What’s New in Microsoft Teams | September 2024
It’s September, and the seasons are starting to change. Here in the northern hemisphere the temperature is getting cooler, but new Teams features are still bringing the heat!
Last month, we shared helpful updates like ‘Time-based prompts in Copilot in Chat’ that leverage the power of Copilot to search for information from a time period you specify, and ‘Callback for call queues’ that allows callers to choose to get a callback when a service agent is available.
This month, we’re sharing new features that are making Teams even smarter and easier to use. For example, have you ever missed an action item from a meeting because the ask was in the chat? You won’t anymore, because now when you ask Copilot to recap all the questions from a Teams meeting, it can source responses from both the meeting transcript and chat. And, with ‘Automatically set work location on bookable desks’ and ‘ultrasound proximity join’, it’s never been easier to let your colleagues know you’re in the office, then find and connect to the right physical meeting room.
So scroll through this list of our newest features, and try them out!
Meetings , Mesh in Teams, Webinars and Town Halls
Chat and Collaboration
Rename the ‘General’ channel
Team owners and approved team members can now rename the ‘General’ channel to a more meaningful title. Improve the clarity and relevance of channel names, making it easier for members to find and access important information. When creating a new team, the team owner must name the first channel. The updated name will appear in the teams and channels list in alphabetical order, streamlining the user experience and keeping the channel list organized. Learn more.
The “Rename channel” feature in Microsoft Teams
Updated teams and channels onboarding flow
The updated teams and channels onboarding flow allows team owners to recommend specific channels to new members. Now when you join a new team, you can see which channels are recommended, and select only the channels that matter most, so you can easily organize your list of channels, prioritize those you care about, and filter through the noise.
‘Shared’ tab in chat
Sharing files and links is essential for day-to-day collaboration, but finding a previously shared document or link can be time-consuming. To streamline this process and simplify content management, we are introducing the ‘Shared’ tab in 1:1 and group chat conversations. The ‘Shared’ tab replaces the ‘Files’ tab, and consolidates files and links that were sent in the chat, making it easier to find them all in one place. In addition, the ‘filter by keyword’ option will help you quickly locate content you need that was shared in the chat. This enhancement simplifies file management and boosts productivity. No action is required to receive this update, and Channels are not affected by this change.
The shared tab in chat, including Recent, Files and Links filters in Microsoft Teams
Image handling enhancements
New enhancements to the Teams desktop and web applications are making image sharing in chat and channels more efficient and user-friendly. When you paste an image in the message compose box, it now appears on the same line next to other images, taking up less space. You can easily navigate between images using the arrow keys, quickly remove one by clicking the “X” button that appears when you hover over the image and add alternative text or copy the image by using the right click menu. Once an image is shared in a message, Teams automatically adjusts it based on its size and aspect ratio, ensuring an optimal display without obscuring any part of the content.
Meetings, Mesh in Teams, Webinars and Town Halls
Copilot in Teams meetings can now source responses from meeting chat
In meetings today, there are two important conversations: the one that’s spoken, and the one happening in the chat. Copilot in Teams can now review both the meeting transcript and the meeting chat to give you a complete picture of what was discussed. For instance, you can ask Copilot if there were any questions that you missed in a meeting, and it will quickly scan across what was said (via the transcript), and what was typed in the chat, to see if anything was left unanswered. Now with Copilot in Teams, no question, idea, or contribution is left behind. This feature is generally available this month for both desktop and mobile.
Expanded controls for managing the availability of Copilot in Teams meetings
We’re introducing expanded controls for managing the availability of Copilot in Teams meetings. Now, IT admins and meeting organizers can select an ‘Off’ value for Copilot. IT admins will see the setting in the Teams Admin Center and can set Copilot to ‘Off’ per tenant, per user, or both. Meeting organizers can access the control called “Allow Copilot” in meeting options, and they will see three choices: (1) Only during the meeting, (2) During and after the meeting, and (3) Off. The new ‘Off’ value will disable Copilot availability for Teams meetings, and also disables Recording and Transcription. This feature is rolling out in September.
