How does Read AI take meeting notes in Zoom and Teams?
Read AI sends an assistant into the call as a participant. It records, transcribes and sends a report afterwards. By default the assistant shows up as read.ai meeting notes; the report owner can rename it, for example to their first name plus Notetaker, according to the Read AI help page on what to tell attendees (all Read AI pages here checked 5 Nov 2026).
Zoom and Teams behave differently. Read AI's supported platforms page says it joins Teams as a participant, and joins Zoom as a participant only if you have connected your Zoom account to Read and are in the meeting, signed in to that same account.
| Question | Microsoft Teams | Zoom |
|---|---|---|
| How it joins | As a participant; waits in the lobby until someone admits it | As a participant, authorised by your signed-in Zoom account |
| Can it join if the Read user is absent? | Yes, according to Read's plans page | No: you must be in the meeting |
| Known limits | Calls started from the Chat tab (record them with the desktop app instead) | Read can't record Zoom Whiteboards |
| Manual add in the meeting | The Read AI Teams app; paid Teams or Microsoft 365 account needed | Read's Zoom app, Zoom desktop app on Windows or Mac only |
The Zoom rule comes from Zoom. A Zoom developer blog post of 4 November 2025 says that from 2 March 2026, apps joining meetings outside their own account must be authorised, and assistant apps must join on behalf of a user. Read's Zoom changes page turns that into plain terms: you can't send Read to a Zoom meeting on its own any more, and a free Zoom account is enough.
There is also a botless option. Read's desktop and mobile apps capture audio on your own device, so nothing appears in the participant list and the transcript has no speaker names, according to its page on web mode and desktop mode.
What is in a Read AI meeting report?
Every plan's report has a transcript, a summary, action items and meeting metrics; audio and video playback is only on Enterprise and Enterprise+. That is from Read AI help on whether every participant needs a licence, which also says only one person in the meeting needs a Read account to create a report and share it.
During the call, Read's apps for Zoom and Teams open a live meeting dashboard with real-time transcription, summaries and metrics, and private notes only you can see. In Teams, reports can arrive after the meeting in the Read AI app chat as cards with a summary, chapters and a View Full Report button, per the Teams integration page.
One catch for manual adds: Read can't link the report to your calendar event, so the report is titled with the platform name (for example Teams Meeting) and only the person who added Read gets the report at first. Connecting your calendar avoids that.
A summary is a record, not a decision log. Someone still has to confirm what was agreed and who owns each action; our guide to turning meeting notes into action items has a two-minute format for that.
How do you turn Read AI on for Zoom and Teams meetings?
Connect your calendar, set your auto-join preferences, and add Read by hand only as a backup. These steps are from Read's help pages, checked 5 Nov 2026; menus may differ from what you see.
Set which meetings it joins
Sign in to Read on the web and go to Account Settings > Meeting Recording > Auto-Join Preferences. With Auto-Join Calendar Events on, choose all calendar events (the default) or only events you host, and any participants (the default) or internal participants only. Internal-only means Read joins only when every invitee is from your domain, and the option only appears if your Read account uses a work email address. Steps from the Read AI auto-join page.
For Zoom, connect Zoom first
Go to Integrations > Zoom, click Connect, sign in to Zoom and approve. Without this, Read can't join any of your Zoom meetings.
Add it to a Teams meeting already running
Install the Read AI app from Microsoft AppSource or Apps in Teams and click Get it now. In the meeting, click Apps in the toolbar, open Read AI, click Save if a window pops up, sign in if asked, paste the meeting link (find it under More > Meeting info) and click Add Read. You need the organiser, co-organiser or presenter role.
Add it to a Zoom meeting already running
Open Read's Zoom app from the Apps list. If you own the meeting it joins automatically; if not, paste the invite link (click the arrow next to Participants, then Copy Invite Link) and click Add Read Assistant. Zoom Apps don't work on Zoom mobile or in a browser, per Read's manual add page.
