Interview Signal live controls: Mute me, Pause capture and End interview
On this page
- What is on the live screen's top bar?
- Should I use Mute me or Pause capture?
- What happens when I press Mute me?
- What happens when I press Pause capture?
- What can I change mid-call without stopping?
- What happens when I press End interview?
- Why are Mute me and Pause capture grayed out?
- Limits
- Questions people ask
On Interview Signal's live screen, the top bar holds the controls for the call. "Mute me" silences only your microphone, so the candidate is still transcribed and scored; "Pause capture" stops both audio lanes, so nothing is recorded or sent until you press "Resume capture"; "End interview" finishes the call and opens the review. "Mic & language" and "AI" change the microphone, interview language and model mid-call without losing anything already said. This describes version 0.9.10, current as of October 2026.
What is on the live screen's top bar?
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Timer and clock | Time elapsed in the interview, and the time now |
| "Mic & language" | Switch microphone or interview language without stopping |
| "AI" | The model for follow-ups and scoring, Dual AI, and the two optional checks |
| Coverage chip | Questions and must-asks covered, for example "8/12 · must-ask 3/4" |
| "?" | Help: quick tour, common questions, support |
| "Mute me" | Stops your microphone; becomes "Unmute me". Shortcut Ctrl+M (Cmd+M on a Mac) |
| "Pause capture" | Stops both lanes; becomes "Resume capture" |
| "End interview" | Ends the call and opens the review screen |
Above the transcript sit "Score as we go" and "Evaluate", which control when the scorecard updates; see the scorecard guide.
Should I use Mute me or Pause capture?
| Mute me | Pause capture | |
|---|---|---|
| Use it for | A cough, a word to a colleague, a question you want to rephrase | The candidate asks you to stop, says something off the record, or you step away |
| Your microphone | Stopped | Stopped |
| The candidate (your computer's sound) | Still transcribed | Stopped |
| Follow-ups and scoring | Carry on from the candidate's answers | Nothing new until you resume |
| Guide ticks | Cannot hear you ask; ticks come only from scoring or your clicks | None until you resume |
| Banner | "You are muted — the candidate is still being transcribed and scored." | "Paused — nothing is being recorded." |
| Minutes on Free or Pay as you go | Still counted | Not counted |
What happens when I press Mute me?
- The app first transcribes what you said just before, so your last words are kept.
- Your microphone's recorder stops. It does not record silence, which is what speech recognition tends to invent words over.
- The button reads "Unmute me" and the banner appears.
- Press "Unmute me", or Ctrl+M again, to come back. The shortcut does nothing while you are typing in a box, such as your notes or the Ask the AI box.
Mute stays on through a pause and resume, and through an automatic audio reconnect. If your question was not captured because you were muted, the scorer works out which guide question the answer belongs to instead.
Mute me refuses in two cases, with a message instead:
- In person: "In person, your microphone carries both voices, so muting it would stop the transcript and the scoring. Use Pause for an aside." See in-person interviews.
- No system audio: "System audio is not being captured, so your microphone is the only thing being transcribed. Muting would stop the scoring — use Pause instead."
What happens when I press Pause capture?
- Both recorders stop at once. Nothing is buffered and nothing is uploaded.
- The button turns to "Resume capture" and the banner "Paused — nothing is being recorded." stays until you resume.
- Resume starts fresh recorders, so no sound from before the pause can arrive after it.
- Paused time is left out of the interview's length. The review screen shows it beside "Length", for example "32 min (2 min paused)" (an example).
- The app stops keeping the display awake while paused and starts again on resume.
The candidate sees nothing change, because nothing of Interview Signal is in the meeting. If you paused because they asked, say that you have. For the consent side of pausing, see consent features.
What can I change mid-call without stopping?
- Microphone, under "Mic & language": "Switches now. Nothing already said is lost."
- Interview language, in the same menu: "Transcription, follow-ups and scoring switch now. What was already said stays as it was." See interview languages.
- AI model and Dual AI, under "AI": a second model alongside, with follow-ups side by side and a second score per area. See Dual AI.
- "Flag answers that may be AI-generated" and "Check technical answers", also under "AI".
Escape or a click outside closes the menu.
What happens when I press End interview?
If any must-ask question has not been covered, an "End anyway" box lists up to five of them and asks: "These are the facts a client needs. End the interview anyway?" Type END to confirm, or press "Cancel" and ask them. Then the app transcribes the closing words, releases the microphone and the computer's sound, saves the interview to its folder and opens the review screen, where the submittal is written.
Why are Mute me and Pause capture grayed out?
Because a Free or Pay as you go account ran out of minutes during the call. Transcription stops, the audio is released, and with nothing being recorded there is nothing to mute or pause. That banner takes priority over the paused and muted ones. "End interview" still works and the interview still gets its scorecard and submittal; see pay-as-you-go hours.
Limits
- Pause capture stops what is recorded from then on. It does not remove what was already transcribed.
- Mute me does not work in person or without system audio; use Pause capture.
- Only Mute me has a keyboard shortcut. The others are listed in keyboard shortcuts and zoom.
- Interview Signal records audio only, never video, and keeps no recording of the audio.
Questions people ask
What is the difference between Mute me and Pause capture in Interview Signal?
Mute me silences only your own microphone, so the candidate is still transcribed, followed up on and scored; it is for a cough or an aside. Pause capture stops both your microphone and the meeting's sound, so nothing is recorded or sent until you press Resume capture; it is for anything that should not be written down.
Does Interview Signal keep recording when I mute myself?
It keeps transcribing the candidate, from your computer's sound. Your own microphone stops recording completely while muted, rather than recording silence, and whatever you said just before muting is kept in the transcript.
Do paused minutes count against my Interview Signal hours?
No. While capture is paused no audio is sent for transcription, and minutes are only counted when audio was transcribed. Muted minutes do count, because the candidate's side is still being transcribed.
What is the keyboard shortcut to mute in Interview Signal?
Ctrl+M on Windows, Cmd+M on a Mac, on the live screen. It does nothing while you are typing in a box such as your notes, so a capital M in a sentence will not mute you. Pause capture and End interview have no shortcuts.