What Zoom gives you after a meeting
Zoom has two separate outputs that people often confuse: the AI Companion meeting summary and a transcript. They come from different settings and suit different jobs.
| AI Companion meeting summary | Cloud recording audio transcript | Transcript retained with the summary | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | An AI-written summary of the discussion and next steps | A transcript Zoom makes after the meeting from a cloud recording | The transcript behind the AI Companion summary, kept after the meeting |
| Plan (per Zoom) | Zoom Workplace Pro or higher, with the feature enabled | Pro, Business, Education or Enterprise, with cloud recording and audio transcription enabled | Pro, Pro Plus, Business, Business Plus, Education or Enterprise, with AI Companion meeting features enabled |
| Needs a recording? | No. It uses speech-to-text during the meeting | Yes, a cloud recording | No |
| What you can download | The summary (email, Zoom Chat or the Summaries page) | A .vtt file with speaker names and timestamps | A .vtt file, from the Recordings and Transcripts tab, if the admin allows hosts to retain transcripts |
| Who controls it | Only the host can edit or delete. Zoom says deleting cannot be undone | The host, in the web portal. The transcript text can be corrected before download | The host decides per meeting whether to keep it |
Two practical points. Zoom says participants may receive the summary automatically after the meeting if the host chose to share it with them, so check the sharing setting before any client meeting. And Zoom's technical library describes a zero data retention option for summary transcripts: when it is on, Zoom deletes the transcript once the summary is created and there is no transcript to download afterwards.
On data handling, Zoom says it does not use customer audio, video, chat, screen sharing, attachments or other communications-like content to train its or third-party AI models. Zoom also lists Australia as one of the regions for its "Zoom models only" AI processing option, which customers request through Zoom support. If data location matters to your practice, ask your Zoom admin which option your account is on.
Is a Zoom summary enough for a file note?
The short answer is no, not by itself. The problem is not accuracy. A summary is built to tell the meeting what happened. A file note is built to show a regulator, a court or a complaints body what you did, what you were told and why you advised what you did. Test any summary against these five questions:
| Question | Zoom AI Companion summary | What a file note needs |
|---|---|---|
| Is it in your format? | Zoom's headings: summary, topics, next steps | Your headings: objectives, circumstances, options considered, advice, client decisions, next steps |
| Does it show what was not covered? | No. A summary describes what was said | Gaps should be visible, so you can follow up before you rely on the note |
| Can it change later? | The host can edit or delete it, and deletion cannot be undone | The reviewed version should be locked, with later corrections added as amendments |
| Is it on the client file? | It lives in Zoom and in email | It must be on the client or matter record, where you can retrieve it for years |
| Has a professional reviewed it? | Not necessarily. It can go out before anyone checks it | A person with the obligation should check names, figures and advice before it is final |
Mortgage brokers
The best interests duty in s 158LA of the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (NCCP Act) and the reasonable inquiries and verification obligations in s 117 are proved by the file. ASIC's RG 273 expects records showing the options you considered and the basis for your recommendation. A summary line like "discussed refinance options" does not show which lenders or products you weighed, what the client ruled out, or why. See how to write a compliant NCCP file note and the NCCP file note compliance checklist.
Financial advisers
Section 961B of the Corporations Act 2001 (the best interests duty) is demonstrated by your records, and s 912G, inserted by ASIC Corporations (Record-Keeping Requirements for Australian Financial Services Licensees when Giving Personal Advice) Instrument 2024/508, requires records of personal advice to retail clients to be kept for seven years. A summary that the host can delete, sitting in Zoom, is a weak foundation for a seven-year record. Review meetings also tend to cover scope, changes in circumstances and topics deliberately left out, and those are exactly the details a summary compresses. The best interests duty file note checklist is a good test.
Lawyers
An attendance note records instructions, advice and anything said about costs, often in the client's own words. A general summary tends to flatten "the client instructed us not to contact the other party" into "discussed next steps". Confidentiality under the Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules r 9 also means you should know who received that summary email. See how to write a legal attendance note.
Which Zoom output to use as your source
- The cloud recording audio transcript is the most complete. Zoom emails you when it is ready, and you download a .vtt file from the Recordings page in the web portal. You can fix misheard names in the portal before downloading. The catch: you now hold a cloud recording of your client, which needs a retention decision.
- The transcript retained with the AI Companion summary avoids storing audio and video. Your admin must allow hosts to retain transcripts, and you choose to keep it in the meeting. Download the .vtt from the Recordings and Transcripts tab.
- The in-meeting transcript, saved as a .txt with Save transcript in the Transcript panel during the meeting. Your admin must have meeting transcripts switched on.
- The AI Companion summary itself, only as a last resort. Paste it in if it is all you have, and expect to add detail from memory.
Our step-by-step guide to getting a Zoom transcript walks through the settings and download clicks for each option.
The workflow: Zoom transcript to file note in CallNote
CallNote is not connected to Zoom automatically. It does not join Zoom meetings, does not record and does not store audio. You bring the transcript to it. That takes about a minute once you know where the file is.
- Download the transcript from Zoom as a .vtt (or the .txt from the Transcript panel).
