Voice message transcription in a Telegram group chat
Someone drops a five-minute voice message into the work chat and nobody plays it — everyone just scrolls past. Add Molnia to the chat and it handles voice messages on its own, replying with text right under the recording, so everyone sees the summary. The first 100 minutes a month are free per chat — not per person, for the whole chat.
How to switch it on
Add @molniavoicebot to the group as an ordinary member. There is nothing to configure: the bot says hello and starts working. It does not need admin rights.
What it does on its own, and what needs a command
Voice messages and video notes it transcribes by itself, replying under the recording. Audio files and recordings forwarded from other chats it deliberately leaves alone — otherwise the bot would start commenting on every track anyone posts. If you need the text of one of those, reply to it with /sum. Chat settings live in /settings: one button turns the automatic mode off, and the bot stays quiet until it is asked.
What it costs the chat
100 minutes a month per chat — a shared pot everyone draws from. It is separate from your personal 20 minutes: what you spend in a DM does not touch the chat, and the other way round. When the pot runs out, the bot keeps working for anyone with a subscription — so one subscriber in the chat covers the whole team.
What the bot sees in someone else's chat
Only the recordings it replies to. It does not read or store the text conversation. Audio is downloaded into a temporary copy and deleted right after processing, and the transcript is never written to the service database — all that stays in the chat is the original message and the bot's reply, like any other participant.
What the bot does on its own, and what needs a command
Voice messages and video notes it handles by itself, replying under the recording. An audio file, or a recording forwarded into the chat, it leaves alone until asked: reply to it with /sum. How much of the shared 100 minutes the chat has spent is shown by /status.
Frequently asked
Does the bot need admin rights?
No. Adding it as an ordinary member is enough — it replies to voice messages underneath them. Molnia neither requests nor uses admin rights.
Will the bot transcribe absolutely every voice message in the chat?
Voice messages and video notes, yes — that is the point of the automatic mode. Audio files and forwarded recordings it leaves alone: reply to those with /sum. If the automatic mode gets in the way, switch it off in /settings and the bot will only answer when asked directly.
How are the free minutes counted in a group?
100 minutes a month for the whole chat, from a shared pot. Members' personal 20 minutes are spent separately and do not affect the group allowance. Once the pot is empty, recordings keep being transcribed for members with a subscription.
Does the bot see the conversation in the chat?
No. It only receives the messages it replies to — voice messages, video notes and /sum requests. It does not read or store participants' text messages.
How do I check how many minutes the chat has left?
Send /status in the chat — the bot replies with the shared minutes left for the month.