Meeting Summaries

After a call, Ahoy captures a summary and transcript onto the meeting record – from whichever recording tool you use, or from Ahoy’s own notetaker. What you get depends on the source: some give a full summary with action items, some give a searchable transcript, and a couple give one but not the other. This guide covers what each source provides and how to connect it. Summaries appear on the meeting automatically; there’s nothing to approve.

This guide covers:

• What a meeting summary is
• Choosing a recording source, and what each one gives you
• Connecting your source
• Controlling capture and consent
• What happens after the call

What a meeting summary is

A meeting summary is a single record on the meeting, holding the transcript plus whatever intelligence the recording source provides – a written summary, action items, key topics. It’s the after-the-call companion to a prep brief: prep is what Ahoy pulls together beforehand, the summary is what it captures afterward. On a past meeting, the summary sits at the top of the record, with the prep brief kept below it.

Ahoy doesn’t record your meetings by itself unless you turn on its own notetaker. Otherwise it captures what your recording tool produces, so the first step is choosing and connecting a source.

Choosing a source

Ahoy works with a number of recording sources, and what you get varies a lot between them – so this is the table worth reading before you pick one. 'Searchable transcript' means you can filter the transcript by speaker and search its text; sources that provide 'prose notes' instead give you the text without those controls.

Connecting your source

Sources connect in one of a few ways, and it’s worth knowing which yours is, because the setup happens in different places.

Connect in Ahoy – Fathom, Granola, Fireflies

Go to Settings > Integrations > Meeting Summaries and use the Connect button on the source’s card. Each asks you to sign in to the tool, and each needs the tool set up on its side – Granola and Fireflies on the same email as your Ahoy account, with the tool set to record and transcribe your meetings. It's important to note that Fathom won’t join a call unless you’re on it yourself.

Configure in the tool – Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Zoom

These aren’t connected in Ahoy separately. They're included from your existing email and calendar connection. Some common issues that can come up:

• Google Meet needs Google Workspace Business Standard or higher, with transcripts enabled by your admin. Then, in the calendar event’s video-call options, turn on “Transcribe the meeting.” Only the host can start it, and it works from a desktop browser only.
• Microsoft Teams needs a Microsoft 365 Business or Enterprise plan with Teams. Recording and transcription must be turned on by your admin and started on the call.
• Zoom needs a Zoom Pro plan or higher, with AI Companion and its meeting summary turned on. Switch on “Include the full summary text” so the summary isn’t just a stub, and have the host share the summary with meeting invitees so it reaches your inbox, which is how Ahoy picks it up.

Turn on Ahoy’s notetaker

Go to Settings > Notetaker and switch recording on. Ahoy joins your calls as a participant – there’s nothing to install, and it works whatever computer you’re on.

Checking your setup

Settings > Integrations > Meeting Summaries shows each source’s connection status and when Ahoy last received something from it. If Granola or Fireflies hasn't been used in a while, its card flips to “Reconnect needed” so you know to sign back in; for the other sources, the last-received time is the signal to watch.

Controlling meeting capture

For third-party tools, capture follows the tool. Ahoy takes in whatever your recorder sends. If Fathom records everything, Ahoy gets everything; to keep a sensitive call out, turn recording off in the tool itself. There’s no separate per-meeting switch in Ahoy for these.

For Ahoy’s notetaker, you have full control. It’s off until you turn it on – no one gets bot recording without opting in. From there you can record or skip an individual meeting from the meeting’s header, keep a list of people or domains to always skip, limit recording to external meetings only, and switch it on or off for yourself or, as an admin, for the whole team.

What happens after the call

A summary usually lands within minutes, however, how quickly depends mostly on how long your recorder takes to finish processing the call.

Once a summary is captured, Ahoy reads its action items and may propose a follow-up – a draft email addressing the action items, or a CRM update – which, like every AI Action, waits for your approval. See the AI Actions article for more information.

What Ahoy captures after one call becomes context for the next: open action items and the last session’s notes feed straight into the prep brief for a recurring meeting. See more in the Meeting prep article.

FAQs

Why didn’t my meeting get summarized?

Check that your chosen meeting recorder recorded the call first, then the source’s last-received time on the Meeting Summaries page. A few common causes: on Google Meet only the host can start transcription; on Teams recording has to be started; on Zoom the summary must be enabled and shared with invitees.

I connected Google Meet but I’m not getting summaries.

Google Meet gives Ahoy the transcript, not a summary. You’ll see the full transcript on the meeting, searchable and filterable by speaker, but no summary block. If you prefer written summaries, try a meeting recording tool that provides one like Fathom, Fireflies, or Ahoy’s notetaker, for example.

Which recorder should I use?

Ahoy supports a number of recording tools, you can check the table above for what each one gives you.

Can I stop Ahoy recording a sensitive call?

With Ahoy’s notetaker, yes – skip an individual meeting from its header, keep an always-skip list of people or domains, or limit recording to external meetings. With a third-party tool, turn recording off in that tool for the call.

Does this work with Microsoft Teams?

Yes. Teams is fully supported, alongside Google Meet and Zoom. Teams provides a summary as prose notes rather than a searchable transcript.

Related articles

• Meeting prep
• AI Actions
• Connecting your integrations