Stephen Turner
Akash Kumar
Jordan Lee
Taylor Scott
What is a meeting bot? How notetakers join your calls
A meeting bot is software that joins a video call as its own participant, usually to record or transcribe. You'll see it in the participant list, often named after the notetaker. On platforms such as Teams and Google Meet, the usual lobby and removal controls are how hosts manage people in a call.
The short answer
A meeting bot is a software participant in a video call. It joins through the meeting link or a platform's developer tools, then receives the call's audio or video so a product can record, transcribe or summarize it.
Most people meet one as a notetaker. A tile appears with a name like "Alex's Notetaker", and notes arrive after the call. A person sent it, or their calendar did.
How a meeting bot gets into a call
The route depends on the product and the platform. Here are two examples.
- Microsoft Teams: a calls and meetings bot is a Teams bot registered with extra settings, Microsoft Graph permissions and admin consent. It can reach real-time audio and video streams.
- By link: some products send a participant to the meeting URL, where it waits to be admitted. Bridge Agent works this way.
Bot or bot-free capture?
A bot isn't the only way to capture a call. A desktop app can record on your own computer, so no extra participant appears.
| Meeting bot | Desktop capture | |
|---|---|---|
| In the participant list | Yes | No |
| Install needed | Usually not | Yes |
| Can be held in a lobby | Depends on the meeting's settings | No, nothing joins |
| How others know | They can see its tile, but say so anyway | You need to tell them, since no tile appears |
What hosts can do
A bot in the call is a participant, so the usual host tools generally apply. Check your own platform's settings and your company's policy.
- Leave it in the lobby. In Teams, organizers, co-organizers and presenters admit people waiting there, and admin settings can stop some outside participants from joining at all.
- Remove it during the call. Google Meet, for example, lets you remove people during a meeting.
- Ask whose it is. The person who sent it can stop it too.
- Tell attendees it's there. Recording rules vary by place and by company, so check yours.
How Bridge handles this
Bridge offers both routes. Bridge Agent is a bot that asks to join Zoom, Google Meet and Teams calls, with nothing to install, and the host admits it. On Zoom, you can authorize your account so it skips the waiting room for meetings you host. The Bridge desktop app for Mac records bot-free.
Meetings hosted on Bridge need neither, since transcription runs inside the meeting. A badge shows everyone when recording, transcription or notetaking is on.