AI notetakers on client calls: how to record and transcribe with consent

The short answer: say it, get a yes, then start the notetaker

AI notetakers are handy on sales calls, quotes and client meetings. They catch the details, write a summary and list the next steps while you get on with the conversation. But a notetaker is recording what people say, and in Australia that brings in surveillance law, federal rules on intercepting calls and, for many businesses, the Privacy Act.

The practical rule is simple. Tell everyone on the call that you'd like to record or transcribe it and why, ask whether that's OK, and only start once they've agreed. If anyone says no, take notes by hand. Then check the tool's settings so the summary only goes to the people who should see it, and read it before you rely on it.

This guide explains why, using Victoria's law as the worked example. It's general information, not legal advice. If you record calls with people in other states, or you handle health or other sensitive details, check the law that applies or get advice.

A transcript is still a recording of what people said

It's easy to think a written summary is different from a recording. It isn't, as far as the risk goes. To produce a transcript, the tool has to capture and process the audio of everyone speaking. The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) puts it plainly: "Commonly available virtual meeting platforms can record meetings and use AI to generate transcripts or written minutes."

Notetakers come in a few forms. Some are built into the meeting platform, such as Microsoft Teams transcription, Google Meet's "Take notes for me" or Zoom's AI Companion. Others are separate services that join the meeting as an extra participant. Some phone systems record and transcribe ordinary calls. The rules below apply whichever kind you use, so treat turning on transcription the same way you'd treat pressing record.

What the law says about recording calls

Victoria's Surveillance Devices Act 1999 says a person must not knowingly use a listening device to record a private conversation "to which the person is not a party, without the express or implied consent of each party to the conversation." The Act defines a listening device broadly, as any device capable of being used to record words spoken in conversation, which takes in a laptop or phone running a notetaker.

The Act separately says a person must not "knowingly communicate or publish a record or report of a private conversation" made with a listening device, unless an exception applies. The first exception is the consent of each party to the conversation. So even where you're allowed to make a recording, passing the recording, transcript or a summary of it on to others can be a separate question.

For calls, the federal Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 makes it an offence to intercept a communication passing over a telecommunications system. It defines interception as "listening to or recording, by any means, such a communication in its passage over that telecommunications system without the knowledge of the person making the communication."

Notice what these rules have in common: they turn on whether people know and agree. It isn't always obvious how they apply to a software company's bot joining a call, or a notetaker sent along on behalf of someone who isn't there. Rather than relying on how a court might read that, tell everyone and get their agreement before anything is recorded. That's the step that does the most work across these rules, and it's easy to do.

Privacy rules apply to what the notetaker captures

If the Privacy Act covers your business, the OAIC's guidance on commercially available AI products applies to notetakers directly. It lists "productivity assistants that augment writing, coding, note-taking, and transcription" among the tools it's written for, and it uses AI meeting minutes as a worked example.

In that example, the OAIC says you should only collect personal information that's reasonably necessary for your business. If your system recorded something that isn't, "such as a personal conversation or confidential client information, you will need to ensure that the information is destroyed or de-identified." You'll need consent if the notetaker collects sensitive information, such as health details, and because nobody knows in advance what will come up, the OAIC says "seeking consent should be pursued as a matter of best practice."

The OAIC also says that telling attendees a notetaker is in use and giving them a chance to object at the start can work, but "only be appropriate if the information about the system and opt-out option is clear and prominent to all attendees". A line buried in a calendar invite isn't that. Saying it out loud at the start of the call is.

Keep readingCheck what the Privacy Act asks of your business

Check the tool's settings before the first call

Each platform handles notice and sharing differently, so look before you rely on the defaults. Microsoft says that in Teams calls, "Everyone in the call will see a notice when recording or transcription starts." Admins can also require participant agreement before recording or transcription begins in one-on-one calls. With that setting on, if the other person doesn't agree, Microsoft says recording and transcription continue but they can't unmute or turn on their camera. If someone declines, stop the recording yourself rather than leaving them muted.

