# How to tell clients you use an AI notetaker

> For freelancers and consultants who take client calls on Google Meet and Microsoft Teams and want to tell clients about their AI notetaker plainly: invitation text, a first-minute script, an email for existing clients, straight answers to the usual objections, which calls to leave it out of, and how to switch it off. Not legal advice. Ends with what TrackHeros does.

Canonical: https://trackheros.com/blog/tell-clients-you-use-an-ai-notetaker/  
Author: Sami Kanafani  
Updated: 2026-10-22

**In short:** Tell clients before the first call, in writing, and again in the call's first minute: what joins, what it records, who reads the notes and how long they are kept. Offer to leave it out, and remove it at once if anyone objects. Rules differ by country and contract. TrackHeros joins Google Meet and Microsoft Teams calls as a named participant and can greet the meeting in its chat.

| Fact | Detail |
| --- | --- |
| Default bot name | TrackHeros Notetaker |
| Bot name and greeting | Set per client |
| Greeting in the meeting chat | Optional, up to 500 characters of plain text, no emoji |
| Leaving a call out | Per meeting, per recurring series, or the account default |

Tell clients you use an AI notetaker before it joins their call, in writing, and say it again when the call starts. This guide is for freelancers and consultants who take client calls on Google Meet and Microsoft Teams: what to put in the invitation, what to say in the first minute, an email for clients you already work with, straight answers to the usual objections, and how to leave the notetaker out of a call. It is practical, not legal advice. Whether you need consent, and from whom, depends on the country and on your contract, so check yours.

## Is it OK to use an AI notetaker in client meetings?

Usually, if three things are true: the client knows before the call, the notes stay with you and that client, and the notetaker stays out when someone asks. What damages a client relationship is rarely the notes. It is finding an unannounced recorder in the participant list.

Check two things first. Recording rules differ by country, and some require everyone's agreement rather than just yours. And contracts and NDAs sometimes say something about recording calls or using third-party tools; [AI notetakers and client NDAs](/blog/ai-notetakers-and-client-ndas/) lists the clauses to look for.

Then remember who else is in the call. Your contact agreed. Their colleague, their customer and the vendor they invited did not. Telling one person tells one person.

## When should you tell a client?

Three times, and none of them is after the call.

| Moment                 | Where                                         | What it covers                                                                   |
| ---------------------- | --------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Before the first call  | The proposal, the kickoff email or the invite | That a notetaker joins, what it records, who reads the notes, how long they stay |
| At the start of a call | Out loud, in the first minute                 | That it is in the call now, and that anyone can ask for it to leave              |
| When something changes | An email                                      | A new tool, a new retention period, a new kind of meeting                        |

The out-loud part matters even when everyone was told in writing. Invitations get forwarded, and the person who joins from a forwarded invitation never saw your note.

## What should you write in the meeting invitation?

One short paragraph in the description, under the agenda. Name the notetaker exactly as it will appear in the participant list, so nobody has to guess which tile it is.

> A notetaker called "Priya's notetaker" will join to record this call and take notes for me. The notes stay in my workspace for this project and are not shared with anyone else. If you would rather it did not join, reply to this invitation and I will leave it out.

If the client sends the invitation, you cannot edit it. Write to the organiser before the meeting instead:

> I usually have a notetaker in our calls so I can send clear actions afterwards. It will show up as "Priya's notetaker". Is that fine for this one, and could you mention it to anyone else you have invited?

## What should you say at the start of the call?

One sentence before the agenda, and a real offer to switch it off.

> Before we start: my notetaker is in the call, it's the one called "Priya's notetaker". It records so I can write up the notes and actions afterwards, and the notes stay with me for this project. If you'd rather it left, for the whole call or for one part of it, just say.

Then stop talking about it. If someone joins ten minutes late, repeat the first sentence when you welcome them.

If anyone objects, remove the notetaker there and then, and say that it has gone. Do not argue for it in front of their colleagues. Afterwards, ask whether they want what was recorded before they objected deleted, and do it if they do.

## How do you tell a client you already work with?

By email, before the next call, with a way to say no that costs them nothing.

> **Subject:** A notetaker in our calls from next week
>
> Hi Tom,
>
> From next week I'd like a notetaker to join our calls. It records the call and writes up the notes and action items, so I can send you a clean summary afterwards instead of my scribbles.
>
> The recordings and notes are kept in a workspace for your project only, separate from my other clients, and I delete them when our work together ends. The tool does not use them to train AI models.
>
> If you'd rather not, or want it left out of particular calls, tell me and I'll switch it off. No reason needed.

