Don’t Miss these 6 New Features with Microsoft Teams
Are you using Microsoft Teams to streamline communication between your employees? If you are, get ready to enjoy a more convenient workplace chat platform. Microsoft has recently announced six new features for Teams. The focus of the new set of features is allowing users to better work with apps – something Microsoft Teams accomplishes via integrations, new search and discovery features, commands, and more.
Cortana Integration
One new feature that Microsoft will bring to Teams is Cortana, Microsoft’s virtual assistant. By integrating Cortana with Teams, users can use voice commands to make calls, join an ongoing meeting, or add other users to the meeting. This feature will also work with IP phones and conference room devices. According to Microsoft, Cortana voice integrations for Teams-enabled devices will launch later this year, allowing users to easily make a call, join a meeting or add people to meetings using natural, spoken language. What’s more, these voice capabilities will extend to IP phones and conference room devices, as well.
Inline Message Translation
While most people can communicate well in English, not everyone is comfortable using the language. Inline message translation allows these people to chat in their native language and then translate their messages into English. This will not only help them verbalize their thoughts better and faster, but you’ll also be able to understand exactly what you have to do to meet their demands. Inline message translation presumably will leverage translation and transcription services in Azure to make posts readable to participants who speak different languages in chats and in channels, which is the Teams term for topic-based discussions among members of a team. With users in 181 Microsoft-defined markets around the world, the translation feature could get heavy use.
Cloud Recording and Automatic Transcripts
Have you ever forgotten or overlooked important meeting details? This new feature will allow you to record meetings, store it in the cloud, and create a transcript of it. One is cloud recording, a one-click meeting recording option that will automatically transcribe and timecode a meeting. Features include the ability to read captions, search the conversation and play back the meeting. The ability to save the entire meeting also allows users to review everything or segments of it in the future at their convenience. This is particularly useful for meetings that are highly detailed or very long.
Facial recognition, which will allow statements to be matched with the corresponding speaker, is expected to be included in the future.
Background Blur Option for Video Calls
Most people get easily distracted. But you want to minimize these distractions and have them focus on you when you have an important meeting like a business pitch. Teams’ latest feature allows you to blur your background during video calls so other people in the meeting can fully concentrate on you. The background blur will be an appealing feature for anyone calling into a meeting when they’ve got an unprofessional scene behind them or a background that they’d otherwise like to keep meeting participants from seeing.
Proximity Detection for Teams Meetings
The proximity detection feature is designed to help users find and add a Skype Room System. A feature that can make your meetings simpler is proximity detection. When you enter a room equipped with a Teams meeting room device, Proximity Detection will automatically detect your Teams-enabled meeting room laptop and prompt connection for you to join the Teams meeting room. This helps you save time finding an available room so you can immediately connect with other users.
Mobile Sharing in Meetings
Have you ever needed to join a sudden meeting but couldn’t perform as well as usual because you were on the go with only a mobile device? Mobile Sharing in Meetings solve this by allowing you to share a live video stream, photos, or your phone screen with other attendees immediately.
