Glossary
What does “Meeting bot” mean?
Software that joins a video call as if it were a participant, usually to record, transcribe or take notes.
What it means
Software that joins a video call as if it were a participant, usually to record, transcribe or take notes. It appears in the list of people, often with a name like “Notetaker”.
An example
“Fireflies Notetaker” or “Otter.ai” appears in the waiting room; the host admits it, and it records the call for the person who invited it.
Not to be confused with: Built-in recording
A meeting bot is a separate guest from another company; built-in recording and transcription come from the meeting app itself, such as Zoom’s or Google Meet’s own.
Where you will see it
In Zoom, Google Meet and Teams participant lists and waiting rooms, in company policies on AI notetakers, and in developer tools that offer bots through an API.
Questions
Can you remove a meeting bot from a call?
Usually yes — the host can remove it like any participant, and many apps let hosts keep bots in the waiting room.
Do meeting bots have to tell people they are recording?
Rules depend on where people are; many bots announce themselves or post a message, and many companies require consent. See our page on stopping notetakers.
Other meeting words
Try Meetful
Meetings that take their own notes
Free video meetings in the browser: every line of the transcript under the name of who said it, and the summary and action items when you hang up. Nothing to install — guests just open the link.