6 Ways Microsoft Teams is Leveraging the Power of Artificial Intelligence to Enhance Calls and Meetings

As people return to in-person schooling and work, there has been a lasting increase in the number of online meetings and calls. While technology has been crucial in maintaining communication and collaboration during the pandemic, Microsoft has identified opportunities to improve the quality of these meetings and calls through early stress tests. Common problems that can hinder the effectiveness of online meetings and calls from disruptive echoes to poor audio quality in different environments, and choppy videos are being addressed using artificial intelligence and machine learning.

New features and innovative enhancements for Microsoft Teams that address these audio and video issues in a user-friendly and scalable way are constantly being developed. Some of the latest features include echo cancellation, audio adjustments for poor acoustics, and the ability for users to speak and listen at the same time without interruptions. These improvements build on previously released AI-powered features like background noise suppression.

6 Interesting AI Powered Capabilities in Microsoft Teams

1. Background noise suppression – Microsoft Teams uses artificial intelligence to suppress unwanted sounds, such as television droning, children playing or car alarms, during meetings so you can concentrate in meetings and have communicate productively with minimised distractions
2. De-reverberation – This feature adjusts for poor room acoustics by using a machine learning model to convert captured audio to sound as if it were being spoken into a close-range microphone. This helps clarify speech, improving intelligibility and ensuring listeners can understand the speaker.
3. Video quality improvements – Look and present your best with this smart feature that allows for AI-based adjustments for low light as well as optimisations based on the type of content being shared, such as real-time screen optimisation that adjusts for the characteristics of the content presented in order to improve the legibility of documents or smoothness of video playback. It also helps ensure that your video looks good, even when there are issues with network bandwidth. These enhancements can adjust playback in challenging bandwidth conditions, allowing you to use video and screen sharing without worrying about choppy video.
4. Echo cancellation – This feature in Microsoft Teams that utilises artificial intelligence to recognise the difference between the sound from a speaker and the sound of the user’s voice. It eliminates the echo without suppressing speech, while still allowing for overlapping conversations.
5. Brightness and focus filters – Teams makes use of artificial intelligence to help you appear in the best light during meetings. It now provides filters that allow you to adjust brightness and add a soft focus with a simple toggle in your device settings. With this, you can better accommodate low-light environments.
6. Interruptibility –This allows for more natural conversations by enabling full-duplex (two-way) transmission of audio, allowing users to speak and hear others simultaneously. Microsoft Teams uses a model trained with 30,000 hours of speech samples to retain desired voices while suppressing unwanted audio signals, resulting in more fluid dialogue.

AI is rapidly changing the way many applications operate to increase efficiency and deliver the best possible solutions for customers. Microsoft Teams is ahead of the curve. Improve communication and collaboration instantly by implementing Teams in your organisation today. Contact Spanish Point for more information.

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