Using Language Interpretation in Microsoft Teams Meetings
Language interpretation in MS Teams allows assigned interpreters to convert what the speaker says into another language in real-time, without disrupting the speaker's original flow of delivery. Once meeting organizers enable language interpretation for a meeting, organizers and co-organizers can add interpreters before a meeting, and assign interpreters during a meeting.
Note: If you're setting up a meeting and plan to invite external participants to interpret for your meeting, you'll need to assign external or guest interpreters during a meeting. See the During a Meeting section below for instructions.
Before a meeting
Language interpretation can be added to any scheduled meeting. While scheduling the meeting or after it's been organized, you can add language interpretation to it and invite/assign interpreters. Steps will differ based on where your meeting was scheduled.
Scheduling from the Microsoft Teams App
- Open the MS Teams app.
- Navigate to the Calendar.
- Choose the option for creating a New Meeting.
4. Provide the necessary information for your meeting, including the title, date, time, and description.
5. Invite your interpreter to the meeting by entering their email address in the Add required attendees field.
a. Note: Before a meeting, you can only include interpreters who have been directly invited as attendees.
6. Ensure that the Online meeting option is enabled.
7. Access additional settings by selecting More options.
8. Enable language interpretation within the meeting options window.
9. In the interpreters field, input the email address of your interpreter.
10. Choose the Source and Target languages of the meeting.
a. The Source language is spoken by the speaker and the Target language is spoken by your interpreter.
b. Add more interpreters and languages if necessary.
11. Select Save to apply interpretation settings.
Scheduling from Outlook
It's generally recommended to use the Outlook app to schedule and manage meetings at UIW. Outlook can be accessed via the Popular Apps tab in Cardinal Apps and comes pre-installed on all UIW-issued devices. Additionally, it can be downloaded for mobile via the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.
1. Launch Outlook.
2. Create a new calendar event.
3. Provide the necessary information for your meeting, including the title, date, time, and description.
4. Invite your interpreter to the meeting by entering their email address in the Add required attendees field.
a. Note: Before a meeting, you can only include interpreters who have been directly invited as attendees.
5. Ensure that the Teams meeting option is enabled.
6. Send the invite.
7. Open the meeting invite from your calendar.
8. Access additional settings by selecting Meeting options.
9. Enable language interpretation within the meeting options window.
10. In the interpreters field, enter the email address of your interpreter.
11. Choose the Source and Target languages of the meeting.
a. The Source language is spoken by the speaker and the Target language is spoken by your interpreter.
b. Add more interpreters and languages if necessary.
12. Select Save to apply interpretation settings.
During a Meeting
Assigning an Interpreter
If language interpretation is enabled before a meeting begins, you can manually assign internal and external interpreters during a meeting. To designate an interpreter during a meeting:
- In your meeting window, select People to open the participants menu.
- Hover over the person you want to make an interpreter and select More options
- Select Make an interpreter.
Note: This option is only available in meetings scheduled with language interpretation enabled, which can only be done with at least one invited person.
Choosing a Language Channel
When participants join a meeting with language interpretation enabled, a dialog box will prompt them to choose the language they wish to hear the meeting in.
In case the dialog is missed, participants can access the language interpretation feature by selecting More within the meeting window, then navigating to Language and speech, and finally choosing Language interpretation.
Participants can use the 'Listen to' drop-down menu to select the available language options they want to hear. 'Original audio' reflects the speaker's language, whereas other options will reflect the language spoken by an interpreter.
FAQ
Can interpreters switch audio channels?
No. Once they join, interpreters are locked into their language and are not able to leave their assigned audio channel unless a meeting organizer or co-organizer removes them as an interpreter by changing their role to an attendee.
Can interpreters be heard by participants in other language channels?
No. Interpreters can only be heard by the participants in their audio channel.
Can Interpreters join on the web or mobile?
Yes. Interpreters can join live interpretations meetings on the web and do not need the MS Teams desktop app. I
Will meeting recordings have both original and translated audio?
Meeting recordings for meetings with language interpretation only capture the audio of the main channel, or original speaker. The interpreter's audio will not be present on the recording.
Can I turn on captions for a meeting with interpretation?
Captions in a meeting with language interpretation will only caption the main speaker, not the interpreter. If the main speaker's language changes, the meeting organizer or co-organizer will need to adjust the live captions' language setting to the correct language for captioning to work.
