AI notes for in-person meetings and recorder devices
For AI notes in in-person meetings, a phone is usually enough: Teams, Google Meet, Otter, Fireflies, Granola, and Fathom all offer mobile ways to record a conversation around a table, and recent iPhones and Pixel phones transcribe on their own. Recorder devices such as Plaud’s add a dedicated microphone; as of November 11, 2026, Plaud includes 300 transcription minutes a month without a subscription.
Taking AI notes in an in-person meeting
A meeting around a table has no “record” button and no bot to invite, so the notes depend on a microphone in the room. This page is part of AI meeting notes and covers the phone features, apps, and recorder devices that handle in-person conversations, from their makers’ pages as of November 11, 2026; Google’s page on notes for in-person meetings shows how simple the basic setup has become.
Start with what you already own. If your team pays for Microsoft 365 with Copilot or Google Workspace Business Standard, or if you use a recent iPhone or Pixel, you may not need anything new. A separate recorder makes sense mainly for long meetings, poor phone microphones, or people who would rather not put a phone on the table.
Features you may already have
| Option | What you need | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Teams, Facilitator on mobile | A Microsoft Copilot license | In the Teams calendar, open the meeting and choose “Take notes with Facilitator”; notes go to a Loop page |
| OneNote, Copilot Notebooks Capture | A Copilot license on a work or school account | Not on Personal, Family, or Premium plans; audio is deleted after transcription |
| Google Meet, Take notes | Workspace Business Standard or higher, or Google AI Pro or Ultra | One language per meeting; the notes go to the Drive of whoever started them |
| Apple Notes and Voice Memos | iPhone 12 or later for transcription | Summaries need Apple Intelligence, on iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 16 and later |
| Pixel Recorder | Pixel 6 or later for live transcription | Summaries on Pixel 8 and later, for recordings of 5 minutes to 1 hour |
Google recommends at least 15 minutes of conversation for a useful summary. On Pixel phones, speaker labels work in US English only, and Canadian English was missing from the transcription languages Google listed.
Note taker apps on your phone
The apps that join video calls also record in a room. Fireflies’ mobile app offers unlimited free transcription, with summaries limited by credits. Otter records from its iOS and Android apps or a browser, within its plan’s monthly minutes. Granola’s mobile apps are free without a subscription and start only when you tap; the company says the audio is cached, then deleted after transcription. Fathom’s iPhone app is included in every plan. Our page on comparing note taker apps covers their limits and data policies.
Recorder devices and their plans
Of the recorder makers we looked at, Plaud publishes the most complete prices and plans. As of November 11, 2026:
| Plaud | US | UK | Canada | Australia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Note Pro, device | $189 | £169 | CA$259.99 | A$309 |
| NotePin S, device | $179 | £159 | CA$249.99 | A$299 |
| Pro plan, 1,200 minutes a month, billed annually | $8.33 a month | £8.33 a month | CA$11.67 a month | A$16.25 a month |
Paying month to month costs more: $17.99 in the US. Without a subscription, Plaud says the device keeps recording when your minutes run out; transcription waits until the free 300 minutes reset the next month, and unused minutes do not roll over. Its pages disagree on whether that free allowance comes with each device or is “free for everyone.” Plaud says it does not train on your data unless you opt in, and lists data centers in the US, Frankfurt, Singapore, and Japan, none in the UK, Canada, or Australia.
Other devices call for caution. Limitless says it stopped selling its Pendant on December 5, 2025, and withdrew its service from the UK, the EU, and several other countries. Bee’s privacy page is Amazon’s privacy notice, and some of its features require a Bee Pro plan whose price we could not find. Omi’s prices changed between two of our visits, so we do not quote them.
Consent in a room
Recording people at a table is still recording them. Plaud tells users they are responsible for informing all participants, and advises getting everyone’s consent and documenting it if anyone is in a place with an all-party rule. Microsoft makes you confirm, before using Capture, that you have consent from every person recorded. Apple’s call recording plays an audio notice to both people and asks you to make sure the other person is willing.
Five habits for a recorded meeting
Our recommendations for a small team:
- Say it first: who is recording, with what, and why, before the first agenda item.
- Put the phone or recorder in the middle, not in a pocket or behind a laptop.
- Pause for anything off the record. Google Meet’s in-person mode stops both transcription and note-taking when you pause.
- Send the notes only to people who were there, unless everyone agreed to wider sharing.
- Delete the audio once the notes are checked, if your tool keeps it.
The consent rules behind it
In-person recordings follow the same laws as calls, and some states are stricter about conversations in a room. See the recording consent rules by country.
When the meeting moves online
For the same meeting on Teams, Google Meet, or Zoom, the platform’s own note taker may be simpler. See the AI notes built into each video platform.