There have been plenty of new releases within the Microsoft Teams ecosystem in October. Microsoft Teams has announced updates across meetings, calling, certified devices, chat and collaboration, custom development, analytics, frontline workers and education, and government Microsoft Ignite was the talk of October with Microsoft Places unveiled, a new Teams premium package, Teams meetings available on Cisco meetings devices, and more. You can view our Ignite 2022 news round-up for an overview of the latest additions to Teams.
Teams Meetings
Meetings organisers can now assign seats in Together mode, helping to virtual meetings to feel more like in-person meetings. Users are able to pop out shared meeting content in a separate window, allowing them to view both meeting participants and shared content at the same time. Previously, only individual Teams chat, meeting, and calling could be popped out into a separate window. Live captions for Teams have been introduced to provide real-time translation from 40 languages, enabling participants to read captions in a language of their choosing. The new captions feature will be available for all customers. When Teams Premium is available, however, users will need a Microsoft Teams Premium license to access the feature. It only requires the meeting organiser to have Teams Premium in order for all meeting attendees to be able to use live translated captions. Companion mode for Android mobile Teams users has been updated to provide in-room attendees with access to chat, live reactions, Microsoft Whiteboards, and other engagement features. Other updates include making it easier to access meeting and device controls and a single tap to join a meeting on user devices and Microsoft Teams Room. Users can also now enjoy easy access to chat, participant list, live reaction, and raise hands, as well as automatic audio switch-off to avoid an echo.
Teams Calling
A new detailed call history is being implemented to display how calls arrived if they were forwarded or transferred, and what happened when they were received. Creation of Contact Groups has been made available via the Calls App. Users can create new groups and edit existing group memberships.
Teams Certified Devices
The Crestron Flex Display has been certified for Teams. It is a conferencing companion for Teams-based collaboration, providing access to channels, calendars, chats, files, and more Teams features. The Sony YY2969 Earbuds have been certified for Teams. The headphones have been designed for multi-tasking and on-the-go work, and they include features such as receiving calls, joining a meeting and raising hands in Teams meetings. The Neat Frame has also been certified for Teams. The portable, portrait, personal video device pairs with laptops and desktops. It caters to various environments like home, the office, focus pods, and hot desks. Users can sign into Teams using a Neat Fram and connect their files, chats, and calendar.
Teams Chat and Collaboration
Microsoft Teams templates are being combined with SharePoint site templates. If users create a new team using default templates, such as the Manage a Project template, the related channels, apps, and SharePoint template is automatically applied. Currently in public preview, Adobe Acrobat can be set as the default app in the Teams admin centre, giving admins the ability to view and edit PDF files in Teams. End-users will be able to interact with PDF files without needing an Adobe Acrobat subscription or ID. Suggested responses can be selected with a single click to incoming messages in group chats. This feature uses machine learning to generate suggested replies based on the context of the conversation. Video clips can be created to help users express themselves more effectively. The video can be easily created by making a short recording, choosing the length of the video clip and pressing send. Recipients can reply with a chat message or their own video clip. This feature will be generally available in public preview for mobile by the end of the year. Files can be deleted or renamed in a channel and in a OneDrive folder on Teams. To rename or delete a file, find the file you want, click on the three dots and then select whether to delete or rename it. Users will be able to pop out an existing meeting in the Teams calendar via the pop-up icon in the scheduling form. This enables users to view meetings in separate windows while retaining access to chats and files without switching applications.
