It's an exciting time for Microsoft and the Microsoft Teams roadmap. According to the leading technology, communication, and collaboration company, there are now more than 13 million people using the Microsoft Teams app to connect every day. This information was revealed as part of Microsoft's 2nd-anniversary celebration for Microsoft 365 - the collaborative portfolio enhanced by Microsoft Teams.
Aside from offering an insight into their daily user count for the very first time, Microsoft also released a range of updates for their Teams experience, designed to improve the way that people access their collaborative tools from any environment. The updates focused on four key pillars in the way that Microsoft believes that people are communicating and collaborating.
Time-Sensitive Communications and Communication Management
The first two areas that Microsoft addressed in its latest update was the support of time-sensitive communications, and better communication management. In an environment where employees are in desperate need of real-time connections to keep them linked in an agile environment, Microsoft is rolling out:
- Priority Notifications: Recipients will be instantly alerted of time-sensitive messages. What's more, the employee will be pinged every two minutes on desktop and mobile until they respond to the alert
- Read receipts: Chat users will be able to see when someone has received and read their message (just like on WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger)
Alongside new priority notifications and time-sensitive communication solutions, Microsoft also announced new ways to easily manage the communication experiences that happen across teams. For instance, Announcements will now allow team members to draw attention to crucial news in a channel, whether they're welcoming a new colleague, sharing essential data, or kick-starting a project.
Additionally, channel cross-posting will ensure that users can post a single message across multiple channels at the same time, reducing the amount of time wasted on business-wide alerts.
Microsoft is even introducing a new Channel Moderation feature that will allow moderates to maintain complete control over what gets posted in a channel, and whether replies should be approved for a specific post.
Better Support for Shift Workers
As companies of all sizes begin to see the benefits in providing real-time collaboration tools to shift workers, Microsoft is getting ahead of the curve. Their tools for Firstline workers are already excellent, but now Microsoft will be making it easier for shift workers to manage schedules and updates from their employers.
The new time clock feature included in the Shifts module will ensure that workers can clock in and out of their shifts inside their mobile app for Teams. Managers will also be able to geofence locations to make sure that members are at the correct worksite when they clock in or out.
