If you’ve been on the hunt for the perfect Google Meet note companion for a while now, you’re in luck. After initially experimenting with AI summarization tools for Meet conferences with its “Duet AI” solution, Google left us all confused with the overhaul and rebranding of its AI solutions.

Duet AI disappeared to be replaced with “Gemini”, a more powerful generative AI companion powered by Google’s new family of proprietary foundation models. However, Gemini isn’t rolling out to all of Google’s Workspace apps at once, and its features are emerging somewhat slowly.

For instance, until now, Gemini in Google Meet has only been able to do a handful of things, like translate captions or enhance your video quality. This left a lot of people relying on third-party tools for meeting summarization and note-taking.

Fortunately, Google has now announced a new Gemini feature “Take Notes for Me”, that will be gradually rolling out to Workspace users, starting with users on Workspace Labs.

Here’s everything you need to know about the new functionality.

What is the Google Meet Note Companion?

The new Google Meet Note Companion, otherwise known as “Take Notes for Me”, is a Gemini-powered feature for Google Meet. It allows users to leverage artificial intelligence to automatically capture meeting notes. Plus, it can identify and create action items for meeting attendees, give latecomers a catch-up with a “summary so far”, and share summaries after a call.

This new feature builds on a variety of Gemini-powered capabilities introduced to Meet in the last year or so. Already, Gemini in Meet allowed users to improve video quality with “Studio Look”, and studio lighting or sound adjustments.

But a meeting summarization and note-taking feature was sorely lacking. Given that attendees only retain about 10% of meeting information on average, the lack of an automated note-taking feature was pushing Google behind its competitors.

After all, Microsoft and Zoom already offer note-taking capabilities with AI solutions built into their meeting apps and productivity tools.

Although Google previously offered similar functionality with Duet AI, the new Gemini-powered “Take Notes for Me” feature, announced on the 8th of August 2024, aims to deliver a more streamlined, convenient experience.

Google says its new Google Meet note companion will allow users to “drop the pen” and pay more attention to the conversations they’re having – just like most top meeting summary tools.

Google Meet Note Companion: Availability and Pricing

According to a blog post from Google, the Google Meet Note companion will be available to users with a Gemini Enterprise, Gemini Education Premium, or AI Meetings and Messaging add-on.

The new “Take Notes for Me” feature was actually recently introduced in preview in April 2024, when Google announced the arrival of the AI Meetings and Messaging add-on, available for $10 per user, per month. Users now need this add-on, or a compatible Google Gemini plan, to access both the Note companion, and Google’s “Translate for me” feature, also powered by Gemini.

The Translate for Me feature can create captions in 69 languages for meetings, and later this year, Google says that they’ll also be launching a similar feature for Google Chat.

Although Take Notes for Me is available to preview, you can currently only access it if you’re using Google Workspace Labs – the tester program Google offers to allow users to test out new AI features.

Once Google starts introducing the feature to all Workspace users, you won’t need access to the Workspace Labs system – just the right license. Google hasn’t revealed an official general release date yet, but some analysts say that the option to enable the note companion should start to appear for eligible users by the end of August 2024.

How to Access Take Notes for Me on Google Meet

Before you use the Google Meet Note Companion, it’s worth noting that there are some limitations right now. If you have the right licenses, Google Workspace Lab admins can choose whether they want to let their team members experiment with the feature, buy enabling it in the Host Management section of Google Workspace.

You can head to the Google Workspace admin dashboard, click Google Meet and select Gemini, to search for the new feature. However, even after the feature is enabled, only meeting hosts will be able to turn the feature on or off, and they’ll only be able to use it on a laptop or computer (for now).

Additionally, although Google is rolling out translation options with Gemini for Google Meet, the “Take Notes for Me” feature currently only works in English.

How to Use Google’s Take Notes for Me Feature

Once a Workspace Labs admin enables access to Gemini features for team members, anyone with the right license should be able to access the Note Companion when they host a meeting. You’ll know if the feature is available when you see a pencil icon with a star positioned at the top of your screen.

To get started, go to the Google Meet website and launch or select a meeting.

