Microsoft Teams adds Live Transcription with speaker attribution for meetings

Back in July 2020, Microsoft announced a bunch of updates for Teams, including a new Live Transcription capability and Video Filters. The company has recently updated the Microsoft 365 roadmap to indicate that the Transcription experience is currently rolling out in the Windows and macOS desktop apps.

The new accessibility feature allows users to view a live transcription of speech with speaker attribution during a video call or meeting in real-time. The text appears alongside the meeting video, including the name/avatar of the speaker and a timestamp to specify who is speaking. This works for organizers, presenters, and attendees, making it easier to follow along with the conversation during remote meetings.

Users will be able to record these transcripts along with the meeting and download them in a Word file after the meeting. However, the meeting organizer can delete the saved transcript with the Teams desktop client. There are also some admin controls to allow for these settings.

Overall, it is a great feature for people that are deaf, hard of hearing or working in a noisy environment. It is important to note that attendees need to be running the desktop version of Teams to use it, and it doesn’t work on the Web version of the app. In addition, Live Transcription is currently limited to English-speaking users who have their default language set to English in Teams.