The problem
Directors' and residents' meetings produce actions and decisions that need accurate minutes, and writing them up takes as long as the meeting. If you cover 6 online meetings a month and each takes 90 minutes to minute, that's 540 minutes, 9 hours a month.
What the AI does
Fathom AI Notetaker is an AI note-taker for online meetings. Its page lists Google Meet, Zoom and Microsoft Teams as supported, and says Premium adds advanced call summaries and AI-generated action items. The block manager tells attendees the meeting is being recorded, runs the meeting, and uses the Fathom AI Notetaker summary and action items as a starting point. The block manager checks the summary against what was decided, writes the minutes, and circulates them for the chair to approve.
A worked example
A block manager in Reading supports the directors of six residents' management companies, each meeting online once a month. One person attends all six and writes the minutes.
Before
90 minutes to write up each of 6 meetings: 540 minutes, 9 hours a month
After
About 40 minutes to check the summary and write the minutes: 240 minutes, 4 hours a month
What it's worth
About 5 hours a month saved (50 minutes x 6 meetings = 300 minutes), worth around £150 if the block manager's time is worth £30 an hour. Premium is $16 (about £12) a user a month on annual billing or $20 (about £15) monthly, for one user.
How to set it up
- Tell directors and attendees before the meeting that it will be recorded and summarised by AI, and say what happens to the recording.
- Ask Fathom AI Notetaker for its data processing agreement, where data is processed and whether customer data trains its AI models; the page doesn't say.
- Try it on two meetings and compare the summary with your own notes.
- Write the minutes yourself from the summary, check every decision and action, and send them to the chair for approval.
- Delete recordings you don't need and keep the approved minutes in the block's records.
What goes wrong
- A summary can misattribute or miss a decision, and minutes are a record other people rely on. The chair must approve them.
- Residents' views and comments are personal data. Record only with agreement, and limit who can see recordings.
- Fathom supports online meetings on Google Meet, Zoom and Teams; the page doesn't say how in-person meetings work.
- Premium is priced per user. The free plan has unclear limits, and advanced summaries and action items need Premium.