Interpreter in Microsoft Teams meetings
Notes:
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Interpreter is available as part of the public preview program and might undergo further changes before being released publicly. To get access to this and other upcoming features, switch to Teams public preview.
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A Microsoft 365 Copilot license is required to participate in the public preview experience. Licensing details will be communicated at general availability.
Remove language barriers in multilingual Microsoft Teams meetings with the Interpreter agent. The interpreter agent helps participants speak and listen in their preferred languages through real-time speech-to-speech interpretation.
In this article
Interpreter in meetings
When you turn on Interpreter during a Teams meeting, you’ll be able to hear Interpreter translate other participants into your preferred language.
When someone speaks in a language other than your preferred language, you’ll hear the translation over the original speaker’s audio. You’ll also see an indicator on the original speaker’s video feed that shows their speech is being translated.
People who don’t have Interpreter turned on will also see an indicator that someone’s speech is being translated. This provides everyone with a cue to let translation finish before they unmute and start speaking.
Supported languages
Interpreter currently supports the following languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Simplified Chinese (Mandarin), Italian, German, French and Korean.
Notes:
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Some spoken languages can be recognized by Interpreter, but interpretation accuracy isn't guaranteed.
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Regardless of the input language, the interpretation output will always be in one of the supported languages listed above.
Turn on Interpreter
Turn on Interpreter in meetings with up to 1,000 participants, where multiple languages are being spoken.
To turn on Interpreter:
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Select More actions
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Select Language and speech
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In Interpreter settings:
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Select the language you want Interpreter to translate into from the Interpretation language dropdown menu.
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Adjust the Balance audio slider to hear more original or interpreted audio.
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Choose the voice you want other participants to hear your interpreted speech in from the Your voice representation dropdown menu. To learn more about voice simulation, see Voice simulation in Interpreter.
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Select Turn on.
To adjust Interpreter settings or turn off Interpreter, select the Interpreter indicator in your meeting window.
Select Settings to open Interpreter settings or Turn off for me to turn Interpreter off for yourself.
To turn on Interpreter:
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Tap More
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Tap Turn on Interpreter
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In Interpretation language, select the language you want Interpreter to translate into.
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In Interpretation audio:
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Adjust the Balance audio slider to hear more original or interpreted audio.
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Choose the voice you want other participants to hear your interpreted speech in from the Your voice representation dropdown menu. To learn more about voice simulation, see Voice simulation in Interpreter.
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Tap Turn on Interpreter.
To adjust Interpreter settings, tap More
To turn off Interpreter, tap More
When you turn on Interpreter, multilingual speech recognition will also be turned on automatically, allowing participants to set their spoken and translated languages. Multilingual speech recognition can also be turned on independently of Interpreter.
Notes:
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Interpreter settings will persist through your future meetings.
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Interpreter isn’t currently supported in ad-hoc meetings or calls, meetings using Microsoft Teams Rooms with personal devices, town halls, webinars, or Teams Free meetings.
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Interpreter isn’t currently supported by Safari browsers.
Voice simulation in Interpreter
Voice simulation uses AI to generate a translated voice that preserves the speaker’s tone, pitch, and style, offering a familiar and immersive experience in the selected language
If you choose Voice simulation in your Interpreter settings, other participants will hear your translated speech in your own voice, making conversations more natural and engaging. Teams doesn’t store your voice data. You can turn off voice simulation anytime in your Interpreter settings.
Note: If voice simulation isn’t available, contact your IT admin.
Multilingual speech recognition
Notes:
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Multilingual speech recognition is available as part of the public preview program and might undergo further changes before being released publicly. To get access to this and other upcoming features, switch to Teams public preview.
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Multilingual speech recognition is currently available in public preview for people with M365 Copilot or Teams Premium licenses. Licensing requirements for using this feature may change.
When you organize a meeting or event where multiple languages will be spoken, turn on multilingual speech recognition to ensure clear communication between all participants. Multilingual speech recognition can be turned on independently of Interpreter, using live translated captions during the meeting.
To turn on multilingual speech recognition:
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Select Calendar
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Double-click an event.
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Select Edit
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If you double-clicked an instance of a meeting series, select whether you want to edit This event, This and all following events, or All events in the series.
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Select Meeting options
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In Copilot and other AI
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Select Save.
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Select Calendar
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Select a meeting or event.
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Select Edit.
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In the meeting description, press and hold Ctrl and select Meeting options.
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In Copilot and other AI
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Select Save.
When you turn on multilingual speech recognition, participants can select their own spoken and translation languages. The meeting transcript can accurately reflect each participant’s selections.
Best practices for Interpreter
For the best experiences using Interpreter:
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Use Interpreter during meetings that are more structured, with one person speaking at a time for longer durations.
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Turn on multilingual speech recognition in your meeting options to ensure all participants can understand each other, with or without Interpreter.
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Pause briefly after someone speaks to allow the translation to fully process. This ensures that everyone remains aligned.
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Turn on your camera for a more natural Interpreter experience.
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Easily catch up on key discussions through intelligent meeting recap, now supporting multilingual meetings. After the meeting, your recap is automatically generated in the translation language you selected for live transcription and captions.
Interpreter limitations
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Meeting recordings only capture the original meeting audio and don’t include interpretation audio.
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Translated transcripts are only available live during the meeting. After the meeting ends, only the original (spoken) language is shown in the transcript.
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Interpreter isn’t optimized for meetings with rapid exchanges, interruptions, or overlapping dialogue, as the translation may take longer than the original speech, making it harder to follow and respond naturally.
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Interpretation of people’s names and genders may be inaccurate.
FAQ
Can people from other orgs use Interpreter?
People from other orgs can use Interpreter in a meeting if they join from an account with a valid M365 Copilot license. People joining anonymously can’t use Interpreter because their identity and license status can’t be verified.
How does voice simulation work?
If you turn on voice simulation, Interpreter will sample brief segments of your voice to simulate your tone, style, and voice characteristics. When Interpreter translated your speech for others, people will hear the translation in your simulated voice. Opt out of voice simulation anytime and choose a different voice style in Interpreter settings.
Voice simulation doesn't store your biometric data or add emotional sentiment beyond what's being spoken. If you can't access Interpreter, contact your IT admin.
What technology powers Interpreter?
The Interpreter agent in Teams enables real-time speech-to-speech (STS) translation using Azure AI Services. It automatically detects spoken languages in a meeting and support multi-speaker, multilingual conversations.
How it works:
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Speech Recognition (ST): Converts spoken language into English text.
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Translation (MT): Translates English text into the selected language(s).
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Voice Generation (TTS): Produces translated speech in the target language. It can simulate the speaker’s voice or use a predefined voice based on their preference and IT admin policy.
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A bot transmits meeting audio for cloud-based processing and returns translations instantly.
Does Interpreter support meetings with people from other orgs?
Interpreter can be used in meetings with people from other orgs who are signed into verified M365 accounts and have valid M365 Copilot licenses.
Submit feedback
We’re always looking for ways to improve features. To provide feedback, select the Interpreter indicator
Add your feedback and select Submit to send your comments directly to Microsoft.
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