Welcome to What’s New in Microsoft Teams! After a flurry of exciting announcements at Microsoft Build 2023, their momentum continues with the introduction of 45 new features this month.
Their lineup of enhancements is extensive and impactful. Some highlights that caught our attention are the groundbreaking Spatial Audio in Teams Meetings, offering an immersive soundscape to your virtual gatherings. Imagine hearing voices from different directions in your virtual meeting room – it’s like being there in person. Another favorite is the ‘Mark all Messages as Read’ feature, enabling you to efficiently manage notifications. Let’s see what else is new in 2023!
Key Updates
Meetings
Spatial Audio in Teams Meetings: Experience a new level of audio immersion in your Teams meetings with spatial audio. This innovative feature spatializes participants’ voices across the virtual meeting stage, creating a more natural conversation flow, even when multiple people are speaking. Activate it easily before or during your meetings.
Together Mode Improvements: Enhancements to Together Mode now allow you to see status icons, raised hands, and reactions during meetings. Moreover, you can eliminate your own video preview from the gallery, making meetings more inclusive and engaging.
Customize Captions: Tailor your captions experience in Teams meetings by adjusting font size, color, caption window position, and more. Easily manage captions settings during your meetings.
Teams Phone
External Call Routing Settings: Admins can now fine-tune call routing settings for PSTN calls and VoIP calls from federated Teams users, enhancing user focus and minimizing distractions.
Chat and Collaboration
Mark All as Read: Simplify managing notifications by marking all items as read in your activity feed. This feature streamlines the process, saving you time.
Compact Chat List: Adjust your chat list density to see more chats on your screen, making it easier to prioritize your conversations.
Work Location Flexibility: Easily change your work location in Teams to accommodate your schedule and preferences for the day. Update your location effortlessly, and ensure others are informed when scheduling meetings.
Teams Rooms and Devices
Custom Background Enhancements: Customize backgrounds in Teams Rooms to showcase your brand and culture. Choose images for front-of-room displays and console, creating a unique atmosphere.
Enhanced View Together Mode: Meeting organizers can now select Together mode for all participants, fostering inclusivity and fun during meetings.
Default Meeting Layout Controls: IT admins can set default meeting layout options for Microsoft Teams Rooms on Android, improving the meeting experience.
Enhanced Teams Button: Streamline your Teams calls with a dedicated Teams button on certified peripheral devices, simplifying call joining and multitasking.
Frontline Workers and Vertical Solutions
Frontline workers using shared Android devices now have access to Outlook, Edge, Viva Engage, and Power Apps, making work more accessible and productive. Additionally, Walkie Talkie Auto Connect streamlines communication for frontline teams.
IT Admin and Security
Microsoft Defender Integration: Enhance Teams security with Microsoft Defender, offering protection against malicious entities and supporting end user reporting. Streamlined security operations provide a safer environment.
Mobile
Cloud File Attachments: Attach files from OneDrive directly in Teams Mobile chats and channels. Access recent and frequently used files seamlessly.
Companion Mode for Android: Join ongoing meetings via your Android device to chat, react, and share, enhancing collaboration on the go.
Platform
Collaborative Stageview: Engage with app content and chat simultaneously using Collaborative Stageview. Collaborate and share links within Teams seamlessly.
Export API Support: Archive Teams control messages with the Export API, enhancing compliance and archiving capabilities.
Improved App Discovery: Discover apps more efficiently with improved search capabilities in the Teams App Store, using a wider range of keywords.
Sharing Apps in Chats and Channels: Easily share both first-party (1P) and third-party (3P) apps with others in Teams chats and channels.
Meeting App Indicator: Meeting applications can now show indicators to prompt users to participate in new in-app activities during meetings.
Webinars and Events
Expanded Lobby Policy: Distribution Lists can now include up to 10,000 users when applying lobby policies to Teams meetings, enhancing meeting management.
Government
These updates, formerly available to our commercial customers, are now being extended to our US Government Community Cloud (GCC), GCC-High, and Department of Defense (DoD) customers.
For GCC-High Customers:
- Teams Rooms on Android and Teams Admin Center functionalities now supported with Teams Rooms Pro license.
For Government Customers:
- Introducing Microsoft Teams: Virtual Appointments app.
For All Government Clouds:
- Surface Hubs can now be managed as Teams devices through the Teams admin center.
This marks another significant step in enhancing Microsoft Teams to meet the diverse needs of various user groups.
These are just a few highlights; there’s much more to explore. Stay tuned for future updates! For more information be sure to visit the link below:
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