Meeting recap and artifacts automatically shared in Microsoft Outlook after meeting
After a meeting ends, you will now be able to view a summary of everything that happened by opening the meeting event in calendar for Microsoft Outlook. The summary includes a link to the recap page, transcript, recording, notes, shared files, whiteboard, and meeting details. If you are licensed for intelligent meeting recap, you will also see highlights such as the number of speakers, number of times you were mentioned, and number of AI-generated tasks. Intelligent meeting recap is available with a Teams Premium license or Copilot for Microsoft 365 license.
Interpreters can indicate which language they’re translating
Now, interpreters using language interpretation in Teams can show which language they are translating with the click of a button. To highlight the language they will interpret into, they can select one of the two pre-selected options at the bottom of the screen. When the interpreter wants to translate the other language, they simply switch the toggle. This enables efficient real-time translation using just one interpreter, and eliminates the need for a second interpreter or additional device. Learn more.
Interpreters can toggle to choose which language they are translating with language interpretation in Teams
New Mesh workshop environment
Microsoft Mesh continues to provide new immersive spaces that enable collaboration, and is further facilitating these scenarios with the new workshop environment, which includes a presentation area as well as four breakout rooms for group discussions. This space is perfect for smaller team collaboration and working together on group workstreams. The new workshop environment is available first for Immersive space (3D) view in Teams.
Allow presenters to moderate Q&A
With this new update, organizers can enable presenters to moderate Q&A sessions and publish questions for all participants to see during a meeting or event.
Voting, filtering, sorting, and archiving questions in the Q&A app
Take your webinar and town hall Q&A experience to the next level with this new update that enables you to focus discussion and engage with your audience. Attendees can vote for questions they want presenters to answer, and organizers can sort questions by votes, filter them based on key words, and archive them.
Webinars are now available in GCC-High
Teams webinars are now available for government community clouds (GCC). GCC users can now create webinars and get registration support for up to 1,000 internal or external attendees, co-organizer support, breakout rooms, attendee reporting, and Dynamics 365 marketing integration.
Teams Rooms and Devices
Teams Rooms on Windows version 5.2
We’re releasing a series of great new features that enhance meeting room experiences in the Teams Rooms on Windows app (version 5.2). They’ll be released in two phases, some in September and the rest in October. Features rolling out in this first phase are listed below. Learn more about them all in the release notes.
Ultrasound proximity join
Proximity join using ultrasound enables you to accurately identify and add a specific Teams room to your meeting. Your device will detect ultrasonic signals emitted by Teams rooms and provide a precise list of nearby rooms on the pre-join screen. IT admins can configure settings for enabling ultrasound signals and automatic acceptance of the join prompt on users’ laptops using XML files.
The ultrasound proximity join feature of Microsoft Teams
Roster grouping for proximity join participants
When you are in a Teams Room on Windows and join a meeting through proximity join with a laptop or mobile device, Teams will show that you are in the room, and group you with other in-room participants. This visibility allows all meeting participants to be able to quickly understand who is in what room all from a quick scan of the roster. Available in Teams Rooms Pro.
A list of Teams meeting participants grouped by those who are in the same room, and those who are remote.
Text and UI resizing customizations
IT admins can adjust the size of the text and all other UI elements on the front-of-room display. This capability is extended to support touch boards.
Dynamic video tile re-sizing based on people count
The room video tile dynamically adjusts size based on the number of people in the room. When one person is in the room, the tile matches the size of a remote participant. With two or more people, the room tile expands to be four times larger. Admins have the ability to disable this feature.
A Teams meeting showing how dynamic video tile resizing makes the video tile of people together in a meeting room larger than the video tiles of other attendees in different locations.
Native controls on console for OEM camera features
In Teams Rooms on Windows meeting rooms, you can now directly control camera features provided by OEMs. Controllable features include group framing, active speaker framing, and OEM specific IntelliFrame views composed on the in-room devices.
