Microsoft Teams to now utilize Artificial Intelligence Technology to holistically improve the quality of their calls.

During the past two years, Microsoft Teams along with its primary competitor Zoom, have become immediate household names with their excellent Video and Voice Call services that nicely filled the gap that was left hollow with the onslaught of the dreaded Coronavirus. As people of all ages, all across found themselves working and studying from home, it was at that time that the services provided by the otherwise unknown Microsoft Teams, immediately became a necessity. However, by now we have all experienced some sort of disturbance during our busy Teams meetings, whether it be subpar room acoustics making it difficult for people to hear a person on the call, or two people talking over each other. It is these same annoyances that the Tech Titan aims to mitigate with their implementation of AI Technology within Microsoft Teams.

Details of the Implementations

Microsoft has made it clear that they are incredibly ambitious about the numerous benefits that Machine Learning can provide to their Microsoft Teams platform, highlighting the fact that the Company has been working hard in diminishing the hindrances caused by Echoes that can occur out of the blue during a call on Teams. Their Artificial Intelligence solution targets exactly this issue, as the Company indicates that it is the perfect fit for the development of an Echo Cancellation system which can allow the total reduction of echoes from all devices that have the Microsoft Teams App. The Company has been testing these aforementioned concepts for a few months now by utilizing 30,000 hours of speech to help train the AI system, while also capturing thousands of crowd-sourced audios from real Teams Users that were paid by Microsoft to record their voice and play it back from their respective devices. Moreover, the most important aspect in this is the simulation of room acoustics, which the Company did eventually acquire from 100,000 different types of rooms. The result of all this is anticipated to bring about a massive improvement in the general call quality, the elimination of echo and the ability for multiple people to speak at the same time without sounding muddled or incomprehensible.

Additional Voice Quality Enhancements

Apart from the aforementioned Echo Cancellation ability, Microsoft is aiming to further implement more voice quality improvements to their Teams platform. One of these improvements made public by Microsoft is the capability to suppress Background Noise. This specific feature acts as an add-on to one of the optional features Microsoft released for their Windows Users over two years ago, having now evaluated and modified the feature from the feedback given from the Users, the Company has made it possible for Teams Users to now entirely mute disruptive background noise during Calls, hence significantly reducing the chances of a meeting to be disturbed by unexpected background noises such as a Car Alarm or a Barking Dog. Furthermore, Microsoft has also added the ability for Users to easily interrupt their conversation on a Teams Call. This greater interruptibility is Microsoft’s effort to make Teams Calls much more natural while also being privy to clarification from any of the participants.

Refining the Video Quality

Using Artificial Intelligence Technology was not something Microsoft took on exclusively for the improvement of their Voice Quality System on Teams, in fact the Company utilized AI for the adjustment of their Call Video Quality as well. The leverage of AI has helped Microsoft to add Real-time Screen Optimization Adjustments for the sharing of content on Teams. As the Machine Learning aspect of AI will now automatically detect and then adjust the quality of the content being shared, all in real time. Thus, allowing more visibility and smoothness in quality of Microsoft Team’s Screen-share capabilities. Moreover, the Company understands the fact that Bandwidth of their User’s Internet Connections are unpredictable, while in the past this would result in choppy and stuttering Video on Teams, now with the avenue of Machine Learning Microsoft is positive that they have overcome this obstacle as AI technologies will now automatically adjust the playback quality of a User’s video based on their internet Bandwidth, ensuring that their Video comes through as clear as possible. An add-on to this is the introduction of AI-powered filters within Teams, that will now give Users the option to adjust their brightness and focus levels on their Video with ease.