We make CallNote, which is one of the nine tools below. We checked each of the others on its own website. Details are as at October 2026, and we have said plainly who each one suits better than us. Prices and features change, so confirm them before you buy.
The short version
- You already pay for Microsoft 365 and meet on Teams: start with Teams recap and Copilot. Nothing new joins the meeting.
- You want a private notepad for your own video meetings: Granola. No bot, and its site says audio is deleted after transcription.
- You run a sales team and want recordings, clips and CRM sync: Fathom, Fireflies or tl;dv.
- You want a searchable archive of every meeting across a team: Otter or Fireflies.
- You meet clients in person or take calls on a mobile handset: a Plaud recorder, with consent every time.
- You are a clinician: Heidi. It is built for clinical notes and the others are not.
- You need a file note in your firm's format from phone calls and meetings, without recording anything: CallNote.
Three things most buyer's guides leave out
Most guides compare bots, summaries and per-seat prices. If you see clients for a living, three other questions decide whether a tool is usable at all.
1. Does it hear a phone call?
A meeting bot joins a Zoom, Teams or Google Meet link. A phone call has no link. Brokers, advisers and solicitors still do a large share of client work on the phone, usually through a business phone system such as Aircall, Dialpad or Teams Phone. Ask every vendor one question: how does the audio of my phone call physically reach your product? Our guide to AI note takers for phone calls covers the four honest answers.
2. Is recording lawful where your client is?
Any tool that records or transcribes a conversation is caught by two layers of law. The federal Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 prohibits intercepting a communication passing over a telecommunications system without the knowledge of the person making it. Each state and territory then has its own listening or surveillance devices Act for recording private conversations.
| State or territory | Act | Position for a party recording their own conversation |
|---|---|---|
| NSW | Surveillance Devices Act 2007 (NSW) | All parties must consent, with narrow exceptions |
| WA | Surveillance Devices Act 1998 (WA) | All parties must consent, with narrow exceptions |
| SA | Surveillance Devices Act 2016 (SA) | All parties must consent, with narrow exceptions |
| Tasmania | Listening Devices Act 1991 (Tas) | All parties must consent, with narrow exceptions |
| ACT | Listening Devices Act 1992 (ACT) | All parties must consent, with narrow exceptions |
| Victoria | Surveillance Devices Act 1999 (Vic) | A party may record. Sharing the recording is restricted |
| Queensland | Invasion of Privacy Act 1971 (Qld) | A party may record. Sharing the recording is restricted |
| NT | Surveillance Devices Act 2007 (NT) | A party may record. Sharing the recording is restricted |
You often do not know which state the other person is in, so work to the all-party standard. Tell the client at the start, wait for the yes and write it in the note. This is general information, not legal advice. The detail and sample wording are in is it legal to record phone calls in Australia and call recording disclosure wording examples.
3. Is the output a file note or a meeting summary?
A summary tells a colleague what happened. A file note is evidence. The standard it has to meet depends on your profession:
- Mortgage brokers. The best interests duty is in s 158LA of the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009. ASIC says in Regulatory Guide 273 that evidence of compliance will come predominantly from the broker's own records (RG 273.21) and lists what those records generally include at RG 273.165. See best interests duty file notes.
- Financial advisers. For personal advice to retail clients, ASIC Corporations (Record-Keeping Requirements for Australian Financial Services Licensees when Giving Personal Advice) Instrument 2024/508 requires the licensee to keep records of the information relied on and the action taken to meet the best interests duty, and of the advice given and the reasons it is appropriate, for seven years after the advice. See what to record in a financial advice file note.
- Solicitors. No single rule prescribes the form of an attendance note, but the costs disclosure obligations in the Legal Profession Uniform Law (NSW, Victoria and WA) and the duties in the Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules make a dated note of instructions and advice important evidence. See legal file note requirements.
A general summary rarely has those headings. Decide which of the two you are buying before you compare prices.
See what a finished file note looks like.
Pick your line of work and we'll send a sample note written from a mocked call. No account, no card, and nothing from your own client files.
