Microsoft Teams takes on Zoom with new features like video filters, emojis
- by Nick Cohen
- in Industry
- — Jul 11, 2020
As explained by the report, the new update will lessen the tiredness of its users during video calls because human brains are used to being conscious of other people based on their locations, which will interfere with the mirror effect, making it more hard to notice irregularities.
What follows are five major new Microsoft Teams features and announcements to know about.
The Together Mode makes meetings more engaging by helping people focus on others' faces and body language and making it easier to pick up on the non-verbal cues that are so important to human interaction.
"Microsoft Teams' recently released features could make workers "Feel more connected and reduce meeting fatigue", Make meetings more inclusive and engaging", and "Streamline the work process as well as save time", Spataro added. For more interactive meetings-where attendees can chat, unmute to talk, and turn on their videos for real-time collaboration-Teams meetings are growing to support up to 1,000 participants.
"Our goal for this research is to uncover both good and challenging aspects of remote work so we can accelerate product development in the right areas, anticipate how work will change in the future, and help our customers thrive in this new world of work", said Jared Spataro, Corporate Vice President for Microsoft 365. This is specifically created to give users more control over how they see content and other participants in a meeting. It uses AI to dynamically optimise shared content and video participants.
Together mode will roll out in August. And the Teams dynamic view is another valuable feature for users. The view includes various enhancements including new controls such as viewing shared content and specific participants side-by-side and personalizing the view. Microsoft Teams already optimises participant view and shared content, but this feature lets users customise it according to their preferences.
The second big update coming to Teams is dynamic view. Jaron Lanier of Microsoft, who also occasionally plays in the band for the late-night talk-show, pulled together what he calls a "magical" new feature to help the TV host and his viewers feel connected-along with Microsoft's sea of researchers, psychologists and programmers.
Reflect messaging extension: This is one of the more interesting of the new additions.
With Reflect messaging extension, Microsoft says managers, leaders, and teachers can easily check in or communicate with their team or students. With Live Reactions, you can react using emojis during a meeting.
Currently, Teams users need to manually open a chat window to view the chat screen. After a meeting, the transcript file is automatically saved in a tab as part of the meeting. The company is now sharing the timing for the Teams "large gallery view" rollout, with the 49-person view becoming available in August.
"People also continue to turn on their video two times more than before at 46% of all meetings", Spataro said.
The platform will also provide suggested replies in Teams chat based on AI.
That space could be a meeting home-like environment, a espresso store, or other destinations you'd usually have confront-to-facial area conferences.