How to Use Microsoft Teams AI for Meetings

Meetings are supposed to help you get things done—but they can quickly become overwhelming.
Trying to take notes, follow the conversation, and keep track of decisions all at once? It’s no surprise that key details often slip through the cracks.

That’s where Microsoft Teams’ Copilot comes in.
It takes the pressure off by automatically transcribing your meetings, highlighting key points, and generating summaries—so you can stay present and actually listen.

You can even ask Copilot questions, get instant action items, and quickly review what matters most after the meeting ends.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to use Copilot in Microsoft Teams to run more efficient, organized, and stress-free meetings.

Microsoft Copilot Features for Smarter Meetings

Live meeting summaries
Copilot keeps you up to speed in real time. As the meeting happens, it highlights key points and tracks areas of agreement or open discussion—so you can stay focused instead of scribbling notes.

Smart meeting recaps
Missed a meeting? Copilot has you covered. After the call, it delivers AI-generated notes that outline the main topics, decisions made, and next steps—helping you catch up in minutes.

Call summaries and action highlights
Whether it’s a voice call or video meeting, Copilot automatically creates a recap of the conversation. Important discussions and action items are captured for you—no manual transcribing needed.

Speaker identification
Copilot tracks who said what during the meeting, so you can easily refer back to individual contributions and follow the flow of conversation more clearly.

Noise reduction with voice isolation
Taking a call from a busy place? Copilot filters out background noise to keep your voice clear, making it easier for others to hear you—no matter where you are.

How to Use Copilot in Microsoft Teams Meetings

If you’re setting up a meeting in Microsoft Teams, you can choose how and when Copilot is used—even if you don’t personally have a Copilot license. Your organization’s settings will determine what options are available to you and your participants.

Before the meeting begins, you can adjust Copilot’s settings to fit your needs. Depending on your company’s policies, here are the three options you might see:

1. During and after the meeting

Copilot stays on throughout the meeting and continues working after it ends. Just make sure transcription is turned on—Copilot won’t activate without it. Once transcription starts, Copilot begins summarizing in real-time.

2. Only during the meeting

Copilot provides live insights while the meeting is happening, using real-time speech. However, once the meeting ends, all data is gone—unless transcription was turned on.

3. Off

Copilot is disabled entirely. No transcription, no summaries, and no AI features. This setting is often used for private or sensitive meetings.

How to Catch Up If You’re Late to a Meeting with Teams Copilot

Running late to a meeting? No problem. If you join more than five minutes after it starts, Teams will show a prompt offering a quick summary of what you missed.

Just click "Open Copilot", and you’ll see a recap of the meeting so far on the right side of your screen. This lets you catch up without interrupting the flow or asking others to repeat themselves.

If you’d prefer to review the summary without losing focus on the meeting, click "Pop Out" to open Copilot in a separate window. That way, you can skim the key points while staying part of the conversation.

Before the meeting wraps up, Copilot will also provide a full summary with the main highlights and any action items discussed.

Acta vs. Microsoft Teams Copilot

Why Acta Delivers More Than Just Meeting Summaries

Both Microsoft Teams Copilot and Acta help reduce meeting overhead. They transcribe conversations, surface key points, and provide summaries.

But here’s where Acta goes much further—especially for small and growing teams who need more than just a recap.

1. Not Just Notes — Real Output

• Teams Copilot gives you a helpful summary and action items based on what was said. But you still have to turn that into real work—PRDs, CRM updates, feedback forms, and more.

• Acta.ai does that for you. It creates ready-to-use deliverables based on your role. A sales call becomes a CRM update. A product meeting becomes a PRD. An interview becomes structured feedback.

With Acta, the follow-up doesn’t just get listed—it gets started.

2. Role-Based Intelligence

• Teams Copilot treats all participants the same. It summarizes content generically, without tailoring output to specific job functions.

• Acta.ai uses role-based agents trained for specific use cases like:

  • Product managers (PRDs, test cases)

  • Sales reps (CRM updates, deal summaries)

  • HR/recruiters (interview feedback)

  • Scrum masters (JIRA tickets, sprint items)

That means each person gets exactly what they need, without having to explain their workflow to the AI.

3. Cross-Platform, Not Just Teams

• Copilot is locked into the Microsoft ecosystem. It only works inside Teams, with Microsoft tools like Outlook and OneNote.

• Acta works across Google Meet, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams, and integrates with Notion, Confluence, Salesforce, HubSpot, JIRA, Slack, and more.

Perfect for hybrid teams and tech stacks that aren’t 100% Microsoft.

4. Real-Time and After-Meeting Value

• Copilot gives you summaries during and after the meeting—but it requires transcription to be enabled manually.

• Acta.ai starts working the moment the meeting begins—auto-detects context, summarizes live, and provides structured outputs the moment it ends. No setup, no clicks.

It’s like having a silent assistant who’s always ready and already knows how your team works.

5. Built for Action, Not Just Awareness

• Copilot helps you understand what was said.

• Acta helps you act on it—faster, cleaner, and without the busywork.

In Short:

If your goal is to take fewer notes, Copilot helps.
If your goal is to get real work done faster, Acta wins.

Try Acta for Free

Experience the difference a role-based AI assistant makes