Microsoft Teams has launched bidirectional translation support for interpreters.
The feature enables interpreters to switch between the direction of language translation at the touch of a button without disrupting the speaker’s delivery.
This allows one interpreter to provide translation services both ways in a conversation, avoiding the necessity of hiring a second interpreter to manage the opposite flow of translation.
Currently, users of bidirectional translation support must be members of the Microsoft 365 targeted release program on Windows or macOS or Teams Public Preview.
Jan Steberl, Teams Program Manager at Microsoft, outlines some of the key benefits for those leveraging this new capability in a Microsoft Tech Community blog post: “I’m excited to share that an interpreter can now switch the translation direction between two languages in Microsoft Teams with the click of a button.”
This allows for more efficient real-time translation using just one interpreter, greatly simplifying the process.”
Microsoft explains that live language interpretations can be added to non-encrypted meetings in Teams.
Bidirectional support for language interpretation gives interpreters the ability to change languages by choosing an indicator on their Teams screen.
The new feature works by sending interpreters a notification that draws their attention to the language translation indicator at the bottom of their screen.
The language that the interpreter is interpreting will be highlighted in the indicator.
To change the language they wish to translate into, interpreters simply need to click on the name of the other language that they would like to translate, which is located beside the current language highlighted in the indicator.
Interpreters can continue switching between the two directions of language translation as often as they like.
To enable the new translation feature, IT admins must enable “Show preview features” in their update policy.
For targeted release, admins can give access to select individuals or the entire workforce via the Microsoft 365 admin centre.
Live Language Interpretation
In September 2022, Microsoft launched its live language interpretation feature, making it generally available for Teams meeting participants.
This feature was the first step in allowing professional interpreters to translate messages into other languages; bidirectional translation support is now being added.
Although several applications already offer automatic translation, they cannot yet offer the same level of accuracy as a professional interpreter.
Shalendra Chhabra, Principal PM Manager in Microsoft Teams Meetings, gave further reasons why it decided to introduce the capability: “Here at Microsoft, we serve a diverse set of global customers, including governmental institutions that hold parliament meetings in multiple languages, multinational and multilingual corporations, businesses that work with vendors around the world, and many more.”
“This feature was built to support customers and users who need to communicate in the virtual world across languages.”
Our language interpretation feature will allow professional interpreters to convert the speaker’s message into another language without disrupting the speaker’s original flow or delivery.”
Around one month later, in October 2022, Microsoft added intelligent message translation for Teams chat on mobile devices.
The feature lets users translate a chat message into their preferred language, which Microsoft hopes will foster enhanced collaboration between users who have different native languages.
