I’ve been working from home the past few weeks as many of you. One of the challenges I’ve run into is that I don’t have a proper home office, and my children are also at home doing their school work. I’ve had countless Zoom, Google Hangouts, and Skype meetings over the past few weeks, so I have been searching for a way to eliminate background noise from my calls. Thankfully, I’ve discovered a great solution: Krisp.
Krisp is available for PC, Mac, iOS, and Chrome. Krisp works with both internal (your Mic) and external (the other callers) to eliminate background noise. From a technical perspective on the Mac, you go into your conference app (like Zoom) and set your Mic and Speaker to Krisp. Krisp lives in your macOS menu bar, and it allows you to select your actual input and output.
In a typical situation, I use my AirPods Pro so I will select them as both my mic and speakers. Thankfully, all of the magic that Krisp deploys to eliminate background noise happens locally on your device. You can view Krisp’s Privacy Policy on its website.
I’ve been using it for the past 24 hours, and my mind has been blown. I was on a Google Hangout with a few people with my Neato D7 vacuum running in the same room, and they couldn’t hear it running. Krisp works with all of the major communication apps, including Zoom, Skype, Google Hangouts, Slack, Facetime, Webex, and countless others. Basically, any app that allows you to adjust the mic and speaker outputs will work with Krisp.
How does Krisp work?
Krisp is a great example of the benefits of using AI to improve a product. Their platform has analyzed 2500 hours of audio, 20,000 noises, and 50,000 speakers.
Pricing
Krisp offers multiple pricing plans. There is a free plan (during COVID-19) that allows for 120 minutes per week or less. Pro (unlimited) is $5 per month. If you pay annually, it’s discounted to $40 per year. They also offer team and enterprise accounts as well. During the COVID-19 pandemic, they are offering all students, teachers, hospital workers, and government workers Pro accounts for free.
Based on these, we learned and developed a neural network called krispNet DNN. We enhanced it by adding our “secret sauce”, and the result is magical audio processing that can recognize and remove any noise.
If you’re struggling to find a quiet spot when working from home, check out Krisp. I’ve been blown away by how well it works. I was on a Zoom call this morning, and my dog was barking 15 feet away. The other caller couldn’t hear the barking.
