2020 was the year of video calls. While the world went into lockdown, people resorted to video calling platforms to connect with friends, families and colleagues. The new normal forced businesses to adopt the video first model and Microsoft Teams was at the forefront of it. As we are still getting used to the new world order, Microsoft has brought a slew of new updates to Teams to help you sail through 2021. Here are the best ones…
1. Breakout rooms
Microsoft Teams is very useful for online meetings and the new virtual breakout room feature can make it even more personalized. Meeting organizers can break the meeting into small breakout rooms for intense discussion and brainstorming sessions. The organizer can share announcements, swiftly switch between breakout rooms, share files, and bring everyone back to the meeting. It’s also helpful for teachers who can now conduct live group projects online.
2. Call joining experience
How many times have we jumped on a call and left the video open thinking we have turned it off? Granted, it’s easy to make sure everything’s working smoothly before joining a call on Teams, but it’s about to get easier. The pre-join experience is seeing a massive improvement with all the audio, video, and device settings available right on the front screen. Speaking of joining calls, people can now use their voice to join and end meetings with the help of Cortana.
3. End-of-meeting notifications
Another small but useful feature that’s set to improve online meetings in 2021 is the end-of-meeting notification. Microsoft Teams will notify the members when there are only five minutes left in the scheduled time. The notification will stay on screen for 10 seconds but won’t automatically disconnect your calls. This little reminder will help in time management as participants will be able to wrap up their conversation within the timeframe.
4. More translations and captions
Microsoft Teams has seen exponential growth in the last few months as more and more people are using it all over the world. Since people join meetings from different language backgrounds, Microsoft is planning to make conversations richer and easier to understand. It has expanded the list of languages that can be translated in real-time, including Hindi, Portuguese, Italian, Swedish, and German. These languages can be translated into over 50 languages. Microsoft has also expanded the deadline for the 20,000 live attendee limit to June 30, 2021. Not only this, but you can also now enjoy live captions for 1:1 calls.
5. Dynamic view
Dynamic view is a feature that is coming to Microsoft Teams within the next few months. It’s an improvement over the Together mode. Employees can now join meetings and present their screen while interacting with other participants. With the help of AI of Together mode and the dynamic layout, Teams will automatically adjust the shared screen and participants, side-by-side. This way presenters can share their content all the while interacting with other members.