As the Coronavirus pandemic continues to force the world to stay locked up at homes, the whole working population is networking from indoors. Amidst these times of video conferencing for official meetings, Microsoft recently introduced a new AI feature that filters out background noises to focus on human voices.
The Microsoft Teams software recently got the “real-time noise suppression” feature. Teams is a video conferencing software that provides a platform for unified communication and collaboration combining video meetings, workplace chats and file storage.
Now, while you are in a video conference call with your boss, how would feel if your dog started barking at a squirrel or something in the background. Would you go out to shut your dog up or end the meeting with your boss? This AI noise suppression feature will be able to solve this as it essentially filters out the background noises, be it a dog barking, a car honking or your little one making a fuss.
Robert Aichner, Microsoft’s Principal Program Manager for the Communications Division, demoed the feature in a video. The man first showed how the rustling of a bag of chips sounds while in a video conference call. Then he turned on the “real-time noise suppression” feature and continued to fiddle with the bag of chips. However, this time only Aichner’s voice passed through the microphone and the annoying rustling sound of the chips bag was filtered out.
The Washington-based company introduced this feature to “Teams” as the software is experiencing a huge spike in usage as most of the population is networking from home. This aims to improve the video conferencing experience for its users and help companies carry out meetings in a distraction-free way.
