Meeting recordings are surprisingly inconvenient, even in today’s digital era. How many of us have completed an entire meeting only to realise that the recording is incomplete? And how often have we forgotten to turn on the auto-record feature until halfway into a client call?
The lack of interoperability and native features means that we are often left scrambling to record a call via third-party devices, without the convenience or security of native offerings. And this is a bigger problem than it sounds. Research suggests that 30% of us record every meeting – that makes up around 300 recordings every week for a 1,000-strong workforce.
At Microsoft Ignite 2020, the company has come up with a nifty new update that will make recording easier. Here are the details.
What Was Happening to Teams Meetings Recordings Before the Update?
Microsoft has always had a recording feature for Teams meetings, but the files were stored on Microsoft Stream. Stream is a relatively new service from Microsoft (launched in 2017) that the company hopes will soon replace Office 365 video. By uploading video and audio files to Stream, Microsoft would help you gain from the service’s advanced video management capabilities.
But this made sharing and visibility a complex task.
Enter Microsoft Teams Meeting Recordings on OneDrive and SharePoint
After the update, Teams Meeting Recordings will be automatically stored on One Drive or SharePoint. If you are in an individual meeting, the meeting recording will be available in your OneDrive folder. Clips from all channel meetings will be directed to a SharePoint site. Importantly, this will count against your slated storage quotas on OneDrive and SharePoint.
The announcement will improve sharing permissions dramatically. All the polices you expect from Microsoft 365 now apply to Teams Meetings Recordings as well. For channel meetings, you’ll find a link in the chat history and the permissions will be identical to the Team’s channel owner/members list.
For regular meetings too, the link is available in the chat history. If you initiated the recording or scheduled the meeting, you will have full viewing and editing access. Invited members can view the recording while external users need to request access.
What Are the Biggest Benefits?
Apart from the sheer convenience of it all (recordings now become one more file format supported by the Teams’ primary interface), there are other implications. Companies will be able to benefit from built-in retention policies, localised storage if needed, information governance, and API-level access.
It’s no surprise, therefore, that Microsoft MVP, Tom Arbuthnot, called this:
“Easily my number one for a massive day to day usability improvement”
What Will Happen to My Existing Recordings Library?
Microsoft announced that there will be a migration plan in place, but there are no dates yet.
The updated recording storage is expected to hit the ‘shelves’ by early Q4 2020, as an optional feature. By mid-Q4 2020, this will be the default if you have not opted out by then. By Q1 2021, you will no longer be able to store recordings on Microsoft Stream.
The company has big things planned for this feature, like video analytics, specialised support, and video-based eDiscovery. The possibilities are endless – and we will be watching this space eagerly, as always.
See all our Microsoft Ignite Teams News