Or skip the apps: sign in to Read's website, click Add to live meeting in the left-hand menu and paste the meeting URL. The host may still need to admit it.
How do you stop or remove Read AI from Teams and Zoom?
Turn it off before the meeting, keep it in the lobby, or remove it once it's in. Read's turn-off guide gives the first four routes:
| When | Who | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Before the meeting | The Read user | On your Read Calendar, switch off Add Read? for that meeting at least 15 minutes before it starts. For a series, pick this meeting only or all future ones |
| At the start (Teams) | Whoever admits people | Select Deny on the lobby notification |
| During (host) | Host | Teams: People panel, notetaker's options, Remove from meeting. Zoom: Participants, More, Remove, then confirm |
| During (anyone) | Any participant | Click the opt-out link if Read posted one in chat; otherwise type Read stop (it leaves and makes a report of what it captured) or Opt out (it leaves, deletes the recording and makes no report) |
| For good | The Read user | Disconnect each calendar, and Zoom, under Integrations > Calendar & Meetings, per Read's deactivation page. Or delete the account under Account Settings > Advanced, per its account deletion page |
If Read still turns up after you have done all that, Read's page on why it keeps joining gives two causes: another invitee uses Read (on most platforms they only need to be invited, not attend), or you have a second Read account you forgot about. When it can, Read posts a chat message after joining that names who invited it.
Who is told when Read AI records, and how does consent work?
In web mode, Read appears in the participant list, may post a chat message naming who invited it, and any attendee can opt out. In desktop and mobile mode there is no bot, the chat commands don't work, and the person recording is responsible for telling others and collecting consent. Both points are from Read's web mode and desktop mode page. Read's privacy page goes further than its help pages: it says Read announces itself at the start of every meeting and needs host approval to join, while the turn-off guide says that in Zoom you may not see a request to admit it.
Read workspaces can also switch on Advance Notice and Opt-Out. Invitees outside the workspace (Read counts membership, not email domain) get an email shortly after Read is set to join, plus a reminder 24 hours before each meeting (skipped in some cases), with an Opt Out of Recording button. One opt-out stops Read recording the meeting automatically for everyone, though the same page says a Read user can still add it by hand once the meeting has started. Only a workspace owner or admin can turn it on.
The platforms add their own controls. Microsoft's page on external bots (updated 11 June 2026) says that with bot detection on, detected bots are placed in the lobby whatever the lobby setting, and organisers (or presenters, depending on settings) must admit them; the default policy is RequireApprovalWhenDetected. Microsoft also says some bots may not be detected. Zoom's recording consent disclaimer page says participants are notified when a recording starts or when they join one already being recorded, and can stay or leave; it doesn't mention third-party bots, and customising it needs a Business, Education, API or Enterprise account with 100+ licences.
How much does Read AI cost, and what is the billing basis?
Read AI charges per user, per month, and labels annual billing as 25% off (our arithmetic: Pro's $15 is about 24% below $19.75). Prices from Read's pricing page and plans help page, checked 5 Nov 2026:
| Plan | Monthly billing | Billed annually (per month) | Key limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 | 5 meeting reports a month, meetings up to 1 hour, no uploads |
| Pro | $19.75 | $15 | Unlimited reports, meetings up to 4 hours, 100 upload minutes a month, premium integrations |
| Enterprise | $29.75 | $22.50 | Adds audio and video playback, 200 upload minutes |
| Enterprise+ | $39.75 | $29.75 | Minimum 5 licences, meetings up to 8 hours, HIPAA, SAML and SCIM |
Worked example (our arithmetic): a three-person sales team on Pro pays 3 × $19.75 × 12 = $711 a year on monthly billing, or 3 × $15 × 12 = $540 billed annually, a difference of $171. Since only one attendee needs a Read account for a meeting to get a report, a founder who runs every customer call could start with one Pro seat: $180 a year billed annually.
Two plan details are easy to miss. Reports shared with a Free user count towards that user's 5 a month. When you upgrade, Read reprocesses the last 30 days of reports to apply the new plan's features.
