Microsoft has partnered with the Welsh Government to offer live human translation services.
Designated interpreters will translate during scheduled Teams meetings, and attendees can listen in real-time in a language of their choosing and switch languages during the meeting.
According to Microsoft, the Welsh Government has welcomed the launch of live human translation on Teams calls, and Glyn Jones, the Chief Digital Officer for the Welsh Government, described the new feature as “crucial” for them.
Jones said: “I don’t think you can underestimate the impact this will have on organisations that operate bilingually or multilingually.
“We have had really positive feedback from the people who’ve tested it with us. The interpreters and the people listening think it’s great.
“Wales is bilingual. We speak Welsh and we speak English. This new functionality will help us use our Welsh more than we’ve been able to during COVID-19.
“I’m sure we’ll see more people using Welsh in meetings than was ever the case before the pandemic — that’s my ambition.”
The new feature has been designed to help public bodies and organisations foster inclusivity and understanding when they host meetings in multiple languages.
The idea for this Teams translation service germinated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Previously, translators attended in-person meetings to interpret for people in the room.
When COVID-19 hit, in-person translation was no longer possible, so some interpreters moved their services online via Teams video and provided their translation by phone.
Aled Jones, Co-Owner of Cymen, a translation company which works with the Welsh Government, said, “it wasn’t perfect, but it got the job done”.
The latest Teams translation feature is essentially an upgrade on this idea, providing an improved experience for listeners.
Aled Jones described the new release as “ground-breaking”. He believes interpreters should be in the background of meetings, and this feature enables interpreters to operate without putting them at the ‘meeting stage’.
The feature is also helping the Welsh Government to meet its “duty” to provide meeting translations in both English and Welsh, according to Aled Jones.
The Welsh Government has set a target of reaching one million Welsh speakers by 2050.
Glyn Jones mirrored this sentiment: “We meet with citizens, particularly when we’re looking at a policy and need to consult with the public.
“Those events, quite rightly, have to be bilingual. But we don’t do it because we have to do it, we do it because we want to.
“Wales is bilingual and meetings will be far better and more constructive if people can contribute in the language that they want to.
“The 2011 Census told us that more than 562,000 people in Wales were able to speak Welsh. The latest survey about Welsh language use also told us that over half of Welsh speakers speak the language daily.”
Teams was initially rolled out for its staff by the Welsh Government in early 2020, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, to increase its flexible working capabilities.
Now, all of its day-to-day business is conducted via Teams. Some of its meeting rooms have been fitted with Teams devices to increase collaboration between office and remote workers.
Nick Hedderman, Senior Director of the Modern Work Business Group at Microsoft, said: “Microsoft Teams brings people closer together, enabling them to communicate and collaborate while breaking down barriers around language and location.
“By empowering people to choose how they participate in calls and meetings, organisations can create a truly inclusive experience for everyone.”
Microsoft released a number of Teams updates in July, as well as revealing its Q4 financial results and Teams PSTN user numbers.
Translation services is a competitive industry which other major UC companies have also got involved with. Zoom acquired a real-time translation company last year, and Cisco also introduced real-time translation on Webex in 2021.
Microsoft Teams first introduced message translation to Teams in 2018.
