To summarise a Teams meeting with AI you have to transcribe or record it and, when it ends, open «Recap» in the meeting chat: that is where the notes and the follow-up tasks appear. It is not free: intelligent recap needs Teams Premium (€8.70 per user per month in Spain) or Microsoft Copilot (€18.20), excluding VAT and on top of a Microsoft 365 plan. And it doesn't work in another organisation's meetings, such as the ones a client calls.
What summary Teams gives you: intelligent recap, Copilot and Facilitator
Teams has four ways to summarise a meeting with AI, and each one needs something different. According to Microsoft's help at 3 November 2026:
- Intelligent recap. When the meeting ends, AI-generated notes, follow-up tasks, mentions of your name, chapters and topics. If it was also recorded, the timeline of who spoke and when. The meeting has to last five minutes or more and be transcribed in a supported language.
- Copilot in the meeting. A private chat, during the meeting or afterwards, that summarises the key points with who said what, suggests tasks and answers questions (“what has been decided about the deadline?”). To use it after hanging up, transcription must have been on.
- Facilitator. Live notes that every attendee can edit, with the agenda and timers. It can only be added to scheduled meetings.
- Recap without saving the transcript. The newest: Teams uses the meeting audio for the recap and saves no transcript. Only in scheduled meetings, and only internal users with a Copilot licence see it.
Transcription itself, without a summary, does come with the business plans. How to turn it on, in which language and where it is saved is explained in how to transcribe a Teams meeting to text.
How to turn on the summary of a Teams meeting
You turn on the summary of a Teams meeting by transcribing it: with the licence and the policy in order, it appears on its own when the meeting ends. The steps:
- The licence. Teams Premium or Microsoft Copilot assigned to your user, and the transcription policy turned on by the firm's admin.
- In the meeting, transcribe or record. In the meeting controls, open More actions, choose Transcribe, confirm the spoken language (Spanish (Spain), for a meeting in Spanish) and select Confirm. If you record, transcription starts on its own.
- If you are going to use Copilot, the organiser decides in the meeting options, «Copilot and other AI», whether it is allowed during and after the meeting, only during it (nothing is saved) or never. With «Off», nothing is recorded or transcribed either.
- When it ends, open the meeting chat, then «Recap» and «AI summary» (or «Notes», if you used Facilitator). The Meeting Recaps app gathers the recaps of recorded or transcribed meetings from the last 30 days.
Meetings started on the spot with «Meet now» have no recap: Microsoft says that recap notes and content aren't available for ad hoc events.
Is the Teams meeting summary free? Licences and price
The AI summary in Teams is not free: no Microsoft 365 business plan includes it, and you have to add Teams Premium or Microsoft Copilot. Prices in Spain at 3 November 2026, per user per month, excluding VAT and with an annual commitment:
| Price | What it gives you in meetings | |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft 365 Business Basic | €6.07 | Teams with recording and transcription, no AI summary |
| Microsoft 365 Business Standard | €12.13 | The same |
| Microsoft 365 Business Premium | €19.06 | The same |
| Teams Premium (add-on) | €8.70 | Intelligent text recap |
| Microsoft 365 Copilot Business (add-on) | €18.20 (€15.60 in the first year with the promotion running until 31 December 2026) | Intelligent recap, audio recap, Copilot in the meeting and Facilitator |
For a firm of five lawyers on Business Standard, adding the summary costs €43.50 more a month excluding VAT with Teams Premium, and €91 with Copilot. Copilot Chat, the one that comes free, doesn't do this: Microsoft explains that it doesn't connect to the organisation's content, such as files, emails or chats, so it doesn't read your meetings.
Besides intelligent recap, Teams Premium includes live translated transcription and watermarks in meetings, among other features. What Copilot does in Word, with its prices, is covered in Copilot in Word.
Does the Teams summary work in Spanish?
Intelligent recap works in Spanish: it is on Microsoft's list of languages alongside English, French, German and Portuguese. The caveats:
- Spoken language for transcription: there is «Spanish (Spain)» and «Spanish (Mexico)», and you confirm it when you start transcribing.
- Facilitator: one language per meeting. If the one chosen doesn't match the one being spoken, it generates no notes.
- Meetings in two languages: multilingual recap, which translates the recap into other languages (Spanish among them), is in preview.
What the Teams summary doesn't cover at a law firm
The Teams summary only works in your own organisation's Teams meetings, and at a law firm many meetings aren't:
- The meeting the client calls. Copilot doesn't work in meetings organised outside your organisation, and no one outside the organiser's organisation sees the recap, even with Teams Premium. Facilitator doesn't support external meetings either. If the client or opposing counsel invites you to their Teams, your licence is no use.
- Zoom, Google Meet or a phone call. Microsoft only talks about Teams meetings, calls and events.
- The meeting across the desk at the firm. You can use Facilitator from the mobile app, or a room with Teams Rooms Pro (€34.70 per room), where Facilitator is in preview.
- The impromptu meeting. With no scheduled meeting there is no recap.
- The matter file. The transcript stays in the organiser's Exchange and OneDrive, with the recording, and the AI notes in the attendees' mailboxes. Taking what matters into the matter file is still your job.