Click on the pencil icon at the top right of the page then you’ll see a number of options. You can:

  • Create a doc for meeting notes: Choose whether to create a new doc for meeting notes, or select an existing doc. The doc you choose or create will contain all of the meeting notes for the entire conversation.
  • Edit or delete generated action items: Gemini will highlight action items from your meeting automatically. Pop-ups will appear showing you these action items, and you can edit or delete them throughout the meeting.
  • Check the summary so far: You’ll see the “Summary so Far” from the meeting on the right-hand side of the screen as the AI app takes notes. You can manually refresh the summary by clicking on the pencil icon.
  • Stop or restart note-taking: All meeting participants can stop taking notes with Gemini at any time. This ensures you can keep sensitive information private.

Notably, hosts can enable the Google Meet Note Companion to start working automatically when a meeting begins, just like switching on automatic recording. When you’re creating a meeting, just click the “Video Call Options” button, and select Meeting Records then choose Take Notes with Gemini.

The note-taking feature will start working as soon as a host or co-host joins a meeting, and notes and recordings will automatically be shared with hosts and co-hosts.

What Happens After the Meeting?

When you end a meeting after using the Google Meet Note Companion, the meeting organizer, and the person who initially switched “Take Notes for Me” on, will receive an email. This message will contain all of the notes generated through the meeting.

Notably, the Google meeting recap won’t be available immediately. Instead, you’ll see a small notice telling you that Meet is producing a summary with action items and other details. When this summary is ready, you’ll receive another message.

Users can then share their meeting notes, summaries and action items with other users through Google Drive, Gmail, or Google Workspace Chat (with a link).

Keep in mind that the doc you create to contain your meeting notes will only be subject to retention policies if they’re set up for your Google Workspace. At the moment, “Take Notes for Me” doesn’t follow the standard retention policies of Google Meet.

Troubleshooting Google Meet Note Companion Issues

The Google Meet Note Companion is still a new feature, and Google is actively collecting feedback to improve its performance.

You can actually share your own feedback on how well Gemini is performing during a meeting. Just click More Options on your meeting screen, then select Report a Problem. You can report an issue, suggest an idea, and even capture a screenshot to share with Google.

For the time being, while Google Gemini for Workspace is still being tested and improved, you might encounter a few occasional issues. The “Take Notes for Me” button may be occasionally greyed out, meaning you can’t use it. Additionally, the meeting summary might be incomplete or inaccurate in places. Google says the common reasons for this include:

  • The use of a language other than English
  • Meeting participants using inappropriate or abusive language
  • Internet connectivity drops during the meeting

According to Google’s troubleshooting page, you can try reloading your browser if you’re struggling to generate a meeting summary in Google Docs.

If you’re constantly having problems and want to wait for a more significant update to the note-taking feature, Google recommends simply switching off Workspace Labs features for the time being.

Google Meet Note Companion: A Worthwhile Feature?

Automated note-takers and AI meeting assistants are nothing new. However, Google has fallen behind the competition slightly by failing to offer its own built-in generative AI note-taking tool in Meet.

The addition of this new Google Meet Note Companion will ensure companies don’t have to rely on third-party apps to keep track of important conversations. This means Google can once again compete effectively with rivals like Microsoft and Zoom.

Still, it’s worth remembering that the feature isn’t free. You’ll need at least the $10 per month per user “AI Meetings and Messaging add-on” to get started. There are definitely cheaper options out there if you don’t mind working with integrations.

However, Google will hopefully introduce new benefits for this add-on in the months ahead, alongside additional updates to Google Meet.

FAQs

Can AI take notes during Google Meet?

Google Meet’s new “Take Notes for Me” feature is now rolling out to Google Workspace Labs users, and companies with specific Google AI licenses. The feature, powered by Gemini, can take notes during meetings, create action items, and summarize conversations.

What is Google Meet Companion Mode?

Google Meet companion mode allows users to join a video meeting on a second screen, and keep their microphone and video turned off to avoid any feedback. This is a popular option for team members in a shared office or meeting space that want to use Google Meet without disrupting the conversation.

Does Google Meet have a note-taking feature

Yes, Google Meet now has an AI-powered note-taking feature, which leverages Google Gemini to take notes and summarize conversations during meetings. You can access this feature with a plan such as the AI Meetings and Messaging Add-on plan, for $10 per month.

 

 



from UC Today https://ift.tt/SR697vs