Press Record and you start a pipeline across three services with an expiry timer most tenants don't know they set. Where the file lands, who can see it, and when it self-deletes are all policy — none of it is in the meeting window.
The flow — what actually happens
Plain-language first; the packet-level
view underneath each step is what you'd see in a Wireshark trace, and what healthy looks like.
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Record starts (if three gates agree)
The button works only when the ORGANIZER'S policy allows recording, the PRESSER'S policy allows them to start it, and compliance settings (e.g. a no-record label) don't forbid it. Everyone gets the banner; consent-required regions can demand explicit acceptance first.
On the wire The service, not the client, records — closing your laptop doesn't stop it. Proof: the recording continues in your absence and the audit log attributes the start to the presser.
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The file lands — WHERE depends on the meeting type
Non-channel meetings: the RECORDER'S OneDrive (Recordings folder). Channel meetings: the channel's SharePoint folder. This one rule explains most 'recording vanished' tickets: the recorder left the company, their OneDrive died on schedule, the recording died with it.
On the wire The chat link is a pointer to the SPO/OneDrive file — permissions live on the FILE. Audit log shows the upload; the file's ACL shows who can actually play it.
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Transcription runs beside it
If transcription is on (its own policy switch — remember the 7-of-11 verdict), speech-to-text with speaker attribution is generated and stored with the meeting. Copilot and intelligent recap FEED on this artifact — no transcript, no meeting AI. That dependency chain is the most common 'Copilot is broken' cause.
On the wire Transcript is a separate artifact (visible in the meeting's Recap tab, exportable, eDiscoverable). Its existence for a given meeting proves the policy chain end to end.
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The expiry timer ticks
Recordings auto-delete after the policy's NewMeetingRecordingExpirationDays (default 120). Users get a heads-up and owners can extend, but silent estates lose recordings on schedule and call it a bug. Legal-hold content is exempt; retention policies can override in both directions.
On the wire The expiry stamp sits on the file (visible in OneDrive/SPO details); deletions land in the recycle bin with normal restore windows — the 'vanished' recording is usually sitting there.
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