Module 2: AI Tools for Meetings & Notes
AI for Meetings & Notes
This insight matters for your tool choice: don't optimise for transcription accuracy. Optimise for what happens after the meeting.
The AI Meeting Tool Landscape
Tier 1: Dedicated Meeting AI (joins your calls)
Otter.ai (free / Ā£10/month Pro / Ā£20/month Business)
Best for: Teams that need searchable transcripts and real-time collaboration. Integrates with Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams. The free tier gives 300 minutes/month ā enough for 10-15 meetings. AI summary quality is good, not great. Best feature: the "Otter AI Chat" lets you ask questions about your meetings like "What did Sarah say about the budget?"
ā https://otter.ai
Fireflies.ai (free / Ā£10/month / Ā£19/month)
Best for: People who want automated action items and CRM integration. Joins calls automatically, transcribes, identifies action items, questions, and key topics. Integrates with Salesforce, HubSpot, Slack, and Notion. Best feature: the topic tracker that automatically categorises discussion themes.
ā https://fireflies.ai
tl;dv (free / Ā£20/month)
Best for: Sales and customer-facing teams. Records Google Meet and Zoom calls, creates AI summaries, and lets you clip highlights. The free tier is generous. Best feature: shareable meeting clips with timestamps.
ā https://tl;dv.io
Grain (free / Ā£15/month)
Best for: User research and customer interviews. Records, transcribes, and lets you create highlight reels from meetings. Best feature: tagging and organising insights across multiple meetings.
ā https://grain.com
Tier 2: Built-In AI (already in your tools)
Microsoft Copilot in Teams (Ā£24/user/month with M365 Copilot)
If your organisation uses Microsoft 365, Copilot summarises meetings, captures action items, and lets you ask "What did I miss?" after joining late. Quality is solid but it's expensive as an add-on.
Google Gemini in Google Meet (included with Workspace Business/Enterprise)
Auto-generated meeting notes and summaries. Currently rolling out. Quality improving rapidly.
Zoom AI Companion (included with paid Zoom plans)
Meeting summaries, smart chapters, and next steps. Free for paid Zoom users. Quality is decent.
Tier 3: General AI (copy-paste workflow)
ChatGPT / Claude
Paste a transcript ā get a custom summary in any format you want. More flexible than dedicated tools but requires manual transcript export. Best for: custom summary formats, complex analysis, or when dedicated tools don't capture nuance.
Match each AI meeting tool to its standout feature:
My Recommendation
Solo/freelance: Otter.ai free tier + ChatGPT for custom summaries. Ā£0/month.
Small team (2-10): Fireflies.ai Pro (Ā£10/month) for automatic recording + Notion for organising notes. AI does the capture; you do the thinking.
Sales teams: tl;dv or Grain for shareable clips and customer insights.
Enterprise: Whatever your IT department already pays for (Copilot, Zoom AI, or Meet's Gemini). The best tool is the one your entire team actually uses.
Put these AI meeting tool tiers in order from most integrated to most flexible:
Privacy and Consent
This matters more than features. Before recording any meeting with AI:
1. Inform all participants. Most jurisdictions require consent for recording. Many meeting AI tools display "recording" notices, but don't rely on that.
2. Check your company policy. Some organisations prohibit third-party meeting recording tools.
3. Be cautious with sensitive topics. Legal discussions, HR conversations, and confidential strategy sessions may not be appropriate for AI transcription.
4. Understand data storage. Where does the transcription data go? Who can access it? Most tools store on US servers ā consider GDPR implications.
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The Tool Selector
Help me choose an AI meeting tool: My situation: - Meeting platform: [Zoom / Google Meet / Teams / Mix] - Meetings per week: [NUMBER] - Team size: [SOLO / SMALL TEAM / LARGE ORG] - Primary need: [TRANSCRIPTION / SUMMARIES / ACTION ITEMS / CLIPS / SEARCH] - Budget: [Ā£X/month] - Privacy requirements: [ANY SPECIFIC NEEDS ā e.g., "data must stay in EU"] Recommend the best option with a specific reason. Include a free alternative.
The Transcript-to-Summary (For General AI)
Here's a meeting transcript: [PASTE TRANSCRIPT] Create a meeting summary with: 1. Meeting title and date 2. Attendees mentioned 3. Key discussion topics (2-3 sentences each) 4. Decisions made 5. Action items (with owner and deadline if mentioned) 6. Open questions / unresolved items Format: Clean, scannable. Use headers and bullet points. Under 300 words.
The Tool Comparison
Compare [TOOL A] vs [TOOL B] for my team: We are: [TEAM SIZE AND TYPE] We use: [MEETING PLATFORM] We need: [TOP 3 FEATURES] Budget: [Ā£/MONTH] Honest comparison. Which is better for our specific situation and why? Don't hedge ā pick one.
1. Pick one tool from this module (start with a free tier).
2. Connect it to your meeting platform (Zoom, Meet, or Teams).
3. Let it record and summarise your next meeting.
4. Evaluate the summary: was it useful? What was missing? What was unnecessary?
5. Decide: keep this tool, try another, or stick with general AI (copy-paste transcript to ChatGPT)?
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- 1Optimise for post-meeting output (summaries, action items), not just transcription accuracy
- 2Free tiers are surprisingly good ā start with Otter.ai or Fireflies.ai free before paying
- 3General AI (ChatGPT/Claude) is more flexible for custom summaries but requires manual transcript export
- 4Always inform participants before recording ā consent is legal requirement and professional courtesy
- 5The best tool is the one your whole team uses ā integration matters more than features