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Voco Documentation

Everything you need to get Voco running at your church — from first login to live translation in under 5 minutes.

Getting started

Create your account

Go to /loginand sign in with your email. No password required — we'll send you a magic link. Click it and you're in.

Name your organisation

On first login you'll be asked to name your church and choose your URL slug (e.g. voco.church/c/mychurch). This is the permanent link attendees will use every week — choose something short and memorable.

Create an event

From your dashboard, click New event. Give it a name (e.g. "Sunday Morning") and select the languages you want to translate into. You can add or remove languages at any time.

Share the QR code

Open the event and go to the Share tab. Show the QR code on your screens or print it in your bulletin. When attendees scan it, they land straight on the reader — no app download needed.

Start streaming

Go to the Stream tab. Select your audio input (microphone or system audio from your sound desk), then click Start streaming. Voco begins transcribing and translating in real time.

First time? Open the attendee reader in a second browser tab before you start streaming, so you can see translations appear in real time as you speak.

Audio setup

Audio quality is the single biggest factor in transcription accuracy. A clean direct feed from your sound desk will always beat a room microphone.

Recommended: Sound desk feed

Best accuracy

Run an AUX send or monitor out from your desk into a USB audio interface (Behringer UM2 ~£28 or Focusrite Scarlett Solo ~£75). Plug into your laptop and select it as the input in Voco.

Good: Presentation laptop mic

Easy setup

If you're already running slides from a laptop near the front, your built-in microphone or a USB desk mic may capture enough. Works well in smaller rooms.

Avoid: Room ambience only

Not recommended

Capturing audio from the back of the room introduces reverb and congregation noise, which reduces transcription accuracy significantly.

System audio (getDisplayMedia)

Advanced

If your sound desk outputs to a software mixer (e.g. Virtual Cable, BlackHole), you can select "System Audio" in Voco to capture it directly without a physical interface.

Tip:Ask your sound engineer to create a dedicated AUX send labelled "Translation". Set it pre-fader so you get a consistent level regardless of the main mix.

Languages

Voco supports 80+ output languages. Translations use DeepL for European languages (highest accuracy) and Google Translate for global and diaspora languages.

The most common languages for UK and US churches with multilingual congregations:

🇪🇸 Spanish

🇧🇷 Portuguese

🇮🇷 Farsi / Persian

🇫🇷 French

🇩🇪 German

🇵🇱 Polish

🇷🇴 Romanian

🇳🇬 Yoruba

🇨🇳 Mandarin

🇰🇷 Korean

🇵🇭 Tagalog

🇮🇳 Hindi

See the full list at /languages.

Word settings

Voco lets you teach the transcription engine the specific words your church uses. Find these settings in your dashboard under Settings → Word settings.

Boosted words

Boosted words improve transcription accuracy for terms the AI might mishear. Add your pastor's name, your church name, series titles, and any theological terms that come up regularly.

Examples:

Pastor AdeyemiHillsongEphesianssanctificationCalvaryZion

Blocked words

Blocked words are removed from captions entirely before they reach attendees. Use this for words that are frequently misheard as something offensive, or for technical terms that don't belong in the translation.

Profanity filter

When enabled, the profanity filter automatically catches and removes common English profanity from captions. We recommend keeping this on — it provides a safety net for the rare cases where the transcription engine mishears a word.

Attendee reader

The attendee reader lives at your permanent church URL: voco.church/c/your-church. It works in any mobile browser — no app download required.

Language picker

Attendees tap the globe icon to choose their language. Their preference is saved to localStorage so they don't have to pick it every week.

Font size

Pinch to zoom or use the size slider. The setting persists across sessions.

Dark mode

Full black background reduces glare in a darkened auditorium. Toggles with the sun/moon icon.

Auto-reconnect

If the WiFi drops, Voco automatically reconnects and backfills any sentences that were missed. Attendees never see a broken screen.

Add to Home Screen:On iOS, tap the Share icon and choose "Add to Home Screen". On Android, tap the browser menu and choose "Add to Home Screen" or "Install App". This creates an icon on their home screen for quick access every week.

OBS & ProPresenter display

Voco can output live translations as on-screen lower thirds — perfect for a dedicated translation screen, confidence monitor, or projection display. Works natively with OBS and ProPresenter, no plugins needed.

Your display URL

Find your display URL in Settings → Screen display. It looks like:

https://voco.church/c/your-church/display?lang=es&theme=dark&size=52

langLanguage code to display (e.g. es, pt, fa, fr)

themedark (black bg, white text) or light (white bg, black text)

sizeFont size in pixels. Default 52. Increase for larger screens.

OBS Browser Source

Add a Browser Source

In OBS, click + in the Sources panel and choose Browser.

Paste your display URL

Set the URL to your Voco display URL (with your desired language and theme).

Set the resolution

Width: 1920, Height: 1080. Tick Shutdown source when not visible.

Add custom CSS (optional)

To remove scroll bars and ensure a clean display, add this to the Custom CSS field:

body { overflow: hidden; background: transparent; }

The display is bottom-anchored like teleprompter lower thirds. The current line shows at full brightness; the previous two lines fade out.

ProPresenter Web Item

Open your presentation

In ProPresenter, go to the slide where you want translations to appear.

Add a Web Item

From the menu: Insert → Web Item. Paste your Voco display URL.

Position and size

Resize and position the web item to cover the lower third of your slide. Set background to transparent if your slide has content above it.

