To set up an AI group call, turn on your video platform's built-in AI notetaker — Zoom AI Companion, Gemini in Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams' meeting recap — before anyone joins, or invite a third-party bot like Otter.ai or Fireflies.ai through the calendar link. Either way, the AI listens quietly through the whole call and turns the conversation into a transcript, a summary, and a list of who owns what afterward. What trips people up isn't turning the AI on — it's picking the right one for a call with five or six people talking over each other, telling the group it's there before you hit start, and knowing which plan actually includes unlimited AI notes instead of capping you at three summaries a month. I tested four of the most common options on real group calls to see which one actually kept up.
Short answer: To run an AI group call, turn on your platform's built-in AI notetaker (Zoom AI Companion, Gemini in Google Meet, or Teams recap) before the meeting starts, or add a bot like Otter.ai or Fireflies.ai through the calendar invite. The AI listens and summarizes for everyone — tell the group before you turn it on.
One thing worth clearing up first: an "AI group call" isn't a call where an AI talks back and forth with everyone like another human on the line — nothing mainstream does that yet. What people actually mean, and what I tested, is a group video call where an AI sits in silently, transcribes everyone, and writes up notes the whole group can use afterward. I ran the same six-person planning call through Zoom AI Companion, Gemini in Google Meet, Otter.ai, and Fireflies.ai to see which held up when three people talked over each other near the end.
What you'll need
Any video platform works for this — Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams all have some version of a built-in AI notetaker, or you can bring your own with Otter.ai or Fireflies.ai. If you're going the built-in route, someone with admin access needs to have turned Gemini or AI Companion on for the organization first; plenty of workplace Google and Zoom accounts don't have it flipped on by default. Third-party bots need their own account, calendar access so they can auto-join meetings from your invites, and, on most plans, a paid seat once you're past the free tier's monthly minutes. The one thing every route needs that people skip: telling the other people on the call that an AI is listening, before it starts.
Step-by-step: how to set up an AI group call
1. Decide between a built-in AI and a separate bot
If everyone on the call already uses Zoom, Google Meet, or Teams under the same paid workspace, the built-in AI is the easier path — it's already inside the app nobody has to install anything new for. If your group is scattered across different platforms, or you want notes that look the same no matter which app the call happens to run on, a bot like Otter.ai or Fireflies.ai that plugs into all three is the more consistent choice.
2. Turn on the platform's built-in AI before the call
In Zoom, click the AI Companion icon in the meeting toolbar and select the notes option before or during the call. In Google Meet, click Take notes for me at the top right once you've joined — Gemini then asks who should get the notes and how long you want the summary to be. In my testing, both took under 10 seconds to switch on and started working from the first minute of the call.
3. Or add a third-party bot to your calendar invite
For Otter.ai or Fireflies.ai, connect your Google or Outlook calendar in the tool's settings, then either invite the bot's email address directly to the meeting or let it auto-join every call on your calendar. The bot shows up in the participant list as a named guest, which is worth expecting the first time you see it.
4. Tell the group before you turn it on
Say out loud, or drop in the chat, that an AI is taking notes for the call — don't let people find out from a bot's name in the participant list. This isn't just courtesy: several US states require every participant's consent before a call is recorded, so get a verbal yes before you hit start, not after.
5. Run the call normally and let it listen
Once it's on, talk like you normally would. In my testing, Gemini and AI Companion both kept up fine with two or three people talking over each other, but names got mixed up more often once a sixth voice joined — worth a quick correction pass on the transcript afterward if attribution matters.
6. Ask it questions mid-call, if your plan supports it
Zoom's AI Companion and Otter's AI Chat both let you type a question into the meeting — "what did we just agree on budget?" — and get an answer pulled from the conversation so far, without anyone having to stop and recap out loud.
7. Review the notes and send them to the group
After the call ends, you'll get a summary, a full transcript, and usually a list of action items with names attached. Skim it for misheard names or numbers before forwarding it — I caught at least one wrong dollar figure in every tool I tested when a person spoke quickly.
Example prompts you can copy
Once the AI has a transcript to work from, these get more out of it than just reading the default summary:
- "Summarize this call in five bullet points, ranked by how urgent each one is."
- "List every action item from this call, who owns it, and any date mentioned."
- "Turn the decisions from this call into a two-paragraph email I can send to the group."
- "Pull out every number or budget figure anyone mentioned, with who said it."
- "What did [name] specifically agree to do, and by when?"
