[Released to GA] Now in public preview: Language Interpretation

Description

Language interpretation will allow interpreters to convert what the speaker says into another language in real time without disrupting the original flow of delivery of the speaker. This will allow more inclusive meetings, where participants who may not speak the same language can fully collaborate with each other.

Flighting status

Available now for everyone in Public Preview. This feature has been released. Please see this link for more details:

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-teams-blog/language-interpretation-is-now-generally-available-ga-in/ba-p/3628382

How to enable

Schedule interpreters when creating a new meeting

1. Organizer creates a new meeting.
2. Organizer adds their interpreters to the invite list on the meeting creation form.
3. In Meeting Options, the Organizer toggles “Enable language interpretation” ON, selects the interpreter they’ve invited, and then assigns the interpreters to a language pair.
   

    

Note: Today, the interpretation option is available in the meeting options after the meeting has been created/saved. Once saved, open the meeting options in a browser and add/edit interpreters there. We are working on improving this create flow so you can edit interpreters directly on meeting page before saving. This updated experience will be out in preview soon.

Participant experience listening to interpreters during a meeting

1. Meeting Participant selects a language channel to listen to during a meeting that has interpretation enabled.
2. After selecting a language to listen to, participants should hear the interpreter at a louder volume than the main speaker.
3. Participants switch between language channels and listening to the main speaker.

Interpreter experience

1. When interpreters join a meeting, they should be able to immediately start interpreting for the meeting.
2. Interpreters should hear the main speaker.

Note: If you need information about enabling the public preview itself, see “Enable the public preview for Teams” below.

Supported clients and platforms

Known issues and limitations

1. In this iteration of the feature, Organizers can only schedule interpreters unidirectionally for a language pair (e.g. interpreters can only be assigned to the English to Spanish direction. There will need to be a second interpreter to handle the Spanish to English direction).
2. Irish/Gaeilge is currently under development and will be available before public release
3. Interpreters cannot be external users, this is being worked on
4. Currently, the interpreters must be selected before the meeting begins. This is being worked on.

Enable your Teams client for the public preview

1. First, IT admins need to set an update policy that turns on Show preview features. Learn how at Public preview in Microsoft Teams - Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Docs.  
2. Users then choose to join the public preview individually. See Get early access to new Teams features - Office Support (microsoft.com) for instructions. 

Summary of public preview features

For a history of features in the Teams public previews, see Microsoft Teams Public Preview - Microsoft Tech Community

Send us your feedback 

Got feedback on features in the public preview or other areas of Teams? Let us know straight from Teams via Help > Give feedback.  

Thank you,

Preview Team

Quality & Customer Obsession, Microsoft Teams