Multiple language screens: Create one ProPresenter slide per language, each with its own Web Item pointing to a different ?lang= URL. Toggle between them using macros or a StreamDeck.

Stream Deck integration

Use the Voco API (below) to trigger start/stop commands from a Stream Deck button. Install the Bitfocus Companionplugin or use the built-in "System: Open URL" action with the GET endpoint.

WorshipTools, Proclaim & FreeShow

Any presentation software that can display a web page can show live Voco translations. The pattern is the same everywhere: paste your display URL into a web frame, browser panel, or web layer.

WorshipTools (Presenter)

Open WorshipTools Presenter

Launch your presentation and navigate to the slide or layer where you want translations.

Add a Web Layer

In the layer panel, click + Add Layer → Web. Paste your Voco display URL.

Position the layer

Drag and resize the web layer to sit at the bottom third of your slide. Set the layer background to transparent so your slides show through above it.

Save as a template

Save this layer configuration as a theme or master slide so it appears automatically on every slide in your service.

Tip:Create one web layer per language, then toggle them using WorshipTools' stage display. Your presenter sees all languages; the audience sees one.

Proclaim (by Faithlife)

Open your presentation in Proclaim

Go to the slide editor for the slide(s) where you want translations.

Add a Web Viewer element

Click Add Element → Web Viewer. Paste your Voco display URL.

Set position and size

Position the web viewer in the lower third. In the element properties, ensure background is set to transparent.

Apply to multiple slides

Right-click the element → Copy to all slides, or add it to a master layout so it persists across your entire service.

https://voco.church/c/your-church/display?lang=es&theme=dark&size=48

Adjust size= up or down based on your screen resolution. 48–56 works well for most projectors.

FreeShow

Open FreeShow and go to your show

Open the show you're using for the service.

Add a Web output

In the output settings, add a new Web item. Paste your Voco display URL.

Overlay on your output

Use FreeShow's overlay feature to position the web output on top of your slide content. Pin it to the bottom third of the screen.

FreeShow is free and open-source — a great option for smaller churches or those new to presentation software. freeshow.app

Any other software (general guide)

If your software isn't listed above, look for one of these features:

Web frame / Web layer / Web itemMost modern presentation tools have one. Paste your Voco URL.

Browser SourceThe OBS term — also used in some presentation tools.

HTML overlayYou can embed Voco in any HTML5 overlay system.

NDI / Screen captureAs a last resort, add Voco as a dedicated OBS output and route that output to your presentation software via NDI or a capture card.

Not sure? Email uswith your software name and we'll add a guide.

API reference

The Voco Signal API lets you control your stream remotely — trigger start/stop from ProPresenter macros, OBS scenes, or a Stream Deck without touching the dashboard.

Authentication

Generate your API key in Settings → API. Pass it as a Bearer token or X-API-Key header.

Authorization: Bearer voco_your_api_key_here

POST /api/v1/signal

Send a control signal to your stream.

POST https://voco.church/api/v1/signal
Authorization: Bearer voco_xxxx

{
  "action": "stream:start"
}

Available actions:

stream:startBegin transcription and translation

stream:stopStop transcription

captions:clearClear the current caption text from all displays

captions:hideTemporarily hide captions without stopping transcription

captions:showShow captions again after hiding

GET /api/v1/signal (URL-based trigger)

For ProPresenter URL actions, Stream Deck "Open URL", or any tool that can fire a GET request:

GET https://voco.church/api/v1/signal?api_key=voco_xxxx&action=stream:start

ProPresenter: Insert → Actions → URL action. OBS: Script or Scene trigger. Stream Deck: System → Open URL.

Response

{ "ok": true, "action": "stream:start", "org": "mychurch" }

All errors return a JSON body with an error field and the appropriate HTTP status code.

curl examples

Start streaming:

curl -X POST https://voco.church/api/v1/signal \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer voco_xxxx" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"action":"stream:start"}'

Stop streaming:

curl -X POST https://voco.church/api/v1/signal \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer voco_xxxx" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"action":"stream:stop"}'

Troubleshooting

Transcription isn't appearing

Check that your browser has microphone permission (look for a mic icon in the address bar). Make sure the correct audio input is selected in the Stream tab. Try speaking loudly for 5 seconds to confirm audio is being captured.

Translations are delayed or inaccurate

Translation quality depends on audio quality. A clean feed from the sound desk is significantly better than a room microphone. If you're using a room mic, try moving it closer to the speaker.

Attendee page shows 'Reconnecting'

This is normal on weak WiFi and resolves automatically. When the connection restores, Voco fetches any missed lines. Consider running a dedicated WiFi network for attendees if your main network is congested during services.

OBS Browser Source shows a blank screen

Check that the display URL includes your org slug correctly. Make sure the event is live (Voco shows 'Waiting for the sermon to begin...' if no event is active — this is correct behaviour). Try right-clicking the Browser Source and selecting 'Refresh'.

Farsi / Persian translations look wrong

Farsi (fa) is rendered right-to-left automatically in the display. If you're using a custom CSS override in OBS, make sure you haven't set direction: ltr. The attendee reader also handles RTL for Arabic, Hebrew, and Urdu.

I need a language that isn't listed

Email hello@voco.church — we can often add languages quickly. We use Google Translate for 80+ languages, so most requests are straightforward to support.

Still stuck?

We're a small team and we respond quickly.

Email hello@voco.church