Are you also troubled with background noise in Microsoft Teams, read how Microsoft is tackling the background noise and noise suppression with Artifical Intelligence

Introduction

Learn what Microsoft is doing to trackle background noise and noise suppress in Teams with latest developments in Artifical Intelligence.

Working from home has become the new norm for many of us, and with it comes a whole new set of challenges. One of the biggest challenges is dealing with background noise during virtual meetings. Whether it’s the sound of children playing, construction noise outside, or even just the hum of a fan, background noise can be incredibly distracting and make it difficult to focus on the task at hand.

Thankfully, Microsoft Teams has introduced a solution to this problem: AI-based noise suppression. In this blog post, we’ll take a closer look at this feature and how it can help improve your virtual meeting experience.Microsoft Teams has an AI-based noise suppression feature that removes unwanted background noise during calls and meetings. This feature uses AI technology to analyze an individual’s audio feed and separate the speaker’s voice from other sounds1. Users can adjust the level of suppression they want, with a new “High” level added to accommodate remote or on-site workers.

What is AI-Based Noise Suppression?

AI-based noise suppression is a feature in Microsoft Teams that uses machine learning to analyse an individual’s audio feed and filter out unwanted background noise. This feature is able to distinguish between speech and other sounds, allowing it to suppress various types of non-stationary noises such as keyboard typing or food wrapper crunching. Microsoft Teams has also recently extended its machine learning model to prevent unwanted echo, improve dialogue by enabling “full duplex” sound, and reduce reverberation2. These new features dramatically improve the sound quality of meetings and calls, even in challenging situations

How Does It Work?

The AI-based noise suppression feature in Microsoft Teams relies on machine learning to learn the difference between clean speech and noise. To achieve this, Microsoft has created a large dataset with approximately 760 hours of clean speech data and 180 hours of noise data. This dataset includes a balance of female and male speech in 10+ languages, as well as 150 different types of noise.

The machine learning model is trained on this dataset to accurately distinguish between speech and noise. Once trained, the model can be applied to an individual’s audio feed during a virtual meeting to filter out unwanted background noise.

How Do I Enable AI-Based Noise Suppression in Microsoft Teams?

To enable AI-based noise suppression in Microsoft Teams, you’ll need to adjust your device settings before your call or meeting. Simply select “Settings” next to your profile picture, then select “Devices” on the left. Under “Noise suppression,” you’ll see several options to choose from. Select “High” to suppress all background sound that isn’t your voice.

It’s important to note that this feature is currently only supported in the Teams Windows desktop client. For more detailed instructions on how to enable AI-based noise suppression in Microsoft Teams, you can refer to this support article: https://aka.ms/noisesuppression

The Benefits of AI-Based Noise Suppression The benefits of using AI-based noise suppression in Microsoft Teams are clear. By reducing unwanted background noise during virtual meetings, participants are able to focus better and communicate more effectively. This can lead to more productive meetings and improved collaboration among team members.

In addition to improving call quality for individual users, AI-based noise suppression also has broader benefits for organizations as a whole. By enabling this feature by default for most calls, Microsoft has seen a 32% reduction in complaints of background noise reported in their end-of-call survey.

Conclusion

Background noise can be a major distraction during virtual meetings, but with the introduction of AI-based noise suppression in Microsoft Teams, this problem can be effectively addressed. By using machine learning to filter out unwanted background noise, participants are able to focus better and communicate more effectively during virtual meetings.

If you’re already using Microsoft Teams, be sure to enable AI-based noise suppression before your next call or meeting. And if you’re not yet using Teams, now is a great time to give it a try and see how it can improve your virtual meeting experience.

Let me know in with your comments below what you think of Microsoft’s direction on tackling noise suppression in Microsoft Teams!

Also, read the Microsoft Teams community article here New AI-based speech enhancements for Microsoft Teams – Microsoft Community Hub