One-Minute Video Clips to Liven Up Channel Conversations

In September 2022, Microsoft launched the ability to record and send one-minute video clips in Teams chats. Message center notification MC947832 (3 December 2024, Microsoft 365 roadmap item 383740) reports that users will be able to post the same kind of video clips to channel posts and replies. Targeted release tenants should have this capability now while general availability is due from mid-January with full worldwide deployment to complete by late January 2025.

The new capability is available in Teams desktop (Windows and Mac) and browser clients. The feature is also available in Teams mobile clients, albeit with a slightly different implementation.

Basics of Video Clip for Teams Channel Conversations

The idea behind supporting video clips is that sometimes a brief message delivered in person is a better way to communicate. To record and post a video clip, open the + menu (where options like schedule message and delivery options are found) and select Record video clip to reveal the video capture screen (Figure 1).

Apart from not having a 3-2-1 countdown before recording a video, the implementation for Teams channels is similar to the video capture screen used to record and send a video message with Outlook. I noticed that Teams allows the user to upload a custom background (which is what I use in Figure 1) whereas Outlook is restricted to a set of standard backgrounds. Apart from that, the same options are available to add a script and apply various screen effects to make the video stand out (or distract the viewer).

Once posted, the video clip looks like any other embedded content in a Teams channel conversation (Figure 2).

Although it seems that Teams and Outlook use the same component for video capture, the difference in implementations is interesting. Outlook uses a Loop component to hold the captured video while Teams embeds the video clip like anything else you might paste into a Teams channel conversation. I guess that Teams already has its own way of handling graphic objects posted in channels and Outlook needed some form of container to hold video clips.

For more information about sending video clips with Teams, see the Microsoft documentation.

Controlling Video Clips

Microsoft enables the ability to record and send video clips by default. To disable the feature, update the Teams messaging policies assigned to the user accounts that you want to block and make sure that the AllowVideoMessages setting is $False:

Set-CsTeamsMessagingPolicy -Identity Global -AllowVideoMessages:$False

Where Teams Stores Video Clips

Where Teams stores video clips depends on the client used and the target location:

• Clips posted to channels with the Teams mobile client are stored in the SharePoint Online folder for the channel.
• Clips posted to channels with the Teams desktop and browser clients are stored in a Microsoft video service.
• Clips posted to chats are stored in the same Microsoft video service as used for clips posted to channels.

The storage location for video clips is revealed by using the MFCMAPI utility to examine the compliance records generated for channel posts and replies that contain video clips. You’ll see that the content of the message includes items like this:

<video src="https://eu-api.asm.skype.com/v1/objects/0-neu-d9-37aeb24ad5a76108f93a90b93ef50f88/views/video" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.skype.com/AMSVideo" data-duration="PT6.276S" width="1280" height="720">
Video-Clip</video>

The difference in how the clients store clips is likely explained by the reuse of code to send video clips to chats and channel messages by the desktop and browser clients. The mobile clients likely use the Graph APIs to upload the clips they generate to SharePoint Online. The other clients could do the same, but sometimes it’s just simpler to have the same code running for both chats and channel messaging.

If retention policies are in force for Teams channels and chats, the video clips are removed upon the expiration of the message they are embedded.

New Function Likely to be Popular

Given the huge popularity of video messaging popularized in other apps, video clips are likely to be a popular addition for Teams channels. This assertion is idle speculation on my part. Microsoft doesn’t provide any data for the kind of content posted to Teams, but it should be possible to use the Graph APIs to extract some statistics about how many video clips exist.

So much change, all the time. It’s a challenge to stay abreast of all the updates Microsoft makes across the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. Subscribe to the Office 365 for IT Pros eBook to receive monthly insights into what happens, why it happens, and what new features and capabilities mean for your tenant.