One sample note, plus the occasional CallNote update. Unsubscribe any time by replying. We never ask for your call recordings or client files.
Nine AI note takers compared
Every cell below comes from the vendor's own website. Where a page did not say, we have written that instead of guessing.
| Tool | Joins as a bot? | Records audio? | Works on phone calls? | Data location | Your own note format? | CRM delivery | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Teams recap and Copilot | No, it is part of Teams | Transcription is required for a recap after the meeting. Recording is optional | Teams calls only | Your Microsoft 365 tenant | AI notes and follow-up tasks in Microsoft's layout | Stays in Microsoft 365 | Teams Premium and Microsoft 365 Copilot are separate paid add-on licences. See Microsoft's pricing page |
| Otter | Yes. Joins Zoom, Teams and Google Meet | Yes | Not mentioned on its pricing page | Not stated on its pricing page | AI meeting templates | Salesforce and HubSpot, Zapier | Free plan. Paid Pro and Business plans, see their pricing page |
| Fireflies | Yes by default. Its Chrome extension records without the bot on paid plans | Yes | Says it transcribes calls from Aircall, RingCentral and other dialers | Not stated on the pages we checked | Not stated on the pages we checked | Salesforce, HubSpot and others | Free plan. Paid Pro, Business and Enterprise plans, see their pricing page |
| Granola | No. Captures device audio | Captures audio to transcribe, then deletes it | Its site says the mobile app covers phone calls | United States (AWS) | Customised note templates | HubSpot, Attio, Affinity and Zapier on Business. Salesforce on Enterprise | Free plan. Paid Business and Enterprise plans, see their pricing page |
| Fathom | Bot, or bot-free capture (in beta) | Yes | Not mentioned | Not stated on its site | Custom summary templates on Business | HubSpot and Salesforce | Free plan. Paid Premium, Team and Business plans, see their pricing page |
| tl;dv | Its site says no bot is required | Yes, video and audio | Not mentioned | European Union | Your own AI summary format | HubSpot and other CRMs | Free plan. Pro EUR 29 a month. Business EUR 39 |
| Plaud (Note Pro, NotePin S) | No. It is a physical recorder | Yes | Note Pro has a phone call mode | Not stated on its Australian store | Its site lists more than 10,000 templates | Not named on the pages we checked | Note Pro AU$309, NotePin S AU$299, with 300 transcription minutes a month. Paid plans for more |
| Heidi (healthcare) | No. An ambient scribe for consults | Captures consult audio | Telehealth audio | Not stated on the pages we checked | Clinical templates | Not a CRM tool | Free plan. Paid prices not shown on its pricing page |
| CallNote | No, never | No. It works from a transcript that already exists | Yes, where Aircall, Dialpad or Teams has made a transcript | Sydney (AWS) | Yes, built from one of your own past notes | HubSpot, Clio, Microsoft Dynamics 365. Slack, Notion, Zapier | AU$149 a month Solo. AU$99 a seat a month Team |
Prices are shown only where the vendor's site names the currency. Otter, Fireflies, Granola and Fathom did not name one on the pages we checked, so we have left their numbers out. The tl;dv prices are for monthly billing.
Each option, and who it suits
Microsoft Teams recap and Copilot
Microsoft's support page says the standard recap is available after any recorded or transcribed Teams meeting and holds the recording, transcript, shared files and notes. Intelligent recap, with AI notes and follow-up tasks, needs Teams Premium or a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence, and the meeting must at least be transcribed. Copilot can also be set to run only during the meeting, with transcription off. Microsoft says no meeting transcript is created in that case, though Copilot prompts and responses may be kept under your organisation's retention policies.
Better than CallNote if your firm lives in Teams, your meetings are mostly internal and a general recap is all you need. It is the simplest starting point and nothing joins the call. The limits: it covers Teams only, and the recap is laid out Microsoft's way. If you want the Teams transcript turned into your own file note, that is a separate step. See AI note taker for Microsoft Teams and which licence you need for Teams transcription.
