Let's talk file notes.

love the F... word Anne-Graham Tamara-Morey as we are a remote business we are working through teams we have like Jenny starting using Co Pilot to record notes we then put them into our filenote format for compliance.  It is early days, but it has cut down time on the discussion side using AI is a great way to be efficient however I caution those entering into it that make sure you know who you are using, you need to know what access they may have to your systems.  Co Pilot is part of Office 365, so we feel comfortable with it.

Great question Tamara-Morey we used to dislike file notes, however over the past month we've been training co-pilot to help us.  We have been recording our client meetings either on teams, zoom or with a livescribe pen for around 15+ years, recently we made the decision to do all our on-line client meetings on teams and we upgraded our microsoft tenant to include co-pilot for around $550 per person per year. This then provides us with the ability to ask co-pilot (our paid version within our tenant) to summarise the meeting. Summarise the action items and to dos.
It is amazing how accurate it is, and how much time it saves us.
Our IT guy suggested it takes around 3-4 weeks for co-pilot within our tenant to learn how we talk/write and provide the feedback in our words. We are finding each one is getting better.
If we are out with a client, I set up a teams meeting, and join on my phone, it takes a little more editing as there is only 1 person (me) in the meeting and many voices, but again, saves a heap of time.
Of course, we advise our clients and ask their permission, they are very comfortable with it as they know our processes.
It's been a game changer for us and I imagine will only get better.

We currently have a number of advisers doing different and inefficient things with F/Notes which we need to change.  We are currently looking at recording all online meetings using Fathom or something similar and have trialled the existing transcription service on TEAMS.  It resulted in 50 pages of recorded conversation - no time saving for the adviser to trim it down at all. 

So... next thoughts are using mobile phone to record a F/N post meeting and having an app on the phone that will transcribe the voice to text.   This way, all advisers can have the same process.  Written file note can then go to Admin for actioning and into Xplan.  

Ah, the F-word! thanks for bringing this up Tamara-Morey . I have a nice little routine re the file notes - we have a template /agenda and notes (yes, pen to paper) are made during the meetings. They need tidying up of course but I do find the sooner the F-note is done, the less time it takes because it's fresh in my mind. I have pared down the notes and they are more dot point these day. My colleagues have been exploring a transcription option and/or recording and it's a bit test-and-learn at the moment. So, no magic bullet but if I keep the notes focused and to the point, it seems to improve the outcome for me.

A necessary evil indeed Tamara-Morey - interesting to see what everyone is doing out there, especially since there seems to be a growing AI presence in this space.

DebKent JennyB Anne-Graham MatTenison - would love to know what you're doing, and if you found yourself more efficient tackling file notes one way or the other!