Microsoft and OneMeta have partnered to introduce the latter’s AI-powered translation and transcription Verbum service to Teams.
OneMeta’s Verbum software translates and transcribes in over 140 languages and has now reached Microsoft IP Co-sell Ready Status. Practically, the fusion of Verbum with Microsoft Teams will allow users to communicate in over 140 languages during meetings.
This enables the multilingual enablement business joint go-to-market sales activities with Microsoft’s Teams Enterprise worldwide sales teams.
“By attaining Microsoft IP Co-Sell Ready partner status and having a joint go-to-market strategy with Microsoft, we will accelerate our goal to create a more understanding world,” said Saul Leal, CEO at OneMeta.
By using Verbum for Microsoft Teams, companies, organizations, employees, customers, etc. will all be able to communicate in their native languages. Finally, the last great barrier to inclusion has been conquered. Just think how fast information and intelligence will flow. We will be able to speak, hear, read, and understand one another in our own native language simultaneously.”
OneMeta’s Verbum software license is also now available on the Microsoft Azure Marketplace and Microsoft AppSource Marketplace online stores. This allows Microsoft Enterprise users to also engage in seamless communication and collaboration in over 140 languages concurrently.
“As part of my role as Microsoft for Startups Mentor, I have been working with the OneMeta leadership team and their senior developers while they worked on the Verbum software integration into Microsoft Teams, and I do not know of any organization with such superior AI language technology and services that are so disruptive in a positive way within the business world,” added Alessandro Balzarelli, Director at Microsoft Industry Solutions Engineering.
“OneMeta’s use of AI to remove language barriers and create a completely inclusive world of communication is astounding.”
Verbum in Teams’ Feature Set
Verbum’s use in Teams will automatically identify the spoken foreign language and “in less than a second”, according to OneMeta, transcribe it into a multi-language transcript. This allows each meeting participant to read real-time transcriptions in their preferred language in almost real-time.
During a Teams meeting, where multiple foreign languages may be spoken concurrently, users can comprehend the conversation in their native language through translated captions, no matter how many different languages are spoken. This ensures effective communication for participants with diverse language preferences.
Another compelling feature is that each user can write in the Teams Chat in their native language, but other users will read typed text in their own native language.
What Have Been the Major Teams News Stories of 2024 So Far?
Earlier this week, Microsoft revealed that Teams will finally land on Android Auto next month.
Android Auto, an app that allows Android phones to connect to a car’s built-in infotainment system, will add Microsoft’s communication and collaboration platform in February, nearly a year after first being announced at Google’s I/O 2023 event.
Users can join meetings and make calls from the calendar view. However, there’s no further information on whether Android Auto will also integrate with chat and channel messaging or complement other Teams features like file sharing.
Google announced Android Auto integration for Teams, Zoom and Webex at its I/O in 2023, with both latter platforms landing on the app last September. It’s unclear why it’s taken so long for Teams to follow suit.
Last week, Microsoft expanded its Intelligent Recap capability for Teams Premium to Copilot users.
Intelligent Recap was previously exclusive to Teams Premium subscribers but will now become available for those who leverage Teams with Microsoft’s AI Copilot chatbot. The capability means that Copilot users can request an AI-powered summary of a past video meeting, including timeline markers, screen sharing data, and when the user’s name was mentioned. Intelligent Recap for Copilot in Teams launches this month for desktop and Mac Teams users and 365 Copilot subscribers.
Finally, news broke last week that Microsoft is adding a simpler way to forward messages in Teams chats to boost productivity and efficiency.
Teams users can now forward messages between chats with one right click, making the process more time-efficient. It’s also now easier to annotate forwarded messages with additional contextual information, and it can be forwarded to either individual or group chats. The capability is now generally available for desktop Teams users.
