Last updated

2nd June 2025

Overview

SmartNote is an application that uses Generative AI to make life easier by taking Microsoft Teams meeting notes and turning them into something useful for you and your team.

Examples include:

• Turning Boardroom meeting notes into beautifully presented Boardroom meeting minutes.
• Taking Sales call meeting notes and turning them into a customer sales summary meeting document.

This user guide will help you with the following:

• Understanding how to setup your SmartNote templates.
• Understanding how to use SmartNote with your Microsoft Teams meetings.
• Help you setup Microsoft Teams meetings that work with SmartNote

Let’s get started!

Accessing SmartNote

Firstly, you access SmartNote from within Microsoft Teams. It is an application that is added to Microsoft Team. Hopefully your IT team have already added it for you but if not, it’s not a problem, you’ll just need to follow the instructions below.

Adding SmartNote to Microsoft Teams

To add  SmartNote to Microsoft Teams do the following:

• Open Microsoft Teams App or browse to https://teams.microsoft.com
• Choose Apps from the left handrail.
• Click on Apps

• Click on Built for your organisation

• You should see SmartNote, it may take a few minutes to four hours to appear.

• Click on the Add button for SmartNote
• Choose Add for the application.

• Wait for the application to be installed.

• Once added, click on open from the ‘Added successfully’ message box.

You will then be taken into the app and once it has loaded it will try and find a meeting. However, because the application is not part of a meeting it will display a message saying, ‘Meeting ID is unavailable’. This is normal for the beta version of the application. (Please note this may take a couple of minutes)

You have now successfully added the application to Microsoft Teams.

This stage will only need to be done once within Microsoft Teams.

Adding SmartNote to a Microsoft Teams Meeting

As mentioned, SmartNote is a Microsoft Teams app but it is for meetings so it needs to be added to a meeting for it to do its magic.

Let’s create a Microsoft Teams Meeting and then we can add SmartNote.

Before we start, Microsoft Teams is introducing a new calendar app and so the experience of creating a meeting will depend on which calendar version you have.

Creating a Microsoft Teams Meeting for SmartNote.

SmartNote doesn’t need too much to work but there’s one thing that you must do for SmartNote to be able to help you with your meeting, and that is transcribe the call. This must be done to enable SmartNote to work.

So, let’s setup a Teams Meeting.

• Open up Microsoft Teams
• Click on the Calendar

• Add an event by clicking on the time that you wish to have the meeting. In this example we will choose 10:00am.

• Give the meeting a title and then scroll down to the window at the bottom and click on more options

• This will open the meeting into its own window.
• Select the option to make this meeting a Microsoft Teams meeting.

• Next select meeting options
• This will open the meeting option dialog.
• Click on recording and transcription on the left-hand side.
• Select the record and transcribe automatically

• Click save to save the meeting options.

The recording and transcription are the most important part of the Microsoft Teams meeting setup for SmartNote. Without this stage being completed SmartNote will not work and cannot help you!

• Fill out the remaining information for the meeting.
• You do not need to invite anyone; this is just for you.
• When ready, click save to save your meeting.

• Your meeting will now be displayed in the calendar.

Adding SmartNote to The Meeting

Next, we need to add the SmartNote app to the meeting you’ve created. You can do this before or after the meeting has taken place, it does not matter to SmartNote.

However, we need to create your first SmartNote document template so let’s now add SmartNote to the meeting.

• Find your meeting in the Teams calendar.
• Open up the meeting that you have just created.

• Click on the meeting and then click on the two arrows as shown below.

• Click on Chat.

• You will now see what is known as the ‘BackStage’ area.
• Click on the + at the top of the page to add a new application.

• Search for SmartNote and click on the SmartNote application icon.

• Uncheck “Post to the chat about this tab”
• Click Save

SmartNote will now start.

Once SmartNote has started you will see a screen like below.

Notice that the meeting transcripts are not populated, and you will not be able to start creating a SmartNote yet because we do have any templates and more importantly we don’t have the transcript or the conversation from the meeting!

Now, we are ready to create our first SmartNote document template.

Creating Your First SmartNote Word Template

SmartNote uses Microsoft Word to create a document for your SmartNote content.

We will need to create a template with the various sections that you wish to have within your personalised document. Your document format will depend on your use case and what you wish to share with your audience.

