Around 60% of professionals say they've had a meeting disrupted by a note-taking bot joining unexpectedly. The recording notification appears, the tone shifts, and the natural conversation you were having becomes something more guarded.
Most AI meeting note takers work by joining your call as a participant. You invite them, they sit in the meeting, they record the audio, and they send you a transcript afterwards. It works — but it comes with trade-offs.
Why bot-based note takers create friction
When a bot joins a meeting, every participant sees it. In a client call, that means your client knows they're being recorded — which is sometimes fine and sometimes awkward. In a sensitive conversation, it changes the dynamic entirely.
There are also practical limitations. Bot-based tools only work on video calls with a join link. Phone calls, in-person meetings, and quick desk-side conversations are left unrecorded. Your notes are complete for some meetings and nonexistent for others.
The result is a patchwork. You have transcripts for Zoom calls and nothing for everything else. The meetings where you most need notes — a difficult client call, a spontaneous one-on-one, a phone conversation where something important was agreed — are exactly the ones that fall through the cracks.
How Cue works differently
Cue records directly on your device — your iPhone, Android phone, or Mac — using the microphone built into your hardware. There's no bot, no join link, and no notification visible to other participants.
Before a meeting, you open Cue. During the meeting, you focus on the conversation. When it ends, you have a summary, a full transcript, and a list of action items — generated automatically, without anyone else knowing you had help.
This works for every type of meeting:
- Zoom and Teams calls recorded from your side
- Phone calls and client calls
- In-person meetings and one-on-ones
- Interviews and research sessions
- Any conversation where you need an accurate record
Download Cue for iOS or Cue for Android to get started.
95% accuracy without a bot
One assumption worth challenging: the idea that bot-based recording produces more accurate transcripts because it has a cleaner audio feed.
In practice, Cue's on-device recording delivers 95%+ transcription accuracy across a range of environments — including healthcare settings, legal interviews, and academic research. The transcription happens locally, optimised for the way conversations actually sound on a phone or laptop microphone.
For most use cases, the difference in audio quality between a bot recording and on-device recording is negligible. The difference in friction is significant.
The privacy question
Recording without a visible bot raises a reasonable question: is this legal?
In most of the US, one-party consent applies — you can legally record a conversation you're part of. In the UK and many other countries, the same principle applies for personal notes, though you should inform participants when required by your industry or role.
Cue stores all recordings on-device with end-to-end encryption. You control what gets shared and with whom. Nothing leaves your device unless you choose to export it.
Who uses Cue this way
Sales teams use Cue on client calls where a visible bot would feel out of place. The call feels natural, the notes are complete, and follow-up emails go out with accurate detail.
Healthcare professionals use it for patient consultations where recording discretion matters.
Researchers and interviewers use it for sessions where a recording notification might affect how a subject responds. When someone knows they're being recorded by a third-party platform, they often respond differently.
Product managers use it for back-to-back internal meetings where the overhead of inviting a bot to each call adds up quickly.
The common thread: situations where accuracy matters and a bot would get in the way.
Getting started
Cue is free to download. Get it on iOS or Android. Open the app before your next meeting, stay present in the conversation, and let Cue handle the notes.