🤖 Automating Meeting Documentation with Zapier and Copilot
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You know that feeling, right? You finish a big project meeting, your head's full of ideas, actions. Yeah. And then comes the dread, actually writing it all down, turning that talk into, well, usable notes. It's such a time sink. And you always miss something. Exactly. Exactly.

Well, today you've brought us a source that hits that problem right on the head. It's a guide really practical on automating meeting docs using two different tools, Zapier and Microsoft Copilot. Two quite different approaches, actually. Yeah. So our mission for this deep dive is to unpack those methods, go through the steps, sure, but also understand how they can change the game for capturing what happened in a meeting. Turning messy talk into structured info.

Automatically. Right. And we should mention straight away this deep dive. It's based on a brand new tutorial. It's from the AI Unraveled's Builder Toolkit. Ah, yes. Etienne's work. Exactly. Created by Etienne Newman. He's a senior engineer and, fun fact, a passionate soccer dad up in Canada. He really knows his stuff, especially practical AI application.

Totally. And this builder toolkit is just that practical. It's a collection of real hands-on AI tutorials. Think detailed PDF guides, videos walking you through even audio snippets. Designed to get you actually doing things with AI, not just

Hearing about it. Precisely. And you get lifetime access to updates, so it keeps growing. It's honestly the perfect bridge from concept to actually building stuff. And importantly, supporting the toolkit helps keep things like this deep dive and the daily AI Unraveled podcast going. Absolutely. So definitely check it out, djamgatech.com, or just click the link in the show notes. Highly recommend it. For sure. It's amazing how much friction these kinds of tools can just...

Eliminate. Meeting notes are essential, but wow, they can be tedious. And error prone. Totally. So this source gives us two solid ways to automate it. Okay, let's dig into the first one then. Using Zapier agents. Now, people might know Zapier for basic app connections, right? Yeah, like if this, then that. But agents are more. Yeah. Like building little AI workflows. That's a good way to put it. The core idea is you configure an agent to grab your meeting recording and then process it into structured documents.

And the specific result in the guide is what exactly? It creates the full transcript first.

then a summary, and crucially, a list of action items, all compiled neatly into one Google Doc. - Okay, walk us through setting that up. The guide says you start in Zapier Agents, create a new agent. - Right, standard Zapier start, then the trigger, what makes it run. - The guide uses uploading an audio file to Google Drive as the main example. - Which is super common. But Zapier's flexible. The images in the source show other triggers too, like a new Zoom recording landing in the cloud.

Oh, interesting. Or even a Google Calendar event starting. So you can really match it to your workflow. Okay, trigger fires, audio is ready. Then the agent needs tools to do the work. Exactly. The guide details three key tools you add to the agent. Tool number one. ChatGPT from OpenAI.

but specifically configured just for transcription. It takes that audio file and turns it into text. Got it. Just the raw words. Then tool number two, and this is clever, is ChatGPT again. Wait, again? Why? This time you're using its processing power, its ability to understand language. It takes that raw transcript from step one and analyzes it, pulls out the main points for a summary, identifies who needs to do what for the action lists. It does the structuring part.

Ah, I see. So one chat GPT transcribes, the second one understands and organizes. Exactly. And then the third tool brings it home, Google Docs. Okay. You set it up to take the output from that second chat GPT, step the transcript, summary, actions, and create a new Google Doc with all that info. And it puts it where? The guide suggests putting it right back in the same Google Drive folder where the audio started, keeps things tidy. Wow. That's quite a flow. Completely skips the manual part. Right.

Listen, type format.gone. Once it's set up, you just test it with a sample file and make sure it works. Like a short test recording. Yeah, maybe a quick mock meeting clip. Then you flip the switch, activate the agent, and it just runs automatically whenever the trigger happens. The real power here seems to be that Zapier flexibility you mentioned. It's not tied to one specific meeting platform, is it?

Not at all. You could trigger it from various sources, potentially. And the output doesn't have to be Google Docs. Right. The source hints at that automate further idea. Yeah. It mentions you could add another Zepier step after the Google Doc is made. Maybe send the summary to Asana or Slack or even Microsoft Word like it mentions later.

So you can chain these automations together. Definitely. It shows the power of connecting different tools, which, again, is exactly the kind of thing you learn to build with resources like the Builder's Toolkit, taking these concepts and making them real. Yeah, that hands-on aspect is key. Okay, so that's the Zapier approach. Very customizable. Now let's switch gears. The second method in the source...

Microsoft Copilot, right inside Teams. This feels quite different. It's baked into a tool loads of companies already live in day to day. It is. The goal is similar auto-generated summaries, action items, notes, but it happens within the Teams environment itself, often, even during the meeting. Okay, so what do you need to make this work? Prerequisites. Yep, a few important ones.

First, you need that Microsoft 365 Copilot license. Which you typically get how? Usually request it internally, like through your IT department or maybe a system like ServiceNow. Gotcha. What else? You need the Teams desktop app, the

The source mentions Windows specifically and says the latest version is best. Okay. Teams app on Windows. Anything else crucial? Yes, absolutely critical. Meeting transcription must be enabled for that meeting in Teams. Why is that so vital? Because Copilot reads the transcript.

