Most leaders do not need more meetings. They need to leave each one with clear decisions and owners, without a second job in their inbox.
Otter is a dedicated AI note taker. It joins your Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet calls, then returns a summary, action items and a searchable transcript. Because it works across platforms, one tool covers every meeting, whoever sends the invite.
Where to find Otter
Sign up at otter.ai and connect your Google or Microsoft calendar. You can then invite Otter to selected meetings, or let it join all of them. Otter also has mobile apps for recording in-person conversations.
Otter joins as a visible participant, so everyone in the call can see that the meeting is being recorded.
What your plan includes
- Basic (free): a limited number of transcription minutes each month, with a cap on how long each conversation can be.
- Pro: more minutes and longer conversations for individual users, at roughly $17 per month, or about $8 per month when billed annually.
- Business: team features and admin controls, at roughly $30 per user per month, or about $20 when billed annually.
- Enterprise: custom pricing, with options such as single sign-on and custom data retention.
Prices change often, so check Otter's pricing page before you buy for a team.
When Otter earns its place
- Your meetings span platforms, such as clients on Zoom and your team on Teams.
- Your company has no built-in meeting AI, or not for everyone.
- Interviews and research calls, where you want a full transcript to search later.
- Back-to-back days, where you need a reliable recap of calls you could only half follow.
How to use Otter, step by step
Step 1: Connect your calendar. Choose which meetings Otter joins. Start with a few internal meetings before you let it join everything.
Step 2: Tell people Otter is there. Mention it at the start of the call, and leave it out of sensitive conversations.
Step 3: Stay present, and ask privately if you need to. During the meeting, Otter AI Chat answers your questions about the conversation so far. Only you see them.
Step 4: Open the recap. After the call, Otter shows the AI summary, decisions, action items with owners, and Slide Capture, which links any slides that were shared to the moment in the transcript.
Step 5: Check the important parts. Click an action item to jump to the transcript behind it. Spot-check one or two key decisions before anything leaves your hands.
Step 6: Turn the meeting into a deliverable. Ask Otter for a summary you can share:
Create a one-page executive summary from this meeting. Include the objective, key discussion points, decisions, action items with owners and due dates, open risks or unresolved questions, and recommended next steps. Keep it concise, flag anything unconfirmed and do not invent missing details.
Step 7: Share or hand off. Send the recap, copy the actions into your task system, or use the open questions as the agenda for the next meeting.
A CODO prompt for the follow-up
The notes are only half the job. Use this prompt, built with our CODO framework, to turn any transcript into decisions, owners and a follow-up message. Replace the bracketed parts. Review the follow-up before you send it, and send it yourself.
Character: You are an experienced chief of staff who turns meeting transcripts into clear follow-up. Objective: I am the [role] at [company]. Turn the attached transcript of [meeting name] into a post-meeting package I can act on today, for [the people who attended]. Do: - Separate real decisions from things that only sounded like agreement. - Use speaker names from the transcript for action items, and flag any item without a clear owner. - Give every action item an owner, a next step and a deadline, and flag dates nobody actually stated. - Keep it skimmable, with short headers and bullets. Don't: - Don't invent anything that is not in the transcript. If the transcript is thin, say so. - Don't bury open questions. They are often the most valuable part. Output: A post-meeting package with five sections: a 3 to 4 sentence summary, decisions made, action items, open questions, and a follow-up message I can review and send myself.
Want to go further? These pages build on the same habits:
- How Jakob Knutzen (GM, Miro) uses AI before, during and after every meeting: a senior leader's routine for preparing, running and following up on meetings.
- Your meeting architecture is broken: decide which meetings should exist before you automate their notes.
- Our guide to reusable AI assistants: save the prompt above as an assistant you reuse after every meeting.
What will your IT and legal teams ask?
- Where is our data stored? With Otter, an independent company, under its own terms rather than your agreement with Microsoft or Google.
- Is this approved? Many companies limit third-party note takers. Check your policy before you connect a work calendar.
- How do we handle consent? Tell participants before you record, and follow local rules on recording conversations.
- What controls do admins get? Business and Enterprise plans add team management, and Enterprise adds options such as single sign-on and retention settings.
Otter or another meeting assistant?
Otter is a strong choice when your meetings run on several platforms, or when your company has no built-in meeting AI.
If your company runs on Microsoft 365, Copilot in Teams keeps notes inside your tenant. On Google Workspace, Gemini in Google Meet writes notes into Google Docs. ChatGPT Record and Meetings records on your Mac without a bot, and Claude Meetings brings Claude into Google Meet calls. Our overview of AI meeting assistants compares all five options.
Key takeaways
- Connect your calendar and start with a few meetings.
- Tell people Otter is listening, and skip sensitive calls.
- Stay present and use AI Chat only when you need it.
- Check key decisions against the transcript.
- Send the follow-up yourself after you review it.