Google says that when "Take notes for me" is on, Google Meet informs all participants and shows a pencil icon on everyone's screen. The notes can be shared automatically, and one of the options is all invited guests, including people outside your organisation. Google adds that "Invited guests means all guests on the Calendar invite, not guests who actually attended." If your invite went to a wider group than the call, the summary can too.

Zoom says that when its AI joins a Google Meet or Teams meeting as a participant, a chat message is posted "3 minutes after the meeting starts" to explain why it's there, and its video tile shows that it's transcribing. That's a notice, but it can arrive after the conversation has started. Announcing it yourself at the beginning closes that gap.

Finally, read the terms. The OAIC says you should understand "whether the service terms provide the developer with access to data which your organisation inputs or generates when using the AI," including whether that data can be used to train the provider's AI. Use a business account, and record which notetaker your team is allowed to use and how it's set up.

Keep readingAdd your notetaker to an AI use policy

What to say at the start of a call

Keep it short and give people a real choice. Something like this works on a video call: "Before we start, I'd like to use a notetaker so I don't miss anything about your job. It records and transcribes the call, and I'll use the notes to prepare your quote. Is that OK with you?" Wait for a clear yes from everyone, then start it.

On the phone, the same idea applies: "Is it OK if I record this call so I've got an accurate note of what you need?" If the conversation moves to something personal or sensitive that you don't need, pause the notetaker or leave that part out of the notes.

If someone says no, say that's no problem and switch it off. Don't make the call or the quote depend on it. A quick written summary afterwards does the same job.

Check the summary before it goes anywhere

AI summaries can be wrong. The OAIC warns that "AI systems are known to produce inaccurate or false results," and Google's own help page says that "Sometimes, the meeting summary can be incomplete, inaccurate, or not generated." A misheard measurement, price or date in a summary can easily become a mistake in a quote.

So treat the summary as a draft. Have the person who ran the call read it, correct it and remove anything that isn't needed before it's emailed to a client or copied into your customer records. Turn off any automatic emailing of summaries to attendees until you're happy with how the tool performs.

Then decide how long you keep the recordings and transcripts. If you only need the corrected notes for the job, there's little reason to keep the full audio for years.

Keep readingPlan for an AI summary that gets it wrong

Keep readingHand the corrected notes over with the enquiry

A worked example: a kitchen designer's video consultations

This is a hypothetical example, not a client result. A kitchen designer in Ballarat runs first consultations on Google Meet and wants to stop scribbling notes while clients walk through their kitchens on camera. They turn on "Take notes for me".

Before the first call, they check the sharing setting and choose hosts and co-hosts only rather than all invited guests, because their invites sometimes include a builder who isn't on the call. They update their privacy policy to say they use a meeting notetaker, and they read the provider's data terms.

At the start of each consultation, they ask whether the client is happy for the call to be transcribed, and start notes only after a yes. When one client mentions a family member's mobility needs, the designer asks if it's OK to note that for the design, because it's health information. After each call, they correct the summary, remove the small talk and send the client a short written recap for the quote. If a client says no to the notetaker, they take notes by hand.

A notetaker checklist for client calls

Use this before you switch on a notetaker for sales, quote or client calls, and again when you change tools.

• Choose one approved notetaker under a business account and read its data and training terms.
• Check who receives the notes automatically, and limit sharing to the people who need them.
• Tell everyone at the start of the call that it will be recorded or transcribed and why, and wait for a clear yes.
• If anyone says no, switch it off and take notes by hand.
• Pause or leave out personal or sensitive details you don't need, and get consent for any you do.
• Read and correct every summary before it's sent to a client or saved to your records.
• Set how long recordings and transcripts are kept, and delete what you no longer need.
• Mention the notetaker in your privacy policy, and check the law where each person on the call is or get advice.