Otter
Otter's pricing page says it joins Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet to write and share notes, with web and mobile recording. The free plan includes 300 transcription minutes a month. Pro adds Salesforce, HubSpot and Zapier integrations, subject to user limits.
Better than CallNote if you want a searchable transcript archive for a team and a free plan to start on. Before you put client meetings through it, check where data is hosted and whether a visible bot in the meeting suits your clients. We compare the two in CallNote vs Otter.
Fireflies
Fireflies invites a notetaker to your meeting or has it join from your calendar. Its pricing page also lists a Chrome extension that records without the bot, a desktop app and mobile apps. Its integrations page says it transcribes calls made through phone dialers, naming Aircall and RingCentral. Its pricing page also lists HIPAA compliance, private storage and custom data retention. Check which plan includes them.
Better than CallNote if you want one recorder across video meetings and a dialer, with conversation analytics and CRM logging for a sales team. See CallNote vs Fireflies.
Granola
Granola captures your device's audio without a bot. Its site says audio is deleted after transcription and that notes are stored in a US-hosted AWS environment. It also says Granola trains on anonymised data unless you opt out in settings, with that training off by default for Enterprise. Every plan includes customised note templates.
Better than CallNote if you want a personal notepad that blends your own typed points with the transcript, and US hosting is acceptable. It is still capturing the conversation, so consent applies. See CallNote vs Granola.
Fathom and tl;dv
Both are meeting recorders built around sales and customer calls. Fathom's site lists Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams, offers bot or bot-free capture (bot-free was in beta when we checked), and pushes summaries to HubSpot and Salesforce. tl;dv records video and audio on the same three platforms, says on its site that no bot is required, and states that data is hosted and stored in the EU.
Better than CallNote if you want video recordings, shareable clips and deal fields filled in your CRM. Fathom has a free plan for one person. tl;dv is the pick if EU hosting matters to you. Neither mentioned ordinary phone calls on the pages we checked. See CallNote vs Fathom and CallNote vs tl;dv.
Plaud
Plaud sells physical recorders. Its Australian store lists the Note Pro at AU$309 and the wearable NotePin S at AU$299, each with 300 transcription minutes a month and paid plans above that. The Note Pro page describes a dual mode that switches between phone call and in-person recording. The store lists SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR and HIPAA compliance and says conversation data is not used to train models unless you opt in. The pages we checked did not say where data is stored.
Better than CallNote if your conversations are in person or on a mobile handset and you want a recording of them. It is a recording device in every sense, so the state rules above apply in full. See Plaud for lawyers in Australia and can you record phone calls with a Plaud in Australia.
Heidi
Heidi calls itself an AI care partner for clinical practice. Its ambient scribe captures the consult, including telehealth audio, and writes clinical notes from templates.
Better than CallNote if you are a GP, specialist, allied health practitioner or vet. Use a clinical scribe for clinical notes.
CallNote
CallNote is Australian software that turns a transcript that already exists into a file note in your firm's format. It never records a call, never joins a meeting as a bot and never stores call audio. Transcripts arrive automatically from Aircall, Dialpad and Microsoft Teams. For Zoom and Google Meet you upload or paste the transcript, or forward it by email. After an in-person meeting you dictate a voice memo.
You paste one of your own past notes and it builds a template with your headings, order and shorthand. You review each note, then publish it. The published note is sealed with a SHA-256 checksum and locked, amendments are append-only and there is a full audit log. It goes to HubSpot, Clio or Microsoft Dynamics 365, with Slack, Notion and Zapier also available. Data is hosted in Sydney and is not used to train AI. More in AI file notes.
Where it is the wrong pick. It does not capture anything, so a transcript or a dictated memo has to exist. It has no video, no clips and no sales analytics. There is no native integration with LEAP, Smokeball, Actionstep, Xplan, AdviserLogic, Mercury, Salestrekker, Salesforce or Pipedrive, so notes reach those by copy, PDF or Zapier where the system supports it. Several tools above have a free plan and CallNote does not. If a rough recap is all you need, use one of them.
