Microsoft OneDrive and SharePoint Get Video and Audio Transcription, Smart Image Search, and More

Microsoft on Tuesday announced the introduction of newer capabilities that will arrive on its apps over the next few weeks and months. These include native video and audio transcription support on Microsoft's OneDrive and SharePoint, AI-based audio, video, and image recognition and extraction in OneDrive and SharePoint, and a new intelligent files view on OneDrive and Office.com home page. Other additions include file access statistics to be built right into the native Office application, intelligent content sharing, and access to crucial data insights.

Starting off with AI-powered transcription features, native support for audio and video file transcription will roll out in OneDrive and SharePoint starting later this year. The technology will be based on the similar functionality available in Microsoft Stream. A transcript will be displayed alongside the playing video or audio file, allowing users to collect data in a meaningful manner.

"Once you're ready to make a video broadly available across the organization, you can upload and publish to Microsoft Stream. You'll continue to get transcription services plus other AI driven capabilities, including in-video face detection and automatic captions," said Omar Shahine, Partner Director of Program Management for OneDrive and SharePoint, in the company blog post. "Importantly, your audio and video content never leaves the Microsoft Cloud; it is not passed through potentially costly and insecure third-party services."

Microsoft is using native and on-device AI to recognise objects in images and text extraction tools to enable a refined search experience. With the help of automated transcriptions, users will also be able to conduct search across video and audio files.

Later this year, Microsoft is planning to introduce a redesigned file view for OneDrive and Office.com home page that will make use of AI tools based on learnings from Microsoft Graph and content shared on Microsoft 365.

The native Office application is borrowing the updated file card experience from OneDrive and SharePoint, which helps provide access statistics for files stored on the platform. With Intelligent Sharing, users will get the ability to share relevant content with meeting attendees using a combination of apps like PowerPoint and Outlook. It is is exclusively available when you store your content in OneDrive and SharePoint.

For additional security on OneDrive and SharePoint, intelligent compliance will soon be added making it easier to use key compliance capabilities with audio, video, and images.