Microsoft Reinvents Virtual Collaboration with New Teams Features

Microsoft has announced a set of new features for Microsoft Teams! These features make virtual interactions more engaging. Moving towards a more hybrid model of working and learning.

With the new features of Microsoft Teams, users can benefit from greater connectivity, more inclusive and less boring meetings, while saving time. These features – including together mode, video filters, live feedback, contactless meeting experiences and more – are beginning to be deployed and will be fully available later this year.

“Over the past few months, we have been working with experts in virtual reality, AI and productivity research to better understand the future of work. These results, published here, have been useful to guide us in the design of these new features. Our research has shown that many of us feel less connected since working remotely, so we want to bring a more human element to online meetings. We also want to streamline their experiences across applications and devices, using technology like AI to save time and improve overall well-being, which is of utmost importance during this time”,

said Rosalind Quek, General Manager, Modern Work, Asia Solution Sales at Microsoft Asia in an article on the Microsoft Blog

Strengthen the connection between users and make meetings more relevant

• The “Together” mode: Microsoft Teams will now offer a new meeting experience. With Artificial Intelligence segmentation technology Teams can digitally place participants in a common background, making them feel like they are in the same room as everyone else in the meeting or class for example. This mode makes meetings more attractive and helps users to be together. The “together” mode with a view of the auditorium is currently being rolled out and will be available in August.

• Dynamic View: Building on the meeting enhancements announced last month, Dynamic View allows users to customize the view to suit their preferences and needs. This includes the ability to display a split screen side-by-side with the desired participants.

• Video Filters: Before joining a meeting, users can now use filters. This allows you to adjust lighting levels and soften camera focus to customize your appearance .

• Quick “temperature readings”: employee well-being is essential for productivity! This new feature allows managers, leaders and teachers to easily check how their teams or students feel through questions in an online survey.

Make meetings more inclusive, engaging and effective for teams and students

• Live feedback: users can now react during meetings using emojis! In the future, Microsoft will also offer live PowerPoint presentations to teams, which will allow for more audience involvement.

• Discussion bubbles: The Chat has become a lively space for sharing ideas without interrupting the flow of meetings. Chat bubbles allow all chats sent during a Microsoft team meeting to appear on the screens of all meeting participants, making the chat more central to the conversation.

• Attribution et traduction : Avec l’attribution des orateurs, tout le monde sait qui parle. Des transcriptions et des traductions en direct, permettent de suivre ce qui a été dit dans plus d’une langue.

• Interactive meetings for more than 1000 participants : Microsoft team meetings can now accommodate up to 1,000 attendees, and up to 20,000 attendees to attend a presentation or discussion.

• Microsoft Whiteboard Updates: The Microsoft Team Whiteboard will soon be updated with new features including faster loading times, sticky notes, text and drag and drop capabilities. These will allow team members who do not have access to a touch screen to participate in whiteboard sessions.

Help users streamline their work and save time

• The Tasks in Microsoft Teams application provides a new unified view of tasks in Microsoft To Do, Planner and Outlook, whether a user is on the desktop, on the web or on the go.

• Suggested Responses: Microsoft Team Chats will now include suggested responses, using AI to create short responses based on the context of the previous message. This feature will be implemented this month.

• Non-contact encounter experiences: As some people return to physical work spaces, non-contact encounter experiences in shared spaces are more important than ever. Microsoft Teams now allows people to join meetings and share content to meeting room devices from their own mobile device or PC, with the same features available on Surface Hub later this year. The Teams mobile application will also include a new room remote control, with additional meeting commands, and voice commands to join and leave a meeting or call someone from their address book. Another experience will allow users to wirelessly connect to any Teams room, collaboration bar or Surface Hub device, enabling ad hoc, face-to-face collaboration seamlessly for people in a shared space.

To start the overview, users can log in to their personal Microsoft account on the Microsoft Teams mobile application, available for download from the iOS or Android app store.

All of the new features are planned for the end of the year.

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