Millions of workers across the globe, namely those who work white-collar jobs, have taken to team collaboration tools such as Microsoft Teams as a precaution to combat COVID-19 and to keep earning a living. Understanding there are far-reaching implications of a global pandemic, I have to acknowledge, there will be jobs lost and the economy is currently the worst it’s ever been.
Every conceivable aspect of daily life has been impacted, and in almost every country around the globe – this is the status quo. From remote education to telemedicine and enterprise applications, Teams has stepped up during this time, and Microsoft said it now has 44 million daily active users, growing by 12 million in just the last seven days. Jared Spataro, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft 365, wrote in a blog post:
“Users have generated over 900 million meetings and calling minutes on Teams this week alone”
Yesterday Microsoft made the massive announcement, Teams reached 44 million daily active users. This is more than double what the team collaboration app reported back in November 2019 when the company said it had 20 million daily active users. One can assume, the competition (Slack) has now surpassed the 13 million mark, but the company has yet to release updated figures so here we remain, in limbo.
This week also marks the third ‘birthday’ of Microsoft’s team collaboration app, Microsoft Teams. According to Spataro, “It has been an incredible past three years to see Teams grow and to see the way organizations across the globe deploy Teams.”
What Else is New on Microsoft Teams?
- Real-time noise suppression
- Raise hand feature, which lets anyone in the meeting send a visual signal they want to be acknowledged
- Bookings app, a Teams app that helps schedule, manage, and conduct, virtual appointments
- Pop-out chats now appear in separate windows for better management of multiple ongoing conversations
- Offline and low-bandwidth support lets users read chats messages respond without an internet connection
- More certified devices for Teams are also on the way. The Yealink VC210, is now generally available. This is the first collaboration bar-certified for Teams that brings together speakers, microphones, a camera, and a native Teams experience for small meeting rooms
- The Bose Noise Cancelling headphone 700 UC will be available in late spring
- Microsoft 365 Business Voice is a new U.S. offering for SMBs that creates a complete phone system for Teams
- The company also has new Microsoft 365 Enterprise plans with licensing options for first-line workers
There a ton of new features for users to leverage at this point, but the question that remains to be answered, will Microsoft keep users online next week as we enter week two of near world-wide coronavirus quarantine? There will be more complexities introduced into the equation undoubtedly. Already more countries are shutting down borders and implementing heftier travel restrictions in response to the virus.
Microsoft Teams is available in 53 languages in 181 different countries and currently free for remote workers during the coronavirus scare, which should provide a much-needed way to connect with humans remotely when being together is far more dangerous than it once was.
Thanks to Microsoft MVP, Tom Arbuthnot of Modality Systems and his ‘Tom Talks’ blog for the tip about Microsoft’s new daily active user count.
