How to Get AI Meeting Notes From Microsoft Teams?

Microsoft Teams now has Intelligent Recap, an AI-powered feature for Teams Premium Users. It automatically creates meeting notes, summarizes discussions, and suggests follow-up actions. This tool helps teams quickly review meetings and navigate recordings with features like color-coded chapters and speaker timelines. As AI meeting notes become increasingly common, especially in hybrid work environments, it's essential to evaluate if Microsoft Teams' solution is the best option or if alternatives like Wudpecker provide greater flexibility and control.

In this blog, we'll explore how to use Microsoft's Intelligent Recap and compare it to better alternatives like Wudpecker.

Option 1: Use Microsoft Teams AI Note Taker

Step 1: To use this feature, you need a premium user license of MS Teams. Make sure you have the right subscription plan.

Step 2:

Open Microsoft Teams and schedule your meeting as you normally would.
Before the meeting starts, ensure that recording and transcription options are enabled. You can do this by going to the meeting options and toggling on the necessary settings.

Step 3: Proceed with your meeting as usual. Ensure that all participants are aware that the meeting is being recorded for note-taking purposes.

Step 4: Once the meeting concludes, the recording will automatically be processed by Intelligent Recap.

Step 5: After the meeting, navigate to the meeting chat or calendar event where the meeting was scheduled. Click on the "AI Notes" tab to view automatically generated meeting notes, including key discussion points, action items, and any follow-up tasks discussed during the meeting.

Step 6: The recording will be divided into color-coded chapters based on the topics discussed. You can easily jump to specific sections of the meeting by clicking on these chapters. Review the AI-generated topics to quickly find the parts of the recording that are most relevant to you.

Option 2: Use Wudpecker Apps on Mac & Windows

Recording your meetings has never been easier with Wudpecker's desktop apps.

How to Install and Use the Apps

Follow these 4 simple steps to start recording your meetings right away (similar steps apply to both Mac & Windows):

Step 1: Install the desktop app for Mac or Windows.

Step 2: Sign up or sign in to Wudpecker with your Microsoft or Google account. (A browser tab will automatically open for that).

Step 3: Start recording.

Step 4: Pause, resume, or discard the recording anytime.

Pro tip: Don’t want to install apps? Wudpecker also gives you another way to record & manage your Teams meetings using notetaker bots. If you want to explore that option as well, check out this blog.

Once you stop recording, Wudpecker automatically starts processing your notes and opens them in the browser. The notes will appear in your Wudpecker account in the browser (app.wudpecker.io) in less than 5 minutes.

What Can You Do With the Wudpecker Notes?

(1) Read and Edit the AI Summary

Wudpecker identifies and highlights the most important moments and takeaways from your meeting. You can also manually edit any part.

Wudpecker's notes and their titles are 100% editable. The default content sums up the key points and outcomes of the discussions, and lists any possible action items with deadlines.

If you'd like to change the way the summary is automatically generated without having to make edits yourself, you'll have to first add that call into a collection and change that collection's settings. More about collections below.

(2) Ask Wudpecker for Any Information Regarding the Meeting

If you don't want to read through the entire meeting summary or it doesn’t mention everything you need, Ask Wudpecker is there to help. It can answer any question about your meeting and back it up with quotes from the conversation.

(3) Listen to the audio and read the transcript

Wudpecker provides both the meeting transcript and audio recording in one place. You can scroll through the whole conversation, see and edit speaker names, click on any word to listen to that exact part of the audio, and more.

Best Tools for AI Meeting Notes for Teams Meetings

When comparing different AI meeting note tools, it's essential to consider their features, integrations, and usability. Here's a breakdown of Microsoft Teams' built-in option, Wudpecker's browser and desktop apps, tl;dv's Chrome extension, and Read AI's notetaker bot:

(1) Wudpecker

Features:

Cross-Platform Support: Available as desktop and browser apps (mobile apps for in-person meetings), making it accessible for users on various devices.
Insight Extraction: Allows users to extract information from one call, all calls, or multiple selected calls using its AI Chat feature.
Action Item Tracking: Allows users to highlight key points and action items during the meeting.
Unlimited Recordings and Storage: Allows you to record an unlimited amount of meetings per month (with desktop and mobile apps). Comes with no time or storage limits for recordings.

Usability: Wudpecker is easy to use for individuals and teams in all meeting platforms. It provides flexibility for taking and sharing notes and works on any platform and device.

(2) Microsoft Teams' Built-in Option

Features:

AI-Generated Notes: Automatically creates notes and follow-up tasks for meetings that are recorded and transcribed. This feature is available for meetings lasting longer than five minutes.
Speaker Markers: Allows users to identify who spoke and when, making it easier to find specific contributions in the meeting recording.
Chapters and Topics: Automatically segments the meeting into topics and chapters based on keywords from the transcript, facilitating easy navigation.
Intelligent Recap: Available in Teams Premium, this feature provides a personalized summary of meetings, highlighting key discussion points and action items.

Usability: The integration within Microsoft Teams makes it seamless for users already on the platform, but it requires a Teams Premium license for full AI capabilities.

(3) tl;dv

Features:

Chrome Extension: The tl;dv bot joins your Microsoft Teams meetings to record and transcribe discussions automatically.
Timestamped Notes: Notes taken during the meeting are linked to specific timestamps in the recording, allowing for easy navigation to key moments.
AI-Powered Summaries: Automatically generates summaries that highlight insights, questions, and action points, which can be edited by users.
Collaborative Note-Taking: All participants can contribute notes, enhancing the collective documentation of the meeting.

Usability: The Chrome extension makes it easy to use without switching tabs, and the collaborative features are beneficial for team environments. However, the extension's dependence on the Chrome browser limits the overall user experience.

(4) Read AI

Features:

AI Notetaker Bot: Joins meetings to provide real-time transcription and summarization.
Actionable Insights: Identifies key discussion points and action items, making follow-up easier.
Integration with Various Platforms: Works with multiple video conferencing tools, not just Microsoft Teams.

Usability: AI note-taking tools like Read AI are designed to provide useful insights and smoothly fit into existing workflows for teams. However, the presence of AI notetaker bots can be intrusive. Meeting participants may feel uncomfortable discussing sensitive topics they don't want recorded. Since you can't pause a bot, it may need to be removed in such scenarios, and adding it back into the meeting may not always be a smooth experience.

Conclusion

Each AI meeting note tool has its strengths:

Microsoft Teams' built-in option is ideal for users already integrated into the Microsoft ecosystem, especially with the added features of Teams Premium.
Wudpecker offers flexibility with its desktop and browser apps (as well as mobile apps for those who need them), making it suitable for diverse user needs.
tl;dv stands out for its collaborative features and ease of use, particularly for teams that value timestamped notes.
Read AI provides a comprehensive solution with its AI notetaker bot and actionable insights, suitable for various platforms.

Choosing the right tool depends on your specific requirements, such as the need for collaboration, ease of integration, and the level of AI assistance desired.