In this example we have a document template that is used for a Sales Discovery Call. Let’s go through the process of creating it.

• Start by opening Microsoft Word.
• Click on New
• Choose your document template or if you don’t have one already set up choose “Blank document”

In this example we are using an iThink 365 document template which is likely to be different to what you have.

Please do not add anything specific around the customer or a specific meeting unless it applies to all your meetings where this template would be used.

Now, create the sections for your document template. In this example our document already has a title and a placeholder for Customer.

For the main body of the document, create the sections you need. 

IMPORTANT - Configure Placeholders everywhere you want SmartNote to fill out content in the document.

A placeholder always has the following format <<[PlaceholderName]>> 

For example <<[MeetingSummaryOverview]>>

The <<[ and ]>> are really important and tell SmartNote that there is a placeholder which needs to be filled out.

Complete your document with the appropriate placeholders that you require to provide all the information for your finished document. 

• If you have a table of contents, do not forget to update it once you have finished.

• Click update entire table.

• Save the document as an appropriate name in your local Downloads folder.
• We are now ready to upload the SmartNote document template and configure it.

Configuring a SmartNote Template

Note: Make sure you have configured the SmartNote template before proceeding with these steps. If you haven't done so, please refer to the previous section, Creating Your First SmartNote Word Template, for guidance.

• Browse back to Microsoft Teams and go to the calendar appointment you previously made and click on the meeting. 
• Click on Chat
• Open up SmartNote as you did previously, watch it load and then you should be presented with a screen like below.

• To add a SmartNote Transcription Template click on the book icon. 

• Click on the + Add button

• Next click add and drag and drop or click on browse to choose the template that you created in the previous step. 

• Once you have uploaded the template you will see SmartNote display the name of the file uploaded.

• Click Next to continue.
• The template will be processed and the placeholders that you created in the document template will be identified and extracted. This might take a few minutes.
• You will be presented with the Add Template screen as shown below.

• Please provide a name for the template and description. This will help you find the right template when you want to use it in the future.

This is where the real work beings!

Now we need to use the Template Prompt to help set the scene for the SmartNote AI to be able to understand how to fill out the document.

Please try and provide the following details to help SmartNote work best for you.

Template Prompt

The Template Prompt should have the following information:

• Goal – what is it that you ultimately want to get from the document when it has been filled out?
• Context – why do you need this information? What is the role that SmartNote is playing in gathering this information. For example, is SmartNote helping a Project Manager, a Salesperson, a marketing person or a consultant.
• Source – what is the information that SmartNote is using to build its response from? Example, this meeting is with a customer and a salesperson at iThink 365.
• Expectation – What are you expecting from SmartNote, what would make a good result? Please ensure you provide as much detail about the conversations as possible in your answers.

Here are some examples which use the GCSE framework or Goal, Context, Source and Expectation.

Sales Executive Sales Discovery Call Prompt

Goal: You are supporting a Sales Executive at iThink 365 by documenting the key information from a meeting between a Sales Executive and a customer.

Context: Please provide as much information as you can when filling out the document. 

Source: However, please do not make anything up. If you do not know the answer to the question, please say "No information found".

Expectation: Please use professional tone. The content that is being created will be shared with the customer.

Project Management Weekly Standup Call Prompt

Goal: You are a Product Administrator who is supporting a Project Manager at iThink 365 by documenting the weekly project standup where the iThink 365 project team meet with the customer and the rest of the project team to discuss the project, what activities have been taking place this week, what is planned for next week and any blockers or issues or questions that have arised.

Context: Please provide as much information as you can when filling out the document. 

Source: The meeting is a project status weekly standup meeting. However, please do not make anything up. If you do not know the answer to the question, please say "No information found".

Expectation: Please use professional tone. The content that is being created will be shared with the customer and the project team.

Once you have completed your template prompt, then move on to the placeholders for the replaceable items.

Completing the Placeholders

The next step is to tell SmartNote how to complete and fill out each of the placeholders that you created in your document template. All of the placeholders have been created based on the document template that you previously uploaded.

For each placeholder fill out a prompt to help SmartNote how to fill out the template section.

Please use the examples below to help you.

You can ask the prompt to format responses as tables with columns or bullet points if that helps you get the information across.

You can make the text area bigger by clicking and dragging the bottom right corner of each text area.

