The Hidden Cost of Business Meetings — And the ROI of Automating Them with Reelay

2 min readApr 9, 2025

Meetings are essential — but expensive. And most businesses have no idea how much those 45-minute syncs are really costing them. With the average meeting including 8 employees and no automation in place, the true cost is surprisingly steep.

Let’s break down the numbers — and then look at how Reelay turns that cost into ROI.

The Real Cost of a Single Meeting

Using the following assumptions:

8 employees
45-minute average meeting length
Blended hourly rate: $62/hour
Typical note-taking and admin processes

Here’s how it adds up:

Cost Breakdown:

Payroll cost for 8 employees: $372.00
Individual note-taking (@ $7.11 each): $56.88
Preparing and distributing minutes: $46.00

➡️ Total Cost Per Meeting: $874.88

Multiply that by just 5 recurring meetings a week, and you’re looking at $3,500+ per week, or more than $180,000 per year — per team.

How Reelay Transforms That Equation

Now, let’s plug in Reelay, an AI-powered meeting productivity platform designed to automate the entire post-meeting workflow — from capturing discussion points to delivering intelligent summaries.

1. Reelay Eliminates Manual Meeting Admin

Manual cost before (notes + minutes): $102.88
With Reelay: $0

✅ Savings: $102.88 per meeting

2. Reelay Reduces Meeting Attendance by 20%

With meetings easily searchable and shareable, fewer people need to attend live.

Reduction: 2 of 8 attendees
Payroll savings (45 mins @ $62/hr x 2): $93.00

✅ Savings: $93.00 per meeting

3. Cost of Reelay for 8 Licensed Users

License cost: $5/seat/month (rate for comittments above 500 licenses)
Monthly cost for 8 users: $40
Assuming 30 meetings/month: $40 ÷ 30 = $1.32 per meeting

🧾 Cost Added: $1.32

New Meeting Cost With Reelay

Item Payroll for 6 attendees (45 mins)
Cost $279.00
Reelay AI meeting software $1.32
Total Cost Per Meeting $280.32

💡 ROI Snapshot

Original Meeting Cost $874.88
New Cost With Reelay $280.32
Savings Per Meeting $594.56
% Cost Reduction ~68%

Annualized Savings Example

If your team hosts just 5 of these meetings per week:

Annual cost without Reelay: $227,468
Annual cost with Reelay: $72,884
✅ Annual savings: $154,584 per team

The Takeaway

Reelay doesn’t just automate busywork — it reshapes how your company meets, collaborates, and operates. With AI-powered meeting productivity, teams save time, reduce payroll waste, and eliminate post-meeting follow-ups.

If you’re running 40 meetings per month, you’re likely sitting on six figures of unnecessary cost per team, seven figures across your organization — and a massive opportunity to improve productivity with Reelay.

Your meetings can cost less and do more.
Let Reelay prove it.