Stuck on "Connecting to Deepgram": route the audio through the Call Copilot server

To turn speech into text, Call Copilot opens a live connection to Deepgram's servers in the EU and streams the audio there. On most networks that connection comes up in under a second and you never think about it.

On some it never comes up at all. Company firewalls, a few countries, certain VPNs, the "web protection" module of an antivirus — they do not refuse the connection, they quietly drop it. Nothing comes back, so until version 1.10.4 the extension had nothing to report: the recording simply sat on "Connecting to Deepgram…" and stayed there.

In 1.10.1 that wait had no end at all; in 1.10.2 and 1.10.3 it broke off after 45 seconds with an internal message that helped nobody. People pressed Stop, signed out and back in, reinstalled the extension. None of that helps — the account is fine, it is the network in the way.

What happens instead since 1.10.4

The connection attempt gives up after five seconds and the side panel says what actually went wrong:

Can't reach the transcription service — your network, VPN or antivirus seems to be blocking it. Try another network or switch the VPN on or off, then press Record again. No minutes were used.

Under it there is a second route.

Step 1. Press "Try via Call Copilot server"

One press does two things: it remembers the choice for this installation, and it retries the recording immediately over the new route. There is nothing else to set up, and no minutes are charged for the failed start.

The button carries its own disclosure, and it is worth reading:

Your audio will pass through our server in Germany on its way to the transcription service. Nothing is stored there. You can switch this off in Settings.

Step 2. If even that does not get through

Then the network is blocking more than one address, and a second banner says so plainly:

Still can't reach the transcription service, even through the Call Copilot server. Try another network, then press Record again. No minutes were used.

The quickest check at that point is a different network — a phone hotspot takes ten seconds and answers the question. If it works there and not on the office Wi-Fi, the block is in the office.

Both banners stay on screen until you close them with the ×. They do not disappear on their own while you are reading them or copying something out of them.

Switching it on before you need it

If you already know your network blocks the service, you do not have to wait for a failed recording. The switch lives in Settings → the "Setup" tab → the "Connection" card, right after "AI Features":

The toggle reads "Connect via the Call Copilot server", and "Connecting via the Call Copilot server" once it is on. It is off by default and is never switched on for you — the only way it turns on is the button in the banner or this toggle. The same disclosure and the same privacy policy link sit under it.

What actually goes through that server

Instead of opening the live audio connection straight to Deepgram, the extension opens it to copilot-api.gm-labs.de — my own server in Germany — and the server passes the stream on, as it is, to the very same Deepgram endpoint in the EU.

It adds nothing to the audio, keeps no copy of it and writes no log beyond the one ordinary line every web server writes about a connection. The token is the same short-lived one, and the same privacy parameters ride along, including Deepgram's model improvement staying switched off for your audio.

This covers transcription — the audio stream, and nothing else. Summaries and the chat about the conversation still connect directly. If your network blocks those too, write to me: the same switch for AI is a small piece of work, and I would rather build it for someone who actually needs it.

Making sure you are on 1.10.4

Updates arrive from the Chrome Web Store on their own, but not always on the day of release. To hurry one along, open chrome://extensions, turn on Developer mode in the top right and press Update. The Call Copilot card should then read 1.10.4 or newer.

If something does not work