Users of Microsoft Outlook will soon be able to plan meetings and dictate emails using voice commands. Outlook for iOS will be the first platform to get the new voice functionality. Additionally, Outlook for Android will also get the functionality, according to Microsoft, in the near future. Cortana, Microsoft’s virtual assistant, will be used to aid users in navigating the Outlook software on mobile devices. Prior to this, only the desktop version of Microsoft Outlook included the dictation features.
According to Microsoft’s blog, the speech-to-text capabilities in Outlook for iOS and Android will make it simpler for users to compose emails, set up meetings, and conduct voice searches within the application.
The software behemoth based in Redmond, California claims that its virtual assistant Cortana will employ Artificial Intelligence (AI) to assist customers in carrying out different operations without the use of text commands.
The ability to arrange meetings using Outlook’s speech-to-text functions is one of the largest additions included in this release. According to Microsoft, Cortana will manage a user’s calendar to locate and organize meetings as well as assist in finding the appropriate file or contact.
To use the new function, users must first hit the Plus icon, then the microphone icon, both of which can be found in the bottom right corner of the Outlook iOS app.
Now, users of the Outlook mobile app may create new emails or reply to existing ones using voice commands. The features make use of Microsoft Dictation, which the company claims have a lower chance of spelling a name incorrectly since it makes use of Microsoft Graph to identify a user’s coworkers’ names.
Last but not least, Outlook’s speech-to-text feature enables voice inputs for email and meeting searches. For instance, you could ask Cortana, “When’s my next team meeting?” and she would check your schedule and respond.
You may arrange up meetings with Cortana on Outlook for iOS by utilizing complicated commands like “Set up a meeting with Vaibhav and his team for next Monday about the Q1 budget, and add Ayush.” As previously reported, Microsoft claims that Android will soon have voice features.
