What happens if nobody admits the notetaker?

If nobody lets the TrackHeros notetaker in, it waits at the door for a while, then gives up, and the meeting is marked "Not let in". Nothing is recorded, and you can send it back with one click while the call is still running. This answer is for TrackHeros users on Google Meet and Microsoft Teams whose bot never got past the lobby. Why bots end up there, and how a host admits one on each platform, is in notetaker stuck in the lobby.

What do you see while the notetaker waits?

The meeting reads "Joining…". The bot joins about two minutes before the start and asks to join like any guest; on Google Meet it knocks, on Microsoft Teams it waits in the lobby. Until someone with the right role admits it, it is in neither the call nor the recording. It cannot admit itself, and it does not use your host rights.

What happens when nobody admits it?

It waits for a limited time and then gives up. The meeting list then reads "Not let in", and the meeting page says:

Nobody let the notetaker in — the host declined it, or the waiting room timed out. Nothing went wrong on our side; admit it from the meeting and try again.

Nothing was recorded, so there is no transcript, summary, action items or minutes for that meeting. If the call went ahead without the bot, write down the decisions and actions while you remember them and tell the client the notetaker did not get in.

Can you try again?

Yes, with one click: "Try again" on the meeting page sends the bot back to the same link. It only helps while the meeting is still running, and only if someone admits it this time, so tell the host before you press it: "My notetaker is knocking again, could you let it in?" Whatever was said before it gets in is not captured, so the notes begin mid-conversation.

The app refuses to send a second bot into a meeting that already has one, so an impatient double click does not put two notetakers in the call.

Does it count against the bot join rate?

No. Meetings where nobody admitted the bot are left out of the bot join rate on the Analytics page, where "Bot reliability" shows the rate split by platform. A host who declines the bot, or a lobby nobody watched, is a decision in the meeting rather than a failed join, and counting it would make the number say less about whether the bot works.

How do you stop it happening next time?

Tell the host before the meeting that a notetaker will ask to join, under which name, and ask them to admit it. On Teams, mention that it may be listed as a bot under Suspected threats, with no Admit button in the pop-up, so the host has to find it in the participant list instead. A bot name the host recognises helps: set one per client on the Bot name card, up to 64 characters with no emoji.

Some meetings cannot be fixed by admitting. A meeting that only lets in signed-in accounts, or only the host's organisation, keeps the bot out, and so does a Google Meet call where uninvited people cannot ask to join. That is the client's setting and the client's choice; for those meetings, take notes yourself or agree a different arrangement. How the bot joins meetings you do not host is covered in can a notetaker join a meeting you don't host, and the platform pages are Google Meet and Microsoft Teams.