Use Zoom AI Meeting Summaries for Crew Meetings
For Power Line Workers ·
What This Does
Zoom's meeting summary automatically generates a summary with key discussion points and action items after a video or audio call. useful for post-incident reviews, safety meetings, and crew planning calls.
Before You Start
- You have a Zoom account (meeting summary comes with eligible paid Zoom Workplace plans; the free ZoomMate Basic tier covers 3 hosted meetings per month)
- The meeting host has meeting summary turned on in their Zoom account settings
- You're using a recent version of the Zoom app
Steps
1. Join or host the Zoom meeting normally
Start or join the meeting as you usually would. The summary runs automatically if the host has turned it on, you don't need to do anything special to activate it. Zoom used to call this "AI Companion" and dropped that name in 2026, so older help articles and colleagues may still use the old term.
2. Look for the on-screen indicator
When the summary is running, a small notification will appear in the meeting that recording and summarization is active. All participants are notified. If you are the host and it isn't running, hover over the AI icon in the meeting toolbar, tick the Meeting summary checkbox, then click Start Zoom AI.
3. Let the meeting run normally
Speak naturally. Zoom processes the conversation in the background. No special formatting or speaking style required.
4. Access the summary after the meeting ends
When the meeting ends, the host receives a summary by email. If you're the host, check your email for the meeting summary within a few minutes. It includes: main topics discussed, key decisions made, and action items with names attached (if people said "I'll do X" or "You should handle Y").
5. Use the summary for follow-up
Copy the action items into your team's shared notes, your own task list, or send to crew members who weren't on the call. Use it as the basis for a written meeting recap if required.
Real Example
Scenario: Your crew holds a post-storm incident review call on Zoom. Four people are on the call discussing what went wrong with circuit restoration coordination.
What the summary captures:
Meeting Summary. Storm Incident Review, March 19
Key Discussion Points:
- Circuit 14-C restoration was delayed because incoming crew wasn't briefed on the broken pole at mile marker 7
- Crew communication during shift handoff was unclear. multiple crews checked the same section
Action Items:
- [Name]: Update shift handoff template to include active trouble spots by mile marker
- [Name]: Confirm all crews use the same outage map channel during storm events
- Follow up at next safety meeting
That's a usable record of a 45-minute call, generated automatically.
Tips
- The summary works best when people introduce themselves at the start ("I'm [name], journeyman at the [location] yard") so it can attribute action items correctly
- If you're not the host, ask whoever schedules the meeting to turn on meeting summaries before the call. the controls are in the AI section of their Zoom account settings
- The free Zoom tier caps summaries at 3 hosted meetings per month. the host needs an eligible paid Zoom Workplace plan for unlimited summaries
- You can also use Microsoft Teams' equivalent (Copilot for Teams) if your utility uses Teams instead of Zoom. same concept
Tool interfaces change, if the meeting summary settings have moved, look for AI features in the Zoom account admin settings.