Microsoft 365 Teams Updates
Klarinet Solutions hosts monthly Tech Talks for our clients and partners, which covers various topics around Microsoft 365 and the modern digital workplace. In our latest Tech Talk, Michelle Willard, Digital Workplace Consultant, and Daniel Amaro, Lead Consultant at Klarinet Solutions, led the main discussion on Microsoft Teams Governance and Microsoft 365 Updates. However, in this article, we will review the Microsoft updates that our experts discussed, here it is:
In the past few weeks under quarantine, we have seen many demands for a perfected remote work platform. Many digital workplace users and organizations have provided feedback, requests, and suggestions to Microsoft 365 that pertains to Teams. As expected, Microsoft 365 has responded and made valuable changes. You may have already started seeing many of these Microsoft Teams updates appear in your Teams app but if you did not here are some of the critical updates in the last 30 days:
Meetings are going 3×3 on desktop
Over the next several days, Teams will complete its enabling of up to nine video streams at a time in meetings joined via the desktop app. This stepping stone update will gradually roll out to everyone, so keep an eye out for the 3×3 video grid in your upcoming Teams meetings. However, Microsoft is not stopping there; they will develop the app to interact with more people at once.
Roll call!
Meeting organizers can now take attendance during a meeting. To get your attendance report, select Show participants (little people icon) > Download attendee list. The story will download a CVS file that can be opened in Excel. The data will contain the name, join time, and leave time of meeting attendees.
Raise your hand in a meeting
Have a question or comment but don’t want to interrupt the person speaking? Let people know you have something to say with the new raise hand feature in Teams. If you are in a meeting, you can select the control “raised hand” symbol in your control bar; this will place a gold hand icon on your video feed to let the rest of the attendees know that you would like to speak. This feature is great to take advantage of, especially during big meetings.
Add system audio to live events
So if you are sharing a video or any content that requires audio, you can now add system audio. Just like in regular Teams meetings, you can now include your system audio when presenting in a live event. Currently, this feature is only available for presenters and producers joining from the Teams desktop app for Windows. Read more about how this works in Share system audio in a Teams meeting or live event.
Let attendees who dial in bypass the meeting lobby
There are now many different attendee options that you have; all you need to do to access these options is to go to your settings and select the Meeting option. One of the most recent implemented options is the ability to allow callers to join your next Teams meeting instantly, without having to wait in the lobby. This will enable hosts to focus on the meeting without having to worry about stopping in the middle of the session to let attendees join in. Once again, to access this setting, select Meeting options and switch the toggle to Yes for Always let callers bypass the lobby?
Announce when callers join a meeting
If you want to have more awareness as to who joins your meeting, host/organizers now have the option to announce when callers enter or leave a Teams meeting, so you always know who is in your online session. To access, select Meeting options and switch the toggle on for Announce when callers join or leave.
End the meeting for everyone
Meeting organizers, you now have the option to end your sessions for all participants. For example, if you’re a teacher, this is a great way to make sure your students don’t hang around in your virtual classroom after you’ve left.
To end an in-progress meeting, go to your meeting controls and select More options > End meeting. You’ll be asked to confirm. When you do, the session will end for everyone right away.
Is Microsoft Teams your Go-To?
If you are looking to find out what comes out next or would like to vote on a specific feature or update, Microsoft 365 listens to their audience, provides valuable information, and rapid solutions. Microsoft Teams is one of the many successful enterprise solution apps that allow businesses to untie their teams, drive up productivity, and connect people through all devices at an enterprise-wide level.
Microsoft’s Teams strategy is to provide unprecedented levels of flexibility to businesses and their users while also providing better video conference tools, control over deployment, security, and many other powerful remote work features. If Microsoft Teams isn’t your go-to, it should be!
Klarinet Solutions specialize in optimizing your Microsoft 365 Teams integration, implementing policies to secure your data, and developing a streamlined process that supports business objectives. If you want to hear the latest news, insightful hacks, or ways to leverage technology, contact us at 866.211.8191 or through email at info@klarinetsolutions.com.