Only write the training sentence if the vendor's terms say so. [Questions to ask an AI notetaker about client data](/blog/questions-to-ask-an-ai-notetaker-about-client-data/) covers how to check.

## What objections do clients raise, and how do you answer them?

The same handful, and each has a short, honest answer.

| They say                                | A straight answer                                                                                            |
| --------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| "Where do the recordings go?"           | Name the tool, where it stores data and who can open it. Send its privacy policy rather than paraphrasing it |
| "Will our call be used to train AI?"    | Say what the vendor's terms say. If you do not know, find out before the next call                           |
| "Our policy does not allow recording."  | Then it does not join. Ask whether written notes are fine instead                                            |
| "Can you delete last week's recording?" | Yes. Delete it and confirm by email that it is done                                                          |
| "Our customer will be on this one."     | Leave it out, or ask your client to tell their customer first                                                |
| "Can we have the notes?"                | Decide what you send. Minutes you have read and corrected are better than raw AI output                      |

A client who asks these questions is not being difficult. They are doing the checking you would want them to do with any supplier.

## Which calls should you leave the notetaker out of?

The ones where a recording would make people say less, or would hold something nobody should keep:

- Conversations about people: performance, hiring decisions about named colleagues, redundancies.
- Disputes, legal advice, and anything a client calls "off the record".
- Calls with the client's own customers or partners, unless they have been told.
- Any call the client's policy or your contract says must not be recorded.

Decide this per recurring meeting rather than per call. A weekly status call either has the notetaker or it does not, and nobody has to remember on the day.

## How do you switch a notetaker off for one call?

Before the call, turn it off in the notetaker for that meeting. During the call, remove it like any other participant. In Google Meet, the host or a co-host chooses "Remove from the call" on the participant ([Google's steps](https://support.google.com/meet/answer/9303164)). In Microsoft Teams, it is More options, then "Remove from meeting", in the People list ([Microsoft's steps](https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/teams/meetings/using-the-lobby-in-microsoft-teams-meetings)). Most notetakers also have a button of their own that makes the bot leave.

## How does TrackHeros help you tell clients?

TrackHeros joins Google Meet and Microsoft Teams calls as a visible participant, and what other people see of it is set per client:

- **Bot name.** The name in the participant list: one line, up to 64 characters, no emoji. Leave it empty and it is "TrackHeros Notetaker". Make it say what it is; [renaming the notetaker](/answers/rename-the-notetaker-bot/) has examples.
- **Welcome message.** Posted in the meeting chat when the bot joins, up to 500 characters of plain text, no emoji. Empty means it says nothing. It is the place for the one-line version of your invitation note. What participants see is covered in [can other participants see the notetaker?](/answers/can-other-participants-see-the-notetaker/)

Leaving a call out works at three levels, and the most specific wins: this meeting, the recurring series, or your account default, "Join meetings automatically" in Settings. On a recurring meeting, "Stop the bot joining this meeting?" offers "Just this meeting" or "Every meeting in this series".

During a call, "Remove the notetaker" makes the bot leave straight away. It cannot be sent back in, and what it recorded until then is kept and still summarised. If the person who objected wants that gone, "Delete recording" in Recording storage removes the recording and keeps the transcript and notes; for those, write to us and we will work with you to remove them, as the [privacy policy](/privacy/) sets out. Each client's notes stay in [a workspace of their own](/features/client-isolation/), and what we promise about your data is at [/#privacy](/#privacy).

## Not yet available

- A consent notice posted by the notetaker, with opt-out and a consent log — not yet available

## Frequently asked

**Do I need my client's consent to use an AI notetaker?**

It depends on the country you and the other participants are in, and on your contract; this guide is not legal advice. Telling everyone in writing before the call, saying it again when the call starts and leaving the notetaker out when asked is the habit that covers most situations. Check the rules that apply to you and your client.

**Should the notetaker's name say what it is?**

Yes. A name like "Priya's notetaker" tells everyone in the participant list that the call is being recorded for notes. A name that hides it saves no awkwardness and costs trust the moment someone notices.

**What do I do if someone objects halfway through the call?**

Remove the notetaker there and then, without debate, and say that it has gone. Afterwards, ask whether they want what was already recorded deleted, and delete it if they do.

**Can I bring a notetaker into a meeting the client hosts?**

Often, if the host admits it, but the host and the other participants should know first. Reply to the organiser before the meeting and ask. The host can remove any participant from the call, a notetaker included.

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