If Teams isn't actively transcribing the conversation in the background, Copilot has no input, no data to work with. It can't summarize what it hasn't heard, basically. Right. Garbage in, garbage out. Or rather, no data in, no summary out. Precisely. So setup involves scheduling the meeting, Outlook, or Teams calendar, invite people, standard stuff. But then you need to tweak the options. Exactly. Before the meeting, dive into meeting options.

Find the setting for Allow Copilot and set it to During and After the Meeting. Giving it permission to join and listen. Yep. And while you're there, just double-check transcription is also enabled. It often is by default these days, but worth confirming. Okay, meeting starts. You join as the organizer. And you should see a Copilot icon, usually in the top toolbar. Click that.

And that activates it. It might prompt you to explicitly start transcription if it hasn't started automatically. You click start and Copilot is now active for that session. Now, you said this can work during the meeting. That's the really cool part. It is. You can interact with it in real time via the Copilot chat pane right there in the meeting window. So what kind of things can you ask it? The source gives examples. Oh, yeah. Great ones like mid discussion. You could type.

summarized discussion so far. Wow. Instantly. Pretty much. Or list action items mentioned or even identified disagreements or unresolved questions. That last one is useful to make sure things get addressed. Totally. You could even ask it to generate a table of ideas with pros and cons if you're brainstorming options. And specific stuff too, like about a particular person. Yep. Prompts like, what did Sarah say about the budget? Or...

summarize the last 10 minutes. Maybe if you just needed a quick recap. That feels like having a super powered assistant right there in the meeting with you. It really does. It helps you stay focused on the conversation knowing the note taking heavy lifting is being handled. Okay so meeting ends. Yeah. Where do you find the final output? It's easy. It usually appears right in the meeting chat thread associated with that meeting.

Or you can find it attached to the event back in your team's calendar. And what does that final output include? Typically a full summary, the list of action items, key decisions made, any follow-ups identified by Copilot. Pretty comprehensive. And then you can take that text? And copy-paste it wherever you need it.

OneNote, a Word doc, your project management tool, SharePoint lists, wherever your team tracks things. The big plus here seems to be that tight integration, especially if you're already a heavy Microsoft 365 user. Absolutely. No need for external connections for the basic capture and summary. It's all within Teams. Keeps things streamlined. Definitely helps you focus on the humans in the room or on the screen. For sure. And mirroring the Zapier section, the source again mentions that automate further possibility. Okay.

How so with Copilot? It points to using Power Automate, Microsoft's own automation tool, or even bringing Zapier back into the picture. So Copilot's output can trigger other automations. Exactly. Imagine a Power Automate flow that watches for new teams meeting transcripts with summaries.

and automatically creates tasks in Microsoft Planner based on the action items Copilot listed. Ooh, that's powerful. Closing the loop. Right. Or, like the source suggests, use Zapier again to push that Copilot summary into a non-Microsoft tool, maybe Jira or Salesforce. So you can mix and match, take the integrated Copilot summary, and then use Zapier to send it anywhere. It really highlights how understanding these different tools and how to connect them again, like the Builder's Toolkit T4C,

teaches unlocks so much potential. You're not locked into one ecosystem entirely. That connection piece is huge. Okay, so two strong approaches. Zapier for custom workflows, Copilot for integrated teams assistance. The source also gives some general tips for success, right? Applicable to both. Yeah, good practical advice first.

Clear agendas, maybe assign roles like timekeeper. Structure helps the AI. Makes sense. A chaotic meeting is hard for humans or AI to follow. Exactly. Second.

Clear speech. Encourage everyone to speak one at a time, clearly. Better audio means better transcription, which means better summaries and action items. Crucial for any voice to text. Definitely. And third, if you are using Copilot, don't forget to actively use those prompts during the meeting. Guide the AI. Ask it specific questions to get the most targeted info. So just let it passively listen.

interact with it. Right, treat it like the assistant it is. Good advice all around really helps maximize the value you get. Yeah, follow those and the AI output should be much more useful saving you real time. Okay, so let's wrap this up. We've really explored two powerful ways to automate meeting documentation thanks to this guide. Zap your agents for that build-it-yourself, connect-anything workflow. Triggered by audio files or other events.

And then Microsoft Copilot, deeply integrated into Teams for real-time help and summaries. And the core benefit, the real takeaway for you listening, is just huge. Less time spent after the meeting wrestling with notes. More time during the meeting actually engaging, thinking, collaborating, knowing the key stuff is being captured accurately by the AI.

It's a shift from administrative burden to active participation. And if you want the detailed step-by-step guides on how to actually build these automations, how to configure Zapier, how to set up Copilot effectively, that's exactly what the AI Unraveled Builder Toolkit delivers. Etienne Newman's creation, yeah.

PDF guides, videos, audio, all practical, all designed to get you building. Plus that lifetime access to updates. It really is the way to turn understanding AI into using AI for real world problems like this one. Couldn't agree more. Find it at djamgack.com or the links right there in the show notes. Supporting it keeps this deep dive series rolling. Definitely check it out. So thinking about

all that time saved, all those hours you get back from automating meeting notes, here's something to ponder. What will you do with that reclaimed time? How could you reinvest it into more creative work, deeper strategic thinking, or just making your projects even better now that some of that admin weight is lifted? What new possibilities open up?