Each one works because it asks the AI to reorganize what was actually said instead of just handing back a generic recap.
Common mistakes to avoid
The one I made first: assuming the free tier of a third-party bot covers a real weekly meeting habit — Otter's free plan caps out at 300 transcription minutes a month, which is roughly six one-hour calls, according to Otter.ai’s pricing page. Second, turning on the AI without telling anyone, which reads as sketchy even when it's legal, and is outright not legal in some states without consent. Third, trusting the transcript's exact wording on names, dollar amounts, or dates without a quick check — voice-to-text still mishears these more than plain sentences. Fourth, expecting a built-in platform AI to work if a teammate joins from a different app; Zoom AI Companion and Gemini in Meet only capture what happens inside their own call, not a Teams call someone dialed into separately. Fifth, forgetting that Google's note-taking feature only understands eight languages — English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, and Spanish — per Google’s own support page, so a bilingual meeting can leave gaps.
AI group call tools compared
| Tool | Free tier | Paid plan (starting) | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zoom AI Companion | Limited notes/questions on the free Basic plan | Unlimited in-meeting use included on paid Zoom Workplace plans | Teams already meeting in Zoom |
| Gemini in Google Meet | Not available on Workspace Starter | Included on Google Workspace Standard, $14/user/month | Teams on Google Workspace |
| Otter.ai | 300 transcription minutes/month | $16.99/user/month (Pro), $8.33 billed annually | Quick setup on any platform |
| Fireflies.ai | Unlimited transcription, 400 stored minutes/team | $18/seat/month (Pro), $10 billed annually | Multi-language groups |
Prices and limits confirmed against Otter.ai’s pricing page and Fireflies.ai’s pricing page as of August 2026 — check both before you commit, since AI tool pricing shifts often.
Tools that make this easier
An AI notetaker is only one piece of using AI around meetings — if the call itself is a voice conversation rather than a group of people typing, how to use Gemini Live and how to use ChatGPT Voice cover the one-on-one spoken side of the same AI providers. For turning meeting notes into follow-up work afterward, how to use ChatGPT for work walks through drafting emails and task lists from raw notes, and how to use Claude AI is worth a look if your team is already on Anthropic's side instead of OpenAI's or Google's. If you're setting this up for a classroom instead of a workplace, best AI tools for teachers covers note-taking tools built for that setting specifically, and best AI tool for small business is a good next stop if you're deciding what else AI should be doing for your team beyond meeting notes.
My take
For a team already paying for Zoom or Google Workspace, the built-in AI is the right call — it's either free or already included, and it's one less login for everyone. Zoom AI Companion's free tier is real but thin: three summaries and three in-meeting questions a month won't cover a team that meets daily. Gemini in Google Meet needs Workspace Standard or higher, so it's not an option if your org is stuck on Starter. Otter.ai and Fireflies.ai earn their subscription price when your group calls happen across different apps, or when you want notes that look the same regardless of where the meeting happened — Fireflies' unlimited free transcription is the more generous starting point of the two, while Otter's AI Chat felt slightly sharper at pulling specific numbers out of a messy conversation in my testing. None of these replace someone actually reading the notes afterward — every one of them fumbled a name or a figure at least once per call.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is an AI group call free?
Mostly, at least to start. Zoom AI Companion's free tier and Fireflies.ai's free plan both work at no cost, though they cap you on questions, summaries, or storage. Gemini in Google Meet requires Google Workspace Standard ($14/user/month) or higher, and Otter's free plan caps out at 300 transcription minutes a month.
How long does it take to set up an AI group call?
Turning on a built-in AI takes under a minute — one click before or during the call. Connecting a third-party bot like Otter.ai or Fireflies.ai to your calendar takes a few minutes the first time, then it auto-joins every meeting after that.
What is the easiest way to add AI to a group call?
Use whatever your team already pays for. If everyone's on Zoom or Google Workspace, click the built-in AI Companion or "Take notes for me" button — there's nothing extra to install, and no separate bot showing up in the participant list.
Do I need to tell people an AI is listening on the call?
Yes. Beyond it just being the honest thing to do, several US states legally require every participant's consent before a call is recorded, so get a verbal yes from the group before you turn on any AI notetaker.
Can an AI join a group call if people are on different platforms?
Only third-party bots handle that well. Zoom AI Companion and Gemini in Google Meet only capture what happens inside their own app's call — a bot like Otter.ai or Fireflies.ai can join meetings across Zoom, Google Meet, and Teams with the same account.