- Upload it on New note in CallNote, or paste the text. Or forward it to your Email-in address, with the .vtt attached or the text pasted into the email.
- Pick your template. Use a system template (financial advice, mortgage and NCCP, legal attendance note or general), or paste one of your own past notes and CallNote builds a template with your headings, order and shorthand in about 20 seconds. Nothing about the client in that note is kept.
- Review the draft. For a pasted transcript it is ready in about two minutes. Check names, figures and advice against your own recollection. Sections the meeting did not cover are marked, so gaps are obvious.
- Publish to CRM. The note is sealed with a SHA-256 checksum and locked. Corrections after that are append-only amendments, and every action goes in the audit log. The note goes to the CRM your firm has connected (HubSpot, Clio, or Microsoft Dynamics 365), or you export a PDF or copy it into your file.
If your practice uses Xplan, AdviserLogic, LEAP, Smokeball, Mercury or another system CallNote has no native integration with, export the PDF or copy the note into the client file. Zapier is an option where your system supports it.
Worked example
Fictional client, fictional facts. An adviser holds a 45-minute annual review on Zoom. AI Companion's summary reads, in part: "Reviewed super strategy. Discussed contributions and investment options. Adviser to send modelling." Here is the note written from the Zoom transcript with a financial advice template:
- Scope of this review
Superannuation and retirement planning only. Helen asked us to leave insurance out of this review, as she is reviewing her cover through her employer.
- Changes since the last review
Helen moved to four days a week from 1 July. Her home loan was paid off in May. No change to her health or her plan to retire at 64, in about four years.
- What the client wants
To grow her super before retirement and reduce the risk of a large market fall just before she stops work. She would like about $55,000 a year in retirement.
- Options discussed
- Salary sacrifice from her wage compared with a personal contribution she claims as a tax deduction, and how much room she has under the concessional contributions cap, including unused amounts from earlier years.
- Staying in her current balanced option compared with moving part of her balance to a more conservative option, and the risk of poor returns in the years just before retirement.
- Changing super funds was not discussed.
- Client decisions
Helen wants to see modelling before choosing a contribution amount. She wants to stay with her current fund and is not ready to change her investment option.
- Not covered in this meeting
Her beneficiary nomination and her likely Age Pension position.
- Next steps
- Adviser: model two contribution amounts and confirm her unused cap amounts by 7 October.
- Helen: send her latest super statement and a recent payslip by 30 September.
- Next meeting: raise the beneficiary nomination.
The summary is not wrong. It just leaves out the scope limit, the change in hours, what Helen decided, and what was not covered. Those are the lines that answer a question about the advice two years later.
A checklist for every client meeting on Zoom
- Host from your own licensed Zoom account, so you control the transcript and summary.
- Set AI Companion summary sharing to the host only for client meetings.
- Tell the client about transcription at the start and get a clear yes.
- Make sure you will have a transcript: cloud recording with audio transcript on, transcript retention allowed, or save the in-meeting transcript before you end.
- Download the .vtt the same day, and fix any misheard names in Zoom first.
- Turn it into a note in your format, review it, and lock it on the client file.
- Decide what happens to the cloud recording and the Zoom summary under your retention policy.
If most of your client contact is on the phone rather than Zoom, the manual step goes away with a phone system that sends transcripts automatically. CallNote connects to Aircall and Dialpad, and to Microsoft Teams for firms that meet on Teams (see file notes from Microsoft Teams transcripts). For how transcript-only tools differ from meeting bots, see meeting bots versus transcript-only note tools.
Common questions
Is a Zoom AI Companion summary a compliant file note?
Usually not on its own. It is a general summary in Zoom's format, it does not show what the meeting failed to cover, the host can edit or delete it, and it lives in Zoom and email rather than on the client file. Use it as a reminder and write the file note from the transcript.
Does Zoom AI Companion need to record the meeting?
No. Zoom says the meeting summary uses speech-to-text data from the meeting, and recording is separate. It needs a paid Zoom Workplace plan (Pro or higher) with the feature switched on. Consent still matters, because the conversation is being transcribed.
Can I download the transcript behind a Zoom AI Companion summary?
Yes, if your admin enables the setting that lets hosts retain transcripts generated with meeting summary, and you choose to keep it in that meeting. Zoom says hosts can then download it as a .vtt file from the Recordings and Transcripts tab. If zero data retention is on, the transcript is deleted once the summary is created.
Does Zoom use my client meetings to train its AI?
Zoom says it does not use customer audio, video, chat, screen sharing, attachments or other communications-like content to train its own or third-party AI models. Check your account's AI data processing option with your Zoom admin if data location matters to you.
Can CallNote connect to Zoom automatically?
No. Zoom is not an automatic integration. Download the Zoom transcript as a .vtt or .txt and upload it to CallNote, or paste the text. CallNote then writes the note in your format for review. Aircall, Dialpad and Microsoft Teams are the automatic sources.
How long do I need to keep a file note from a Zoom meeting?
It depends on your profession and your licensee or firm policy. Financial advisers must keep records of personal advice to retail clients for seven years under s 912G of the Corporations Act 2001, as inserted by ASIC Instrument 2024/508. Keep the note on the client file, not only in Zoom.