Multilingual Live Captioning in Microsoft Teams Meetings

Question

Hi All,

I am looking for a solution within Microsoft Teams to address a multilingual scenario in our meetings. Specifically, if there are multiple languages spoken during the meeting (e.g., I am speaking in English and the other participant is speaking in Arabic), I would like to have the following functionality:

1. Each participant should be able to set their preferred language for live captions.
2. When I speak in English, the other participant should be able to see live captions translated into Arabic.
3. Conversely, when the other participant speaks in Arabic, I should be able to see live captions translated into English.

Is there a current feature or workaround in Microsoft Teams that supports this type of multilingual live captioning? If not, are there any plans to introduce this feature in the future? Or any tips and tricks?

Thank you for your assistance.

Peter

Answer 1

Dear Kalmár Péter Good day!Thank you for posting to Microsoft Community. We are glad to assist! Based on your description, I understand you concern with Multilingual Live Captioning in Microsoft Teams Meetings.

Teams can detect what’s said in a meeting and present real-time captions. If you're using the desktop app for Windows or Mac, there are also several caption customization options.

Teams has built-in closed captioning you can turn on from the meeting controls.

First, you may need to set up live translated captions in an event. You can do following steps:

• Open the event in your Teams calendar.
• In Details, select Meeting options .
• In Translate attendee captions, select the languages that live translated captions will be available in during your event.
• Select Apply.

Attendees will only be able to see live translated captions in one of the languages you preselected.

Then,use live translated captions:

• Turn on live captions in your meeting.
• Next to the meeting captions, select Settings.
• Make sure Spoken language is correct.
• Select Caption language.
• Choose the language you want your captions translated to.

**Please Note: *Live translated captions in meetings are only available as part of Teams Premium, an add-on license that provides additional features to make Teams meetings more personalized, intelligent, and secure. To get access to Teams Premium, contact your IT admin.***Thanks for your precious time and your understanding would be highly appreciated. Have a nice day!Best regards,Allen | Community Moderator

Answer 2

Thank you for your response. I appreciate the information provided.

However, I need to clarify my specific use case. It’s not just about the caption language preference but about having two spoken languages in the same meeting. For example, one participant speaks English, and another speaks Arabic. Each participant should see the live captions translated into their preferred language in real-time.

Based on your explanation, it seems each user can set their caption language, but I need confirmation that this supports real-time translation for two different spoken languages within the same meeting.

Thank you for your understanding and assistance.

Answer 3

Hi!

Thank you for the reply. The article is very useful, but it seems my use case can’t be fully addressed. While Microsoft Teams offers live translated captions where users can set their preferred language, it appears that simultaneous bidirectional translation (e.g., English to Arabic and Arabic to English) for different participants within the same meeting is not explicitly supported. This means the spoken language must be unified in the meeting, and having two different spoken languages simultaneously translated for each participant is not feasible based on the current capabilities described.

Answer 4

Dear Kalmár Péter

Thanks for your response!

Based on your further description, the live translated transcript is for users, so user can choose their language which is required by themselves.

e.g.: If the user want to translate to English, he can use this feature from his side.

   If another user in the same meeting want to translate to Arabic, he can also do it by himself.

So it doesn't seems conflicting to have two spoken languages in the same meetings.

You can also see the screenshot below:

 

Thanks for your precious time and your understanding would be highly appreciated. Have a nice day!

Sincerely,

Allen | Community Moderator

Answer 5

Dear Allen,

Thank you for your detailed response regarding the multilingual live captioning capabilities in Microsoft Teams. I appreciate the information provided.

However, I would like to clarify my specific use case to ensure it can be addressed:

1. During a meeting, if one participant is speaking in English and another participant is speaking in Arabic, is it possible for each participant to see real-time translated captions in their preferred language simultaneously? For example, can the English-speaking participant see the Arabic speech translated into English, and vice versa?

Your initial response suggests the availability of live translated captions, but it is unclear if this supports simultaneous bidirectional translation for different spoken languages within the same meeting.

I would greatly appreciate your confirmation on whether this functionality is supported in Teams Premium or if there are any plans to implement this feature in the future.

Thank you for your assistance.

Peter