I’ve been binge-watching Peaky Blinders during the pandemic. The intricate plot twists and rapid-fire action have provided a wonderful escape. The only problem? Half the time, I can’t hear or understand what they are saying—it’s all muttered English Midlands dialect or whiskey-sodden innuendo. The solution? Closed captioning. Now Live Captions is available for meetings in Microsoft Teams.
This is a great feature to make Teams Meetings accessible for everyone—regardless of whether they have hearing loss, the speaker’s audio is garbled or for some reason unavailable.
Here’s how you can start using Live Captions in Microsoft Teams now:
- Turning it on: The video call tool bar includes the ellipses (3 dots) for more options (see image at the top). Halfway down the menu is the control for toggling live captions on and off.
Use it Well:
- Speak clearly, slowly, and directly into the mic. As your distance from the mic increases, captions may become less accurate.
- Avoid locations with background noise.
- Avoid having multiple people speak at the same time.
An upcoming feature:
- Upcoming tagging of participants – Soon, Microsoft will attribute the speaker with the caption, enabling folks to track what is being said with who is saying it.
Microsoft is dedicating a lot of effort to making Teams meetings experience better and better for end users and organizations. For other features, check out [insert relevant blog posts here].
In these uncertain times, when employees may or may not be coming back to the home office soon, organizations need to do everything they can to support employee engagement. Nobody should face an obstacle or disadvantage to fully participating in meetings. Live Captions is an important step in that direction.
Learn how you can #UseTeamsBetter.
Read more about Microsoft Teams and the Digital Workplace:
Microsoft Teams Improves Video Calling and Meeting Experience
COVID Killed the Watercooler: Microsoft Teams is the New Hub of Teamwork and Culture
Coming to Microsoft Teams: Video Calling Grid Expands to 49 People