If the summary has to go out to the client, first check what was said with opposing counsel or during a break: the summary covers the whole meeting. What minutes must include and what to check before sending them is covered in meeting minutes with AI.
Where the Teams summary wins
If the firm already works with Microsoft 365, the Teams summary has clear advantages, according to Microsoft:
No other provider
There is nothing to install and no other service to sign up for: transcription and summary stay in your Microsoft 365 and follow the firm's retention policy for recordings.
No training on your data
Microsoft says that prompts, responses and the data Copilot accesses are not used to train its foundation models, and that EU traffic stays within the EU Data Boundary.
Asking during the meeting
Copilot answers during the meeting, which is useful if you arrive late (“what have I missed?”) or to check what was agreed before hanging up.
Shared notes and sending to external attendees
With Facilitator every attendee edits the same notes, and the organiser with a licence can send the recap through Outlook to external attendees.
For meetings that aren't on Teams: ablalo
For the meetings the Teams summary can't reach (the client's, those on Zoom or Meet and those at the firm), the alternative is to record on your own computer, whoever organises the meeting.
With ablalo, the meeting is recorded on your computer (the microphone and the computer's sound), so it works in the client's Teams, in Zoom, in Meet or across the desk at the firm, without any bot joining. For each meeting you choose where it is processed: «European cloud», with who is speaking and a summary of what you have to do, what the client has to do and the dates that were mentioned, or «Only on this computer», without the recording leaving it. If it is a hearing or a trial, the summary picks up what the judge said, the key moments and the disputed facts. Each meeting is added to its matter file. It recognises Spanish speech only.
You can try it first with one of your own recordings: transcribe a meeting for free and without an account (the page is in Spanish).
The Teams summary vs ablalo
| Teams summary (Premium or Copilot) | ablalo | |
|---|---|---|
| Which meetings | Your organisation's Teams meetings | Any: Teams, Zoom, Meet, phone calls on the computer and in person |
| If the client invites you to their Teams | It doesn't work | Yes, because it records on your computer |
| Licence | Teams Premium (€8.70) or Copilot (€18.20) per user per month, plus Microsoft 365 | See pricing; 14-day trial, no card |
| Where it is processed | In Microsoft 365 | Your choice for each meeting: «European cloud» or «Only on this computer» |
| Summary | Notes, tasks and chapters; Copilot answers questions | Depends on the meeting type: client meeting, call, hearing or statement |
| Where it ends up | The organiser's Exchange and OneDrive | The matter file, with upcoming deadlines and what is pending |
They are not mutually exclusive: if the firm's internal meetings are on Teams and you already pay for Copilot, its summary does the job. ablalo covers the rest, and the client meetings you want to take into the matter file. Assistants that join with a bot, such as Fireflies, are the third route; the three are compared in taking meeting notes with AI.
In short
Teams summarises a meeting with AI if it is transcribed or recorded: when it ends, «Recap» in the meeting chat gives you notes, tasks and chapters, and Copilot answers questions about what was said. It is not free: it needs Teams Premium (€8.70) or Copilot (€18.20) per user per month, excluding VAT, on top of Microsoft 365. It only works in your organisation's scheduled Teams meetings, so it doesn't cover the ones a client calls, those on Zoom or Meet, or in-person meetings without a Teams room.
Sources: Microsoft, Recap in Microsoft Teams, starting and downloading transcripts, Copilot in Teams meetings, Facilitator, intelligent recap without transcription, intelligent recap licensing, Meeting Recaps app, Copilot and transcription, managing Facilitator, intelligent recap privacy, Copilot privacy, Copilot supported languages; prices in Spain (in Spanish): Teams Premium, Copilot for business pricing, Microsoft 365 business plans and Teams plan comparison. Checked on 3 November 2026.
Frequently asked questions
How do I summarise a Teams meeting with Copilot?
Turn on transcription or record the meeting and, if you have a Copilot licence, open it during the meeting or afterwards to ask it for a summary or ask it questions. When the meeting ends, intelligent recap appears in the meeting chat, under «Recap».
Is the Teams meeting summary free?
No. Microsoft 365 business plans include transcription, but the AI summary needs Teams Premium (€8.70 per user per month) or Microsoft Copilot (€18.20) on top, excluding VAT, according to Microsoft's prices in Spain at 3 November 2026.
How much does Teams Premium cost?
€8.70 per user per month in Spain, excluding VAT, with an annual subscription, at 3 November 2026. It is an add-on: you also need a paid Teams or Microsoft 365 licence.
What does Teams Premium include?
Intelligent meeting recap (AI notes, tasks, mentions and chapters), live translated transcription and watermarks in meetings, among other features. Copilot in the meeting and Facilitator don't come with Teams Premium: they need a Copilot licence.
Does the Teams summary work if another company organises the meeting?
No. Copilot doesn't work in meetings organised outside your organisation, and only people in the organiser's organisation see the recap. For those meetings you need a tool that records on your computer.
What is Copilot in Teams for?
In meetings, for summarising what was said with who said what, suggesting tasks and answering questions while the meeting is going on or afterwards.