Fireflies.ai Help Guide

Created by Donny Heidel, Modified on Wed, 25 Mar at 5:53 PM by Donny Heidel

Overview

Quilt Software has approved Fireflies.ai as our company-supported AI meeting note-taker. All employees may use the free plan to automatically record, transcribe, and summarize meetings on Zoom and Microsoft Teams.

This guide covers everything you need to get started, understand the free plan’s capabilities and limitations, and follow Quilt’s policies for responsible use.

ℹ️ Important

Do not purchase a paid Fireflies plan. Quilt only supports the free version at this time. If you need features beyond what the free plan offers, contact IT to discuss options.

What You Get on the Free Plan

The Fireflies free plan includes a solid set of features for individual meeting note-taking:

Feature	What You Get
Transcription	Unlimited transcription across Zoom and Microsoft Teams
Languages	100+ languages supported
Storage	800 minutes of recording storage per account
Meeting Length	Maximum 2 hours per meeting
AI Summaries	Limited AI summaries (20 AI credits per month)
AI Assistant	AskFred — ask questions about your meetings (credit-gated)
Real-Time Notes	Live transcription during meetings
Search	Search across your meeting transcripts
File Uploads	Upload audio/video files (up to 100 MB / 150 min each)
Mobile App	Available on Android and iOS
Chrome Extension	Available for Chrome browser

Free Plan Limitations

Be aware of these restrictions on the free plan. These are platform limitations that IT cannot change:

Limitation	Details
Storage Cap	800 minutes total. Once full, you must delete older recordings to make room. Plan ahead and remove meetings you no longer need.
Meeting Length	Recordings stop at 2 hours. If your meeting runs longer, the remainder will not be captured.
AI Credits	20 AI credits per month. Credits are consumed when you generate AI summaries or use AskFred. Use them on your most important meetings.
No Downloads	You cannot download transcripts, summaries, or recordings on the free plan. Content is only viewable within Fireflies.
No Integrations	No connections to Slack, CRMs, or other tools. Summaries cannot be auto-pushed to other apps.
No Admin Controls	IT does not have centralized management. Each account is individually managed by the user.

✅ Alternative: Use Microsoft Teams Transcription

If you hit your Fireflies storage or AI credit limits, you can still get meeting transcriptions using Microsoft Teams’ built-in recording and transcription feature. Teams can generate a downloadable transcript that you can then upload to Claude AI for summaries and action items. See the full guide here: Recording & Transcribing Microsoft Teams Meetings

Getting Started

Step 1: Create Your Account

Go to https://fireflies.ai
Click "Get started for free"
Sign up using your @quiltsoftware.com email address
Sign up using your Microsoft account (recommended) or with email/password
Complete the onboarding steps to connect your calendar

⚠️ Important: Use your Quilt email

Always sign up with your @quiltsoftware.com email. Do not use a personal email address. This helps IT track company usage and ensures your account is associated with the organization.

Step 2: Connect Your Calendar

After signing up, Fireflies will prompt you to connect your Outlook calendar
This allows Fireflies to see your upcoming meetings and automatically join them
Grant the requested permissions when prompted

Step 3: Configure Auto-Join Settings

Fireflies can automatically join your meetings, or you can invite it manually. We recommend:

Go to Settings > Auto-join in the Fireflies dashboard
Choose which meetings Fireflies should join (all meetings, only external, only when invited, etc.)
Recommended: Set to “Join only when I invite fred@fireflies.ai” to maintain control over which meetings are recorded

Step 4: Start Recording Meetings

There are two ways to record a meeting:

Option A — Auto-Join: If auto-join is enabled, Fireflies will automatically appear in your scheduled meetings as a participant named “Fred” or “Fireflies.ai Notetaker.”

Option B — Manual Invite: Add fred@fireflies.ai as an attendee to your calendar invite. Fireflies will join the meeting when it starts.

Best Practices

Managing Your 800-Minute Storage

Regularly review your Fireflies dashboard and delete recordings you no longer need
Before deleting a recording, copy any important notes or action items to your own documents
Be selective about which meetings you record — not every meeting needs a transcript
At 800 minutes, expect roughly 13–16 hours of recordings before you need to clear space

Using AI Credits Wisely

You get 20 AI credits per month — these reset monthly
Save AI summaries for your most important meetings (client calls, project kickoffs, key decisions)
For routine meetings, rely on the raw transcript and your own notes rather than spending AI credits
AskFred queries also consume credits, so use them purposefully

Meeting Etiquette

Always inform participants at the start of a meeting that Fireflies is recording. Even though the bot appears as a visible participant, a verbal heads-up is professional and courteous
If any participant is uncomfortable being recorded, turn off recording for that meeting
Do not record meetings where sensitive HR, legal, or confidential topics are being discussed without explicit approval from all participants
For external client or partner meetings, confirm recording consent before the meeting begins

Quilt Software Usage Policy

The following policies apply to all Quilt employees using Fireflies.ai:

Account Requirements

Use your @quiltsoftware.com email address to create your Fireflies account
Use only the free plan — do not upgrade to a paid plan without IT approval
Your Fireflies account is for Quilt business use only

Recording Consent

Always verbally notify all meeting participants that the meeting is being recorded
Respect any participant’s request to not be recorded
For meetings with external parties, obtain consent before recording begins

Data & Privacy

Fireflies stores recordings on their cloud servers — be mindful of what information is discussed
Do not record meetings involving PII (personally identifiable information), PHI (protected health information), or financial account details unless absolutely necessary
Remember that transcripts on the free plan cannot be downloaded — they exist only in Fireflies
If you leave Quilt Software, your individual Fireflies account and its data go with you — IT has no ability to reclaim it on the free plan

Meetings You Should NOT Record

HR disciplinary or performance improvement discussions
Legal or compliance-related meetings (unless directed by Legal)
Meetings where any participant has declined to be recorded
Confidential executive or board discussions
One-on-one meetings where the other person has not been informed

Troubleshooting

Issue	Solution
Fireflies didn’t join my meeting	Check that your calendar is connected and auto-join is enabled. Alternatively, manually invite fred@fireflies.ai to your calendar event.
Recording stopped early	Free plan meetings are capped at 2 hours. If your meeting exceeded this, the last portion was not recorded.
"Storage full" message	You’ve used all 800 minutes. Go to your Fireflies dashboard, review old recordings, and delete ones you no longer need.
AI summary not generating	You may have used all 20 AI credits for the month. Credits reset at the start of your billing cycle. Use the raw transcript in the meantime.
Transcript quality is poor	Ensure good audio quality — use a microphone, minimize background noise, and avoid multiple people talking simultaneously.
Hit storage or credit limits and still need a transcription	Use Microsoft Teams’ built-in recording and transcription instead. You can download the transcript as a .docx file and upload it to Claude AI for summaries and action items. Full guide: Recording & Transcribing Microsoft Teams Meetings
Need to download a transcript	Downloads are not available on the free plan. You can copy/paste text from the Fireflies web interface manually.
Need an integration with Slack, CRM, etc.	Integrations are not available on the free plan. Copy/paste relevant notes manually into other tools as needed.

Getting Help

Fireflies help center: https://guide.fireflies.ai
Quilt IT support: Submit a ticket through the IT help desk or reach out in the #it-support Slack channel
Feature requests: If you need capabilities beyond the free plan (downloads, integrations, longer meetings), let IT know — we’re tracking demand to evaluate paid options in the future