The Most Exciting Microsoft Teams Features Announced at Ignite 2021
Check out the rest of our Microsoft Ignite 2021 coverage below:
- Satya Nadella on Microsoft Mesh & The Next Decade of Cloud Innovation
- 4 Tips for Transforming Digital Events (+New Microsoft Teams Webinar Features!)
- The Azure Active Directory Roadmap for Strong Security in Hybrid Work
- 3 New Power BI Features Empower a Data-Driven Workplace
It’s becoming increasingly evident that Microsoft is on a mission to transform the way that we work – especially now that working from home has become the norm for so many people. Nichole Herskowitz, Microsoft’s General Manager of Microsoft Teams, used the “Latest innovations with Microsoft Teams” session to debut new functionalities that will enhance the ways you can collaborate, present, and engage with Microsoft Teams.
Gone are the days of awkward Teams meetings where one person’s face consumes the entire screen because others are too shy or underdressed to turn on their cameras. Nichole demonstrated how the new Dynamic View display setting will automatically adjust your meeting experience based on the participants and content displayed. As people join and turn on their video, start talking, or presenting, Microsoft Teams will intelligently respond and adjust the layout to optimize the viewing experience.
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You will still have the option to select the view that works best for you, such as: gallery, large gallery, spotlight, together mode, and a new view – gallery at the top. The gallery at the top view will allow users to seemingly sustain eye contact with other meeting attendees by pinning their videos to the top of the screen.
Meetings, Webinars, & Large Scale Events in Microsoft Teams
Meetings
The nervous jitters that accompany sharing your screen or presenting virtually are something we could all do without. From now on you don’t need to be nervous about sharing the wrong screen during your monthly board meeting or stumbling through awkward transitions of control from presenter to presenter during your next pitch.
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With PowerPoint Live in Teams you can be more prepared and aware of what’s coming and what others are seeing. Your speaker notes, your timing, your upcoming content, and a view of attendees are available all on one screen. You even have the option of giving participants the ability to view the content at their own pace.
Looking to step up your game with studio-like production levels from your home office? Presenter Mode brings you to the forefront of a presentation for a more dramatic effect or enables you to use other layouts like Reporter to balance your video and content side-by-side. Nichole’s demonstration of the layout highlighted how attendees will be able to see the presenter in real-time without detracting from the content being presented on the same screen.
Webinars & Live Events
Tired of using multiple tools, apps, or event agencies to put on your virtual events?
Webinars in Microsoft Teams combines powerful capabilities for presenters and audience engagement with the ease of setting up a regular Teams meeting. Set up your webinar with a custom registration experience, automatically send invitations, and have attendees join with one simple link. Features like real-time polls, live reactions, the chat feature, and moderated Q&A will facilitate discussions with the added ability to minimize distractions with enhanced moderation controls.
Speaking from my own experience, I know how frustrating it can be to toggle back and forth between different programs just to facilitate an interactive webinar. Having all of these functions in one window is sure to make production and facilitation of quality events much easier.
After your event is over, you can integrate your Teams Webinar with Dynamics 365 to deliver basic follow-up communications or more sophisticated relationship marketing campaigns. Webinars in Microsoft Teams will function interactively with up to 1,000 attendees and as view-only broadcasts for up to 20,000 attendees.
Microsoft Teams Connect is another new feature designed to ease collaboration between your team and others from outside of your organization. Now you can share channels with outside individuals and leverage all the capabilities inside of Microsoft Teams – chatting, meeting, collaborating on apps, sharing content, and co-authoring content – all within your primary Teams view.
Nichole made a strong effort to point out that the power and reach of events is still strong even in this newly virtual climate. With clients like the NBC Sunday Night Football and the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) using Microsoft’s tools to engage audiences no matter where they are, it’s increasingly clear that attendees are willing to find new ways to connect and collaborate.
Security
Consider yourself lucky if you’ve made it this far through the COVID-19 pandemic without experiencing the concept of “Zoom bombing.” Having a meeting infiltrated by uninvited attendees is never enjoyable, but it’s become a frequent occurrence on other platforms. With the new Invite-Only Meeting Controls in Microsoft Teams, however, only participants who are directly invited to meetings can attend.
Finally, your sensitive conversations about financial data or new product launches can now be extra confidential with End-to-End Encryption. This security feature will start with one-to-one audio and video calls in Microsoft Teams, and will soon be extended to online meetings in Teams.
