Posted On 24 Oct 2020

In the light of the ongoing global pandemic, software manufacturers are doing their best to customize existing products and bring out new ones that will help their clientele better to manage the “new normal”, particularly in terms of homeworking. As Microsoft Teams has become one of the most widely used programs for online conferencing, meetings, interviews, and more, it’s unsurprising that the company has just announced some new tweaks to the software.

Business meetings are one of the key uses of Teams, and Microsoft is planning to enhance the meeting experience with new Together Mode scenes. Together Mode is a feature that allows every person in a meeting to have the same background, so it feels as if they are all in the same room; new coffee shop, conference room, and other backgrounds will be available before the end of the year. In addition, a new Breakout Room feature will allow people participating in the meeting to break up into smaller groups – this feature will be available in October.

Also before the end of the year, a Meeting Recap feature will be available, so that anybody involved in the meeting will be able to see recordings, transcripts, chat, shared files, and other elements, either directly from Teams or by clicking on the meeting in their Outlook calendar.

Aware that some users may need or prefer physical meetings as part of their Teams set up, Microsoft is introducing a slew of features to assist “touchless meetings”. This will include using the cameras in a physical meeting room to count the number of people present, warning other users when the room has reached its safe capacity. Hardware partners are working on creating “Teams Panels”, that can be located outside meeting rooms to help manage office space safely.

Calling using Teams will be made easier with a simplified home screen which will show call history, voicemails, and contacts at the same time. Collaborative calling will also be enabled to assist those running hotlines or helpdesk.

The Microsoft Search unified search technology will be added to Teams soon, with the intention of speeding up every type of search users may require. Alongside this MyAnalytics and Workplace Analytics will be integrated into Teams as well as novel features such as a “virtual commute”, integrated with the Headspace app. A Customer Key feature will also be available, adding additional encryption for users employing their own keys with Teams.

These features and many more will be steadily rolled out from the beginning of October 2020, with the rollout plans to continue into 2021.