Google Meet

2020 has become the year of video conferencing, with multiple companies launching their own ‘Zoom-alternatives’. However, if you are like me, you’d agree that video conferencing isn’t comparable to the real thing, one big reason being the unwanted background noise that sneaks into conversations. From the crackling of a cracker wrapper to the marketing professor’s over-enthusiastic kid, background noises can effectively disrupt the entire purpose of a meeting. Thus, to fight this problem and bring video conferencing one step closer to real life interactions, Google is bringing its impressive noise-canceling feature to Google Meet on Android and iOS.

However, the user needs to be a customer for either the G Suite Enterprise or a G Suite Enterprise for Education, to use this extremely useful Meet feature.

Calling it the “Cloud Denoiser”, Google explains that the user’s voice goes through a ‘machine learning process’ in Google Cloud, allowing the platform to effectively remove all forms of disruptive background noises from the live audio feed.

The company, through its G Suit Updates Blog, has informed users that the noise cancellation feature will be turned off by default on mobile devices but can be turned on from the call settings option by clicking the three dots on the top of the screen whenever required.

This feature works exactly like the noise removal option on any leading Digital Audio Workstation and is designed to effectively dampen unwanted background noises, paving the way for a  crisp and clear output.From the barking of a dog to the nervous clicking of a pen, the denoiser is designed to efficiently block it all out from the overall experience of the Google Meet call.

Google has announced that the feature is all set to roll out today and will be made available for access everywhere in a few days’ time.