# How are meeting participants notified?

> What people in a Zoom, Google Meet, or Microsoft Teams call see when the Canto notetaker joins: a labelled participant that must be admitted.

Updated: 2026-08-16 · Canonical: https://usecanto.com/help/privacy/how-participants-are-notified/

The Canto notetaker never records covertly. On every platform it joins as a visible, named participant in the meeting, and it only records after the meeting's organiser or host lets it in.

## What does everyone see, on every platform?

Two things are always true:

- **The bot is in the participant list**, under the **Bot name** you chose — the default is **Canto Notetaker**. Anyone who opens the participant list sees it for the whole meeting.
- **Recording starts only after admission.** The bot waits at the platform's door — an approval prompt, lobby, or waiting room — and someone in the meeting has to let it in. Nobody's meeting gets recorded without a participant taking that action.

The exact door differs per platform.

## What do participants see in Google Meet?

Google routes third-party bots through an explicit host approval. The host sees a prompt asking whether to admit the bot, and Meet may label the request a **potential risk** — that's Google's standard wording for any third-party recording participant. After approval, the bot sits in the participant list like anyone else. Details: [Use the Canto notetaker in Google Meet](https://usecanto.com/help/notetaker/google-meet/).

## What do participants see in Microsoft Teams?

The bot arrives in the meeting lobby and the organiser admits it. Teams labels external bots **"Unverified"** next to their name — that's Teams' standard treatment of third-party meeting apps, not a warning specific to Canto. Once admitted it appears in the participant list under its bot name. Details: [Use the Canto notetaker in Microsoft Teams](https://usecanto.com/help/notetaker/microsoft-teams/).

## What do participants see in Zoom?

If the meeting uses a waiting room, the bot waits there until the host admits it; otherwise it joins directly when the meeting allows it. Either way it shows in the participant list under its bot name for the duration of the call. Details: [Use the Canto notetaker in Zoom](https://usecanto.com/help/notetaker/zoom/).

## Is admission the same as consent?

No. Admission means one person — the organiser or host — actively let a labelled recording bot in. Participants who join late or never open the participant list may still not realise a notetaker is present, so announce it: in the invite, out loud at the start, or both. What the law expects of you varies by place — see [Do I need consent to record?](https://usecanto.com/help/privacy/consent-and-recording-laws/)

## FAQ

### Can I rename the bot to something unrecognisable?

You can change the **Bot name** in notetaker settings — teams often use "Acme Notetaker" so colleagues know whose it is. Don't use a name that hides that it's a notetaker; a clearly labelled bot is part of keeping the recording visible, and it's what our in-product consent guidance assumes.

### What about recordings made with my phone or the web recorder?

Those don't involve a bot, so nothing appears in anyone's participant list — the recording indicator is on your own device. Telling the people in the room is entirely on you.

### Does everyone in the meeting need Canto?

No, only the person who sent the bot. If several participants use Canto, one shared bot joins for all of them — see [Why did only one bot join?](https://usecanto.com/help/notetaker/one-bot-per-meeting/)

Related articles:

- [Do I need consent to record?](https://usecanto.com/help/privacy/consent-and-recording-laws/)
- [Use the Canto notetaker in Google Meet](https://usecanto.com/help/notetaker/google-meet/)
- [Use the Canto notetaker in Microsoft Teams](https://usecanto.com/help/notetaker/microsoft-teams/)
- [Use the Canto notetaker in Zoom](https://usecanto.com/help/notetaker/zoom/)