What happens when not everyone speaks the same language in your Microsoft Teams meeting? That’s where interpretation and live translation solutions like remote simultaneous interpretation, AI-powered speech translation, live AI captions and subtitles come in.
Microsoft Teams has come a long way in supporting multilingual meetings. But for many meeting organisers, those built-in features still don’t go far enough. And when clarity, speed, and accessibility matter most, that’s where Interprefy steps in. We offer the same powerful language support for Teams as we do across other major platforms.
Before we jump ahead, let’s take a look at what live translation options are currently available in Microsoft Teams and what to consider when you need more than just the basics.
Hosting a multilingual Microsoft Teams meeting? There are two main types of live translation technology you can use to support participants in different languages in this platform:
Similar to television subtitles, this feature provides participants with captions or subtitles in their selected language. In Microsoft Teams, these are automatically generated using AI and appear on screen in real time.
Microsoft Teams includes a built-in interpretation feature that allows organisers to connect interpreters to their meetings. When scheduling the meeting, organisers need to enable interpretation and select the language channels they want to make available.
Once the meeting is set up, organisers must find, coordinate with and assign the right interpreters to their respective languages by adding them through the meeting options. During the meeting, participants can select their preferred language channel and listen to the interpreted audio in real time.
As of May 2025, Microsoft Teams supports live language interpretation in scheduled meetings. Organisers can enable interpretation when setting up a meeting and assign interpreters to specific language pairs. Participants can then choose their preferred language channel during the meeting and listen to interpreted audio in real time.
Each meeting can support up to 16 interpretation language pairs. However, only one interpreter can be assigned per language direction. Interpreted audio is also not included in meeting recordings.
To use the language interpretation feature in Microsoft Teams, you’ll need a supported Microsoft 365 licence (such as E3 or E5) and access to the Teams desktop app.
Activating the feature is done when scheduling the meeting. Here's how:
In Microsoft Teams, go to your calendar and click + New Meeting.
Fill out the meeting details, then click Meeting Options.
Under the meeting options, toggle Enable language interpretation to On.
Add your interpreters and assign their languages.
Click Save to finalise your settings.
During the meeting, interpreters will join in their assigned roles, and participants can select their preferred language channel from the audio settings.
Once language interpretation is enabled and interpreters are assigned, participants can access interpretation during the meeting through the Teams meeting controls.
In the meeting, they simply:
Select Choose interpretation language when joining the meeting.
Select their preferred language in the Listen to the meeting in dropdown menu
Listen to the interpreted audio in real time while still viewing the meeting content.
Participants can switch languages or return to the original audio at any time during the meeting by selecting More actions
While Microsoft Teams' built-in interpretation feature supports multilingual communication for many meeting types, it comes with some important limitations — both for interpreters and for meeting organisers.
Microsoft Teams was designed primarily as a general collaboration tool, and as a result, it lacks some of the interpreter-specific functionalities found in dedicated interpretation platforms. This can impact interpreter performance, especially in longer or more complex events.
Here are some of the key constraints:
No handover capability: Interpreters cannot seamlessly switch with a partner during the session, which is a challenge for longer meetings requiring shared workloads.
No relay interpretation: Teams doesn’t support relay (i.e., interpreting from another interpreter’s output). This is a critical feature for events involving multiple language combinations.
No private interpreter chat: Interpreters cannot communicate directly with each other within Teams, making coordination and accuracy more difficult during live sessions.
The success of multilingual Microsoft Teams meetings — especially larger or public-facing events — depends on more than just enabling a built-in feature. It relies on three critical factors: having the right interpreters in place, using reliable and purpose-built technology, and working with a partner who can support you before, during, and after the meeting.
While Microsoft Teams offers helpful built-in tools, there are several limitations organisers should be aware of:
Microsoft Teams has made strong progress in supporting multilingual meetings with built-in interpretation and live captions. But when it comes to delivering truly seamless, high-quality language support — especially for larger, high-stakes, or global events — those native features often don’t go far enough.
That’s where a professional interpretation partner like Interprefy makes the difference.
With Interprefy, you’re not just adding interpreters — you’re gaining access to a complete language support infrastructure designed specifically for multilingual events. Here’s how Interprefy extends what Microsoft Teams offers:
When clarity, accessibility, and experience matter, Interprefy fills the critical gaps left by Microsoft Teams' native tools — so you can focus on your event, not the technology behind it.
If you're hosting multilingual meetings on Microsoft Teams, finding the right interpreters is key to making sure everyone understands what's being said — accurately and in real time.
When you work with Interprefy, you get access to a global network of professional interpreters. We partner with leading Language Service Providers around the world to source, train, and onboard thousands of vetted interpreters — each selected for their language skills, subject matter expertise, and live event experience.
Whether you need interpretation for a high-stakes board meeting, an all-hands webinar, or an event in a rare language combination, we’ll help you find interpreters who are not just available — but right for the job.
For Microsoft Teams meetings without interpretation, organisers can enable live captions to support participants in following the conversation. These AI-generated captions can be displayed in multiple languages, depending on the meeting setup and the participant’s preferences.