This is the kind of note it produces. The client is fictional.
- Why we met
Annual review. Elena is changing jobs in November and wanted to know what that means for their plans.
- What has changed
- Elena's salary rises from $118,000 to $134,000 from 16 November 2026.
- Their youngest child starts school in February, which ends $1,900 a month in childcare costs.
- No change to Marcus's income or to their debts.
- What they want
- Use the extra cash flow to pay the home loan down faster.
- Keep at least $40,000 available for emergencies.
- What we discussed
Extra repayments compared with building the offset account. They prefer the offset account because the money stays available. No recommendation made at this meeting.
- Next steps
- Elena: send her new employment contract once signed.
- Us: model both options and send a summary by 15 October 2026.
- Follow-up meeting booked for 22 October 2026.
How to choose
- List where your conversations happen. Count last week's client conversations by channel: phone system, mobile, Teams, Zoom, in person. Buy for the biggest number.
- Decide whether you may record. Check your licensee, firm or insurer policy and the state table above. If recording is a problem, your shortlist is the transcript and dictation routes.
- Decide what the output is for. A recap for the team, or a note for the client file. Ask to see the output for a conversation like yours.
- Check where data sits. Ask for the hosting region, retention period, sub-processors and whether your data trains a model. If the Privacy Act 1988 applies to you, sending personal information offshore brings Australian Privacy Principle 8 into play.
- Write it down. A short internal policy on who may use which tool, on which conversations, with what consent wording. Our AI note taking policy template is a starting point.
For profession-specific shortlists, see our guides for mortgage brokers, law firms, financial advisers and accountants.
Common questions
What is the best AI note taker in Australia?
It depends on where you talk to clients and what the note is for. For internal Teams meetings, Microsoft's own recap and Copilot are the simplest choice. Granola, Fathom, Fireflies, Otter and tl;dv are strong general meeting tools. Plaud suits in-person and mobile conversations. Heidi is for clinicians. CallNote suits brokers, advisers and lawyers who need a file note in their own format from phone calls and meetings without recording.
Are AI note takers legal in Australia?
Yes, if consent is handled properly. NSW, WA, SA, Tasmania and the ACT require all parties to consent to recording a private conversation. Victoria, Queensland and the NT allow a party to record, with limits on sharing. The federal Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 also prohibits intercepting a call without the speaker's knowledge. Telling the client at the start and noting their agreement is the safe practice everywhere. This is general information, not legal advice.
Which AI note takers keep data in Australia?
Of the tools we checked, CallNote states that data is hosted in Sydney. Granola states US hosting and tl;dv states EU hosting. Microsoft Teams data sits in your Microsoft 365 tenant. Otter, Fireflies, Fathom, Plaud and Heidi did not state a hosting country on the pages we checked, so ask each vendor directly before sending client conversations through them.
Which AI note takers work on phone calls?
Most general AI note takers are built for video meetings. Fireflies says it transcribes calls from dialers such as Aircall and RingCentral. Plaud's Note Pro has a phone call mode for handset calls. Granola says its mobile app covers phone calls. CallNote works from the transcripts that Aircall, Dialpad and Microsoft Teams already produce.
Do I need a paid tool if I already have Microsoft Teams?
Often not. Any transcribed or recorded Teams meeting has a standard recap, and Teams Premium or a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence adds AI notes and follow-up tasks. That covers general meeting notes well. You need something extra when your calls happen outside Teams, or when you need the transcript turned into a structured file note in your firm's format and filed against the client.
Is there an AI note taker that does not record?
Yes. Transcript-based tools do not record at all. CallNote receives a transcript your phone system or meeting platform already made, or a voice memo you dictate after an in-person meeting, and never stores call audio. Microsoft Copilot can also run only during a Teams meeting with transcription off, and Microsoft says no meeting transcript is created in that case. Bot-free tools such as Granola still capture audio to transcribe it, then delete it.