A meeting bot, sometimes called a notetaker bot, is an automated participant that a service sends into your video call. It is admitted like any attendee, appears in the participant list, and records the conference audio, and sometimes video, so the service can transcribe the call and return notes afterwards.
Bot-based capture adds an extra attendee and records the stream the conferencing platform sends to it, usually on a remote server. Device-based capture records on the computer you are already using, taking your microphone and the audio your machine is playing, so the recording starts locally and the participant list is unchanged.
A service typically connects to a calendar and a conferencing account, reads upcoming events, and sends a bot to the events you have set it to cover, which may be every call with a meeting link or only the ones you invite it to. If the meeting has a waiting room, the bot waits there until someone admits it. It records while the call runs, then delivers a transcript or summary to the people the workspace is set to notify.
Products differ on whether the bot joins automatically or only when invited, what name it displays, whether it announces itself in chat, which conferencing platforms it supports, where recordings are processed and how long they are kept, who can open a transcript, and whether administrators can block outside bots.
Recording rules vary by jurisdiction and by employer, and some require every participant to agree before a call is captured. A visibly named notetaker is disclosure rather than consent, so state what is being recorded and why. Many organizations also restrict outside bots on sensitive calls. Read the generated notes before forwarding them.
Cue is a desktop voice AI for Mac and Windows. Its meeting capture is a recorder on your own machine that you start yourself, so nothing joins the participant list and there is no bot for a host to admit. Cue can recognize meeting context and offer the recorder, but recording begins only after you choose Start. Longer meetings show a progressive transcript while they run, and structured notes with action items are ready once you stop. Cue is free to start; Cue Plus is $19.99/month.