Does Read AI use your meetings to train its AI?
Read says not without your opt-in, but its own pages disagree on how the one exception starts. Read's privacy page says “Contributing to model improvement is off by default.” Its data help page (updated 25 October 2026) says meeting content isn't used to train its models without your explicit opt-in, then names one exception, the Customer Experience Improvement Program, and describes that program as opt-out by default; about 10 to 15 percent of users join it, the page says. The privacy policy calls it a Customer Experience Program you may opt in to or out of in your account settings. The policy also says Read uses information to train and improve its models within its services, consistent with your account settings. So open your account settings and check the Customer Experience Program yourself.
The legal text is broader, so read it before client calls. Read's privacy policy (last updated 29 June 2026) says it uses audio and visual information to score affect and behaviour for metrics such as a Read Score, and to infer certain demographic characteristics, which it uses to improve its models. Read's help and privacy pages say it never sells your data, but the privacy policy disagrees in part: it says some advertising and analytics activities may count as selling or sharing under certain US state privacy laws, and lists data such as cookie IDs and hashed email addresses that it shares and sells to marketing and advertising partners. Read also says it is audited for SOC 2 Type II, and that you can turn off transcript storage under Account Settings > Report Content.
If you would rather have no bot at all, Siela's meeting notes record on your own device through the desktop app for Windows and macOS and pull out decisions, owners and follow-ups. The same consent duty then sits with you.
Frequently asked questions
Is Read AI part of Microsoft Teams?
No. Read AI is a separate company's product that you add to Teams as an app from Microsoft AppSource or the Teams Apps store. Your Microsoft admin may need to allow it for your organisation first, and adding it during a meeting needs a paid Teams or Microsoft 365 account and the organiser, co-organiser or presenter role.
Can I transcribe a Teams meeting without people knowing?
Read AI's web mode shows the assistant in the participant list and can post a chat message naming who invited it. In desktop mode it doesn't appear in the participant list, and Read says the person recording is then responsible for telling others and collecting consent. Many places require all-party consent, so tell people. This is not legal advice.
How do I remove Read AI from my Teams account?
Turn off auto-join in Read's Auto-Join Preferences, then disconnect your calendars under Integrations so Read stops trying to join. To remove it completely, delete your Read account under Account Settings, Advanced. Read can still appear in your meetings if another invitee uses it, because their account sends it.
How does Read AI work in Zoom?
You must connect your Zoom account to Read and be in the meeting, signed in to that same Zoom account; a free Zoom account works. Read then joins as a participant with its own video tile. Read made this change because Zoom now requires meeting bots to be authorised by a signed-in user.
Does everyone in the meeting need a Read AI account?
No. One person with a Read account, on any plan including Free, can create the report and share it. Others need a free Read account to view it unless the link is set to anyone with the link. What the report includes depends on that one person's plan.
Sources
- Read AI: What meeting platforms does Read support? (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Read AI: Upcoming Changes to Zoom Meetings (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Read AI: How do I manually add Read to a live meeting? (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Read AI: Connecting Read AI to Microsoft Teams (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Read AI: How can I change which meetings Read joins? (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Read AI: How to Turn Off Read AI (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Read AI: Why is Read still joining my meetings? (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Read AI: How Consent Works on Web Mode vs Desktop Mode (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Read AI: Advance Notice and Opt Out of Meeting Recording (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Read AI: What are the different paid plans? (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Read AI: Do all meeting participants need a license? (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Read AI: What Does Read AI Do With My Data? (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Read AI: What should I tell attendees? (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Read AI pricing (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Read AI privacy page (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Read AI privacy policy (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Zoom Developer Blog: Transitioning to OBF tokens (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Zoom Support: Customizing the recording consent disclaimer (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Microsoft Learn: Manage external bots in Teams meetings (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Read AI: Introduction: Getting Started with Read Meeting Apps (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Read AI: How do I deactivate my Read account? (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Read AI: How do I delete my account? (checked 5 Nov 2026)