settings to ensure a smooth call. You’ll also see a notice if the meeting is going to be recorded. (Recorded meetings will also generate an AI summary.)
- Join the meeting: Once you're ready, select Join to enter the meeting
Meeting recap — recording and transcription
Enabling AI during a meeting lets you focus on your conversation instead of having to take notes. Only people in your message room will have access to the recap page. If the meeting owner has AI enabled, your AI-generated recap of the meeting will include the following:
- Automatic recording: If the meeting owner keeps AI enabled, the meeting will be recorded, with a notification to confirm at the start of the meeting. The meeting owner can choose to disable this recording option prior to starting the meeting. However, if you turn off recording, you will not get the rest of the recap either, including the summary, and action items
- Highlight reels: You’ll get video highlights of what happened in the meeting so that you can quickly review the important points
- Summary and action items: You’ll also get an AI-powered text summary of the meeting and a list of action items, making it easy to follow up, as well as a complete transcription
- Access to your meeting recap: You’ll get a message when your recording and summary are ready and can choose View now to see them. You can also see them in the “Meeting recap” drop-down options in the conversation’s sidebar. On mobile, choose the conversation’s information icon to see your options. Only people who are in the conversation room can access the links to the recorded meeting information
- Recap retained for six-months: Meeting recaps, including both video recordings and text, will be stored for six months
Note:
Individual data rates from your internet or phone provider may apply when using video and voice meeting services.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can use your own meeting tools after a contract has started. Sharing a meeting link (or any other form of contact outside Upwork) before a contract starts is circumvention, which is against our Terms of Service.
No, there is no extra cost on Upwork for using Upwork video meetings.
If you’re the participant who sent the first meeting link in your conversation, you’re the meeting host and can turn off the AI features.
If someone else created the meeting, you won’t be able to turn off the AI features, including recording, but you can ask the meeting host to turn it off. If they’ve already joined the meeting, they can leave and rejoin with the AI features disabled, or they (or another participant) can initiate a new meeting and send a new meeting link to your conversation.
If the meeting host disables the AI features, however, you will not receive the rest of the meeting recap, including the written summary, action items, transcript, video, and video highlights.
You’ll get a message and an email when your recording and summary are ready, with a link to view them. You can also see them in the “Meeting recaps” dropdown options in the conversation’s sidebar. On mobile, choose the conversation’s information icon to see your options. Only people who are in the conversation room can access the links to the recorded meeting information.
Meeting recaps will not be provided if the meeting host turned off the AI features or if less than 500 words were spoken with the AI features turned on.
Meeting recaps, including recordings, summaries and action items, are stored for six months after the meeting.
At this time, you are not able to record without the AI features turned on.
At this time, meeting participants can choose their video and audio settings but are not able to turn off the AI features. You can, however, request that the meeting host turn them off.
All of the data associated with Upwork video meetings is stored securely. The only users who can view the transcripts and summaries are the people in the conversation where the meeting link was sent. Upwork video meetings do not involve the collection or storing of sensitive information (like biometric information), and only use the data generated from the meetings to facilitate performance and in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
The meeting recap is not editable.
Upwork video meetings are available for select users prior to a contract start.
The video will be deleted automatically six months after the recording. You may contact Upwork Support to request earlier deletion.
We are testing this feature, and it is not available to everyone and across all platform functions yet. For example, it is not available to agencies or on Project Catalog yet. However, if a client has access and has started a conversation room with a freelancer, they can initiate an Upwork video meeting and all participants who are in the conversation will be able to access the recap, either through the message room or the link in the recap email.
We aim to be as accurate as possible, but accuracy can depend on a variety of factors, including internet connectivity, equipment performance, background noise, speech volume and speed. Upwork video meetings also rely on emerging technologies that are constantly improving upon some level of inherent inaccuracy. You should always review outputs for their accuracy, and let us know if you observe any concerning results.
At this time, Zoom will not be removed from our platform.
Unlike Zoom, Upwork video meetings provide in-meeting chat functionality as well as a recording with AI-generated video highlight reels, meeting summaries, and action items. In addition, the recording is available for six months whereas Zoom’s recording is only available for seven days.
You can’t edit the transcription, summary, or action items. However, you are not required to follow them. They are for your convenience and are not tied to the contract.