Once you have filled out the template, reviewed the information, then click Save Template to save the template.

Here are some examples:

• Customer Name

Please fill out the name of the company that the meeting took place with. If you cannot work out the customer’s name from the meeting transcript use the name of the attendee / attendees but do not include anyone from iThink 365.

• Meeting Date

Please fill out the date of the meeting using the meeting transcript. Please use the format day, date, month and year.

• Meeting Attendees

Please fill out the list of people who attended the meeting, please format them as a list of bullet points. Please use their name and email address if it can be worked out.

• Meeting Summary Overview

This section is one of the most important sections in the document and should provide a detailed summary of the discussion points that occurred in the meeting. Please make sure you pay attention to any opportunities that were discussed where iThink 365 could help the customer. Provide as much detail as possible.

• Customer Needs

Please fill out this section with information provided by the customer where they detail what they are looking for and what they need help with from iThink 365 or a similar company.

• Customer Challenges

Please fill out this section with any challenges or pain points that the customer mentions. For example, we have problems with this process or finding this information.

Please provide as much context around the challenges / pain points as possible.

• Discussion Points

Please provide a list of discussion areas or topics that were discussed. This will help iThink 365 and the customer to hear the key topic areas that we discussed in the meeting.

• Meeting Outcome

Please provide two paragraphs that detail the outcomes from the meeting that were discussed between the parties. This might include activities that either the customer was going to do or information or discussions that iThink 365 were going to take.

This will help iThink 365 and the customer understand what the outputs are and what the next steps are.

• Next Steps

Please fill out this section using a table of actions and the next steps. These are activities or actions that either party said that they would do following the meeting.

Please format the next steps with a summary paragraph and then a table of actions which includes the following columns, Name, Description, Assigned To, Due Date.

Please provide the name of the next step, a brief description of the step, who said they were going to do it and the due date. If no due date can be found, then set the due date to 10 days in the future of today.

My template is not showing up

If you have created a new template and saved it, it may not   show immediately as the templates need to be reloaded.

• Click on the SmartNote tab and choose Refresh Tab

Running Your First Meeting With SmartNote

We will run a test meeting to create a transcription so that we can start configuring SmartNote.

• From the Meeting details page as shown below.
• Click Join

Because we configured the meeting to record and transcribe automatically you will see a message at the top telling you that the meeting is being recorded.

Additionally, you can see the recording icon on the top-left of the meeting window.

• Start to talk about something to generate the transcription.
• Click Leave when you have talked for a minute or so.

• Now SmartNote will load again.

• We are now ready to create our first template.

Creating Your SmartNote Document from a Meeting

The following section will explain how to create your SmartNote document from your Meeting transcription.

Firstly, browse to the Microsoft Teams meeting that you have recorded/transcribed.

• Open Microsoft Teams
• Click on Calendar
• Find your meeting in the calendar
• Open up the meeting
• Click on Chat
• Ensure that SmartNote is available in the list of applications, add if it is not.
• Open SmartNote
• Select the meeting transcript date and time

• Select the transcription template that you wish to create.
• Click Start

Your job will be submitted, and the status will be updated to processing.

When completed you will see the Completed (Success) message.

Click on download to access your newly created SmartNote document.

• Open up the document in Microsoft Word.
• Review the document, update and make any changes that are needed before sharing it.

You have successfully created your first SmartNote document.

Accessing the SmartNote Dashboard

SmartNote has a Dashboard where you can find more details about your usage and also see the SmartNote jobs that you have recently created.

To access the SmartNote Dashboard do one of the following:

• Browse to https://app.smartnote.ithink365.co.uk
• Or 
• From Microsoft Teams open SmartNote
• Click on the SmartNote dashboard.

An overview of the SmartNote Dashboard

From the SmartNote dashboard, you can see the following information:

• How many SmartNotes you have created this period.
• How many SmartNote powered meetings we estimate you have left.
• Your average meeting length.
• The plan that you have been assigned.

Frequently Asked Questions

The following section details frequently asked questions.

Q: The content that is being created by SmartNote does not have all the information that I was expecting. What can I do?

A: Update your document template and update the template prompt and the description for each section to give SmartNote more information about what you need from it.

Additionally, if the meeting notes do not contain the information you require then you will need to ensure that in your meeting you cover the questions or content that you have asked on your template.