Live captions in Teams can make a real difference—helping improve accessibility for those who are hard of hearing, supporting participants in noisy environments, and boosting understanding and retention across communication barriers.
While useful for everyday meetings, it’s important to keep in mind that captions are only available live and are not saved unless transcription is enabled. For multilingual post-event content or more advanced language needs, a dedicated solution like Interprefy can provide additional support.
Meeting organisers in Microsoft Teams can enable live captions for scheduled meetings, webinars, and channel meetings. Captions are generated automatically using AI and appear in real time on participants’ screens.
Participants can turn on captions themselves during the meeting by selecting More actions > Language and speech > Turn on live captions. If translation is supported by the user’s Microsoft 365 licence and region, captions can also appear in the participant’s selected language.
Captions are visible only during the meeting unless transcription is separately enabled, in which case only the original language transcript is saved for post-event reference.
Yes. Microsoft Teams offers automated captions, also known as live captions, to enhance accessibility during meetings. These captions are generated using AI and are available to users with supported Microsoft 365 plans (such as E3 or E5).
Teams meeting organisers and participants can turn on live captions at any point during a scheduled meeting or webinar.
Microsoft Teams provides:
You don’t need to enable captions ahead of time in the Teams admin portal. Captions can be turned on during a meeting by any participant:
Click More actions (···) in the meeting toolbar.
Select Language and speech > Turn on live captions.
To save captions after the meeting, transcription must be separately enabled by the organiser.
Microsoft Teams currently supports AI-generated captions in over 50 spoken languages, including:
Language availability and translation options depend on your Microsoft 365 licence and region settings.
Microsoft Teams' live captions are generated using AI-based speech recognition technology. While Microsoft does not publicly disclose specific accuracy rates, the effectiveness of live captions can vary based on several factors, including:
It's important to note that, as of now, Microsoft Teams does not offer a feature to add custom dictionaries or pre-load specific terminology, such as names, acronyms, or industry-specific terms, into the live captioning system. This limitation means that specialized or uncommon terms may not be accurately transcribed during meetings.
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Yes — but only with Teams Premium.
Microsoft Teams offers live translated captions as part of its Teams Premium add-on. This feature allows participants to view real-time subtitles translated into their preferred language — for example, hearing English but reading subtitles in French, Japanese, or Spanish.
However, this functionality is not included in standard Microsoft Teams licenses. The meeting organiser must have a Teams Premium license for participants to access translated captions. Without it, only same-language live captions (transcription without translation) are available.
Organisers must preselect which languages attendees can see live captions in. They can select six languages, or ten if they have Premium.
Here’s how to do it:
Join the Teams meeting.
Click More actions (···) in the meeting controls.
Select Language and speech > Turn on live captions.
Go to Caption settings to choose your preferred caption language.
Participants can switch languages at any time during the meeting. Only the organiser needs the Teams Premium licence — attendees do not.
Currently, Microsoft Teams supports translated captions in over 50 languages, including major European, Asian, and Middle Eastern languages. The translation works from the spoken language into the selected caption language, depending on what's supported by your Microsoft 365 setup.
While the feature offers broad language support, it still depends on licensing and region availability.
While Microsoft Teams' live captions and translated captions are a valuable tool for improving meeting accessibility, they do come with a few limitations that organisers should keep in mind:
If your meeting involves complex language, specialist terminology, or high-stakes communication, it’s worth considering a more customisable captioning solution that allows for preparation and technical support.
Interprefy now supports real-time captions and subtitles in over 80 languages, utilizing AI-powered speech recognition and translation technologies. This integration ensures that your Teams meetings are more inclusive and accessible to a global audience.
By integrating Interprefy's advanced captioning and interpretation services into your Microsoft Teams meetings, you can create a more inclusive and engaging environment for all participants.
While captions help participants read what's being said in the same or another language (depending on the meeting), they don’t provide spoken output. Microsoft has announced plans to go one step further with an AI-powered interpreter feature that simulates your own speaking voice in another language, offering real-time speech-to-speech translation during meetings.
A preview of this AI voice translation feature was expected in early 2025, supporting up to nine languages and personalized voice simulation.
However, as of May 2025, this feature has not been released, and there is no official timeline for its availability.
With AI speech translation, Interprefy delivers real-time spoken translations in 80+ languages, using natural-sounding voices. Unlike Microsoft Teams' roadmap features, this solution is available now and can be integrated seamlessly into your Teams meetings — whether as a direct audio stream or a secondary access link.
If you're aiming to deliver truly multilingual Microsoft Teams meetings or webinars, Interprefy provides the advanced technology and expert support you need. From AI speech translation to remote interpretation and real-time AI-generated captions, our solutions are built to handle everything — from complex global setups to everyday team calls.
Whether you're dealing with rare languages, last-minute changes, or speakers who need extra confidence, Interprefy helps you go beyond Teams’ built-in features — making your meetings more inclusive, professional, and accessible.
With Interprefy, you’re not just adding translation — you’re upgrading the entire multilingual meeting experience.