Video conferencing has become a very important way of doing business during the pandemic. Now Cisco is making it even easier to chat with people around the world, even if they don’t understand what you’re saying.
The company has just rolled out a new preview feature for Webex meetings which allows for real-time translation of speech into text. It means someone who doesn’t understand what is being said by the speaker will have access to subtitles presented in real-time in their language of choice. It’s also highly unlikely their language won’t be available as Cisco has implemented support for 108 languages so far.
“The inclusive features of Webex help create a level playing field for users regardless of factors like language or geography. Enabling global Real-Time Translations is another step toward powering an Inclusive Future, and an important component of driving better communication and collaboration across teams.” said Jeetu Patel, SVP and GM Security and Applications, Cisco. “AI technologies play an integral role in delivering the seamless collaboration, smart hybrid work and intelligent customer experiences that Cisco is known to deliver.”
Cisco expects the real-time translation feature to be tested thoroughly for the next couple of months before becoming generally available to Webex users at some point in May. The company also points out that the real-time text-to-speech system can benefit hearing-impaired participants.
