Microsoft Teams now supports spatial audio, but there are limitations

Microsoft Teams finally supports spatial audio, but there are some caveats that you should know about.

Microsoft Teams gets new features frequently, which makes sense considering that it is one of the most used online communication and collaboration tool, especially in work environments. Recently, Microsoft revealed all the updates that it made to improve Teams during July 2023, and now, it has announced support for spatial audio in the software.

As the name suggests, spatial audio replicates the feeling of an in-person meeting taking place in a physical environment by separating the voices of individual participants, providing a more immersive and natural listening experience. The technology perceives the audio location of a participant, which is also helpful when multiple people are speaking at the same time. Additionally, Microsoft says that it reduces meeting fatigue and cognitive load. Spatial audio is now rolling out generally for Teams desktop users only and can be enabled through Settings > Devices in Teams.

However, there are several limitations to note. When it comes to hardware, spatial audio is primarily supported on wired stereo headsets, but some wireless headsets with a USB dongle may allow the capability too. Stereo-open speakers are eligible for the technology as well, but Bluetooth headsets are not since the protocol does not support stereo technology during a call. Upcoming standards of Bluetooth will enable this feature, and any headset that leverages those standards will naturally support spatial audio in Teams too.

On the infrastructure side, if a meeting has over 100 participants, some may be transferred to a satellite server. This infrastructure does not currently support spatial audio, but it will eventually. Similarly, if you utilize Music mode, you can send audio with spatial technology but not receive it. Upcoming releases of the tech will cater to receiving mode too. Finally, in Live Interpretation mode, the audio for the main floor and the interpreter will be heard from different directions but at the same amplitude, Microsoft aims to improve this with individual volume controls in the future.

All in all, if you have a wired stereo headset and are joining regular meetings, you should be pretty much good to go when it comes to leveraging spatial audio in Teams. However, if you engage in any of the other specialized use-cases highlighted above, you may get an inferior experience for now.

Usama is a freelance writer at XDA who has a decade of experience in covering technology news across a variety of topics, with the primary area of focus being anything related to Microsoft.He also has a bachelor's degree in Computer Science and loves to play video games and read books in his free time.