Enabling verbal time entry

Verbal time entry allows users to record a spoken description of their work in Legalsense. Legalsense sends the recording to a configured AI provider, then creates draft time entries for review and approval.

This article explains what is needed to enable verbal time entry for your organization. Your role as an administrator is to make the necessary preparations, obtain an API key from an AI provider, and set up the voice recorder.

Verbal time entry is available starting with Release 26.04.

Before you start

Before contacting Legalsense Support to enable verbal time entry, make sure you have addressed the following:

1. Internal decision on data processing. Using verbal time entry means that audio recordings and contextual data from your Legalsense environment are sent to an external AI provider for processing. Make sure your organization has decided that this is acceptable. See the section What data is shared with the AI provider for details on what is sent and how it is handled.
2. An API key from your AI provider. We currently support OpenAI models via the OpenAI API or Microsoft Azure AI Foundry. To configure the AI provider in Legalsense, you need to be an Admin user.

1. Set up the AI provider

To configure an AI provider in Legalsense, you need to be an Admin user. Go to Settings → Integrations → AI provider to perform the setup.

Supported AI models

Legalsense uses OpenAI's transcription and language models to transcribe submitted audio into text and then convert that text into structured time entry data. We currently support the following models:

Transcription:

• GPT-4o-transcribe
• GPT-4o-mini-transcribe

Processing (structured output):

• GPT-4.1
• GPT-4.1-mini

To set up the AI provider, fill in the fields and press Save. If a green message appears confirming that the configuration succeeded, you're done with this part. The meaning of the fields is explained per provider below.

OpenAI

To obtain an API key, go to OpenAI Platform and create an account with payment details. When creating the API key, make sure it has read and write access to at least the Responses, Chat completions, and Transcription (Audio API) endpoints. You can also set up a service account as an OpenAI API user. This is preferred if multiple users will be using the feature.

• Resource URL: if you use data residency through OpenAI, you need to change this URL. If you're not sure, use the default value. See also OpenAI Data Controls.
• Transcription model: use one of the model names above.
• Structured-output model: use one of the model names above.

Azure OpenAI

Azure OpenAI is available as a provider starting with Release 26.06. If your organization already runs on Microsoft Azure, you can point Legalsense at your own Azure AI Foundry resource instead of plain OpenAI. Verbal time entry then runs through your existing Azure billing, security, and compliance posture.

This requires an Azure AI Foundry resource with two model deployments: one for transcription and one for structured output. The supported models are listed above. When you select Azure OpenAI as the provider, you provide:

• Resource endpoint: the base URL of your Azure resource, for example https://your-resource.cognitiveservices.azure.com/.
• API key: Entra ID is not currently supported.
• Transcription model: the name of your deployment of the transcription model.
• Structured-output model: the name of your deployment of the processing model.

Deployment names are not validated when you save, so make sure they match exactly what is configured in Azure and that each deployment uses one of the supported models above.

2. Set up the voice recording

Go to Settings → General → System and, under Time entry methods, enable the "Voice" option. This makes a recording control appear alongside your usual time entry options.

Once you have configured both the AI provider and the voice recording, you're ready to use verbal time entry. Under Time → Write time, on the right-hand side, start the voice recording and dictate one or more time entries.

What data is shared with the AI provider

When a user submits a verbal time entry, Legalsense sends the audio recording to the configured AI provider for transcription and interpretation.

To help the provider match the spoken input to the correct matters, activities, and timekeepers, Legalsense also sends contextual information about the user's accessible work. This contextual information is always bounded by what the user can access: it cannot cross permission or Chinese wall boundaries. In other words, only the information that a user can see in the manual time entry form is included. At the time of writing, this comprises:

• Names and IDs of:
  • active timekeepers (including the submitting user),
  • time-writable matters,
  • activities for those matters,
  • submatters for those matters, and
  • Recofa categories for those matters.
• The audio recording submitted by the user.

OpenAI data handling

At the time of writing, data processed via the OpenAI API is not used to train OpenAI's models. OpenAI's API privacy statement can be found at https://openai.com/enterprise-privacy/.

Legalsense sets the store=False parameter for applicable endpoints, which means OpenAI does not retain prompt data by default. If your organization requires additional data controls, such as data residency or zero data retention, you can request these from OpenAI. More information is also available at OpenAI Data Controls.

Permissions and user access

For a user to use verbal time entry, they need:

• Access to the Timesheet page (requires permission to view and create a time entry).
• Permission to view and manage their own draft time entries.

In most environments, users who can already write time will have the necessary permissions by default. If certain users cannot see or use the Voice tab after setup, contact Legalsense Support to verify their permissions.

In addition, the user must have a microphone and use a supported browser: a recent version of Chrome, Firefox, or Safari.

Troubleshooting

The AI provider configuration is not working

If an error occurs when configuring the AI provider, check the credentials for the selected provider:

• OpenAI: the most likely cause is an API key that is invalid, has insufficient permissions, or belongs to an account without payment details. Verify the key and the account setup at https://platform.openai.com.
• Azure OpenAI: check that the resource endpoint and API key are correct for your Azure resource. Check that the model name in Legalsense matches the deployment name in Azure, and that the deployment uses a supported model.

Users see the Voice tab, but cannot record

If a user reports that the microphone button is greyed out, check the following:

• The user may not have permission to manage draft time entries. Contact Legalsense Support to verify.
• The user may not be using a supported browser. Ask them to try a recent version of Chrome, Firefox, or Safari.
• The user's browser may not have microphone permission for Legalsense. Ask them to check their browser settings and allow microphone access for your Legalsense domain.

Users submit recordings but no drafts appear

A short processing delay of 10–60 seconds is normal. If drafts consistently fail to appear after waiting, it may indicate a problem with the AI provider configuration or connectivity. Contact Legalsense Support and provide the approximate time of the failed submission so it can be investigated.

Related articles

• Using verbal time entry
• Draft time entries
• Writing and editing Time