5 things to check before an AI note taker joins your calls

Your colleague sends a Meet link and an unfamiliar bot appears in the participant list. Is it recording? Who owns the transcript? Can anyone turn it off? These are fair questions, and they apply to your own use of AI note takers too.

1. Does it tell everyone it is an AI?

A good note taker names itself clearly, ideally with the owner's name, and says out loud or in chat that the call is being recorded. If a tool tries to blend in as a human attendee, avoid it.

2. What happens to your data?

• Where are transcripts and recordings stored, and for how long?
• Can you delete a meeting, or your whole account?
• Is your data used to train models?
• Is there a clear privacy policy you can read in five minutes?

3. Is the output actually useful?

A wall of transcript is not a note. Look for a short summary, decisions, and action items with owners. Test it on two real meetings before you rely on it.

4. Do you stay in control?

• Can you choose which meetings it joins, and skip the sensitive ones?
• Can you make it leave mid-call?
• Can you set rules, such as only meetings with outside guests?

5. What does it really cost?

Free plans usually limit minutes or meetings per month, so check what a normal month of your calls adds up to. Look for what happens when you hit the limit: some tools pause, some charge extra.

Hello Sam is built around these five checks: it announces itself as an AI every time, you pick what it joins, and the free plan gives you 300 minutes a month.