The camera and framing settings window in Microsoft Teams
Cloud IntelliFrame preview indicator
When Cloud IntelliFrame is enabled in a room, the preview video shows an IntelliFrame icon to help in-room participants see how they appear to online viewers. Available in Teams Rooms Pro.
A video meeting, with an insert that shows in-room participants how they appear to online viewers.
Breakout room support
With breakout room support, Teams Rooms on Windows can be added to a breakout room and moved in and out of the main room making it easy for breakout session coordination.
The popup window where meeting attendees can be assigned to different breakout rooms.
Automatically set work location on bookable desks
When you plug in to peripherals at a bookable desk, with admin and your permission, your work location will be automatically set to ‘In the office’. Sharing your work location makes it easier to connect and coordinate with co-workers who are in the office. Learn more about Teams bookable desks.
Plugging in to peripherals at bookable desks in your office can automatically set your location to “in the office”.
Manage custom background images on Teams panels
Admins can now upload and set images that showcase your organization’s branding with custom themes on Teams panels through the Teams admin center (TAC). This feature is available for panels that are licensed with a Teams Rooms via the Teams Rooms Pro license or standalone via the Teams Shared Device. Learn more about customizing Teams panels.
A customized background on a Teams Panel display
Daily restart window on Teams panels
Teams panels will now automatically restart daily like Teams rooms. By default, the device will restart between 2:00am and 3:00am in its local time zone. If the device is in use during this window and the window period ends, the restart is rescheduled the following day. This feature can be turned off or the restart time can be changed in the device settings or Teams admin center.
Teams Phone
Teams “Do not disturb” status applied to incoming mobile calls
If you’re a Teams Phone Mobile user, “Do not disturb” (DND) settings will now be applied to incoming calls received natively on your mobile phone. Previously, DND settings were only applied to incoming calls in the Teams app. You can customize your DND settings to ensure important calls aren’t missed while maintaining your desired level of privacy and focus. Within your “Privacy” settings in the Teams app, you can choose to receive notifications for incoming calls from select individuals or phone numbers. Additionally, you can opt-out of your presence automatically transitioning to DND when presenting or screen sharing.
Teams phone devices enhancements
The latest Teams phone device update introduces improvements to the call park and retrieve feature, ensuring faster and more efficient call handling. Additionally, we’ve optimized the calling experience for non-touch phones, making it lighter and more responsive. These updates are part of our ongoing commitment to enhance performance and ease of use, providing you with an effortless communication experience. Learn more.
Certified for Teams devices
The devices below have all been certified to deliver an enhanced Teams experience.
ViewSonic® TeamJoin™ TRS10
Newly certified for Teams, the ViewSonic® TeamJoin™ TRS10 bundle offers a complete, one-stop Microsoft Teams Rooms solution that can easily scale based on your needs and meeting space size. With an included compute system (MPC310-W31-TU) and touch console (MRC1010-TN) it is designed to deliver instant and intuitive collaboration without a complicated setup process, this bundled solution helps to enhance communication, foster collaboration, and promote inclusivity among diverse teams, regardless of their locations. Learn more.
pictures of a touch console and a compute system for Teams Rooms
Meeting Owl 3
The Meeting Owl 3 is the first AI-powered 360° camera, speaker, and microphone device that powers millions of global meetings. The Meeting Owl 3’s award-winning speaker-switching software uses visual and audio cues to automatically focus on and capture the best view of in-room speakers, powering effective hybrid collaboration in any space. Learn more
The Meeting Owl 3
Yealink MeetingBar A40
Newly certified for Teams, the MeetingBar A40 is based on Android and brings Microsoft Teams audio and video capture to your small to medium spaces. The A40 provides a powerful video and audio experiences. The bar includes a 120° field of view camera, AI technology, and 8 MEMS microphone array and 2 stereo speakers. It uses simple plug-and-play with a CTP25 controller. Learn more
MeetingBar A40 and a touchpad controller
VC520 Pro3
Newly certified for Teams, the VC520 Pro3 is an advanced video conferencing system, featuring a 36X* total zoom PTZ camera, enhanced AVer SmartFrame, Preset Framing, and a