What the AI Companion Can Do
Meeting Summaries
Auto-generated summaries with key discussion points and decisions
Action Items
Automatically extracts next steps and assignments from discussions
Live Transcription
Real-time speech-to-text for all meeting participants
Live Translation
Real-time translation support for multilingual meetings (where available)
Post-Meeting Q&A
Ask questions about meeting content after the meeting concludes
FERPA Compliant
All processing within Zoom's secure, institutionally-licensed infrastructure
Before You Begin
- A CMC-licensed Zoom account (sign in with your CMC email via SSO)
- You must be the meeting host to start the AI Companion
- Zoom desktop app updated to the latest version
- An active Zoom meeting in progress
Start Your Meeting as Host
Only the meeting host can activate the AI Companion. Start your Zoom meeting as usual. If you're joining a meeting someone else created, you'll need to ask the host to start the AI Companion, or schedule your own meeting where you are the host.
Tip: If you need AI summaries for a recurring class or meeting, make sure you're always scheduled as the host in that meeting's settings.
Click the AI Companion Icon
Look for the sparkle/star icon () in the bottom meeting controls toolbar — the same row as mute, camera, and share screen. Click it to open the AI Companion panel. If you don't see it, ensure your Zoom app is up to date and that your CMC account is licensed for AI Companion features.
Select "Start Summary"
In the AI Companion panel, click "Start Summary". All participants will immediately see a notification in the meeting that AI transcription and summarization has begun. Participants' consent is implied by remaining in the meeting — this is standard Zoom policy.
Start early: Begin the AI Companion within the first few minutes to capture the full meeting context, including introductions and agenda items.
Access Your Summary After the Meeting
After the meeting ends, the AI Companion summary is available in three places:
- Zoom web portal — log in at zoom.us → Recordings → AI Companion
- Meeting chat — a follow-up message with the summary is posted automatically
- Email notification — Zoom sends a summary email to the host after the meeting
Always review the AI-generated summary for accuracy before sharing, especially for technical terms, names, and jargon.
Privacy & FERPA Compliance
No Model Training
Your meeting data is never used to train public AI models. Processing stays within Zoom's FERPA-compliant infrastructure.
Participant Notification
All participants are notified when AI transcription begins. No silent recording.
No Third-Party Sharing
Meeting data is not shared with or sold to any third parties outside Zoom's institutional contract.
Data Retention Control
Recordings and transcripts are retained per CMC's institutional policy. Hosts can delete recordings at any time.
Tips for Better AI Summaries
Speak clearly and one at a time. Overlapping conversations reduce transcription accuracy significantly.
Start early. Activate AI Companion in the first 2–3 minutes to capture the full meeting, including agenda and introductions.
Always review before sharing. AI summaries are accurate but not perfect — technical terms, names, and jargon may need correction.
Share selectively. Only share meeting summaries with participants and relevant stakeholders. Don't post them publicly.