Microsoft Teams is a communication application designed for professional use and is available with Microsoft Office 365. It can be described as a workspace that acts as a central hub for conducting video chats, office conversations, professional teamwork, and sharing documents. This app is designed to increase productivity and smoothen the flow of communication between people working from remote locations.
Work from home or remote locations was a 5% reality before the Covid 19 pandemic and it took a microscopic virus to reverse the situation where 95% of people started working remotely. That is when Microsoft Teams gained popularity and the number of users rose to 145 million active users daily. With a 450% increase in users, Microsoft decided to release a personal version of Teams that can give a tough competition to IM apps like Facebook Messenger, Signal, Telegram, and WhatsApp. But the Microsoft new features updates that are going to be released are for the professional version of Teams and meant to capture market share from Zoom & Slack.
Microsoft Teams new features in 2021:
Front Row
The Front Row feature is a new layout for a video that transports the video gallery in a horizontal line at the bottom of the screen. This will help all the participants to see each other as they were in the same room. The video view is not the only thing that has changed, but there are certain modifications in the meeting content module which will now include the agenda, tasks, and notes. This new configuration will be supported on single displays and dual displays where it will take you to the next level by displaying the active speaker on one screen and the remaining participants on another. This Microsoft new feature will soon be available after installing Microsoft Teams update 2021.
Multiple Video Streams
Microsoft Teams users will now be able to add a pin or provide a spotlight to many video streams at the same time. This will enable you to have a concise view of certain selected videos only in a room. Also, Team users will be able to share sentiments with on-spot reactions, and chat bubbles can display messages above the video feeds during a meeting. As per Microsoft’s latest news, users will be able to use this feature only after installing Microsoft Teams update 2021.
Microsoft Device Partners
As per Microsoft latest news, Microsoft’s device partners have also announced new features and devices that will make using Microsoft Teams a memorable experience.
The first among them was Logitech which recently announced a pair of truly wireless earbuds that would be compatible with Microsoft Teams. These will be different from the normal earbuds as they will provide an advantage using the always-on Teams experience.
Logitech will also introduce RightSight 2, which is supposed to be the latest feature released for Logitech Rally Bar and Rally Bar Mini. This helps users to view two different windows displaying the active speaker and the second one captures everyone in the room. This feature will soon be rolled out to all Microsoft Teams users via an update.
The next device is the Jabra PanaCast 50 which is a video bar with a camera that can provide a 180-degree full view of the room.
EPOS and Yealink have developed Teams of intelligent speakers that identify the speaker and display him/her in a separate section so that we can know who is talking.
Finally, Microsoft is in talks with NEAT devices and has added them as their certified device partners. NEAT’s devices are amazing pieces of technology which include a bar, board, and a pad.
To summarize, Microsoft Teams will soon be updated with a few new features that will include a new video layout for teams rooms, Chat Bubble, Live Reactions, and spotlight multiple video streams on one display screen. Let’s wait for Microsoft Teams update 2021 and find out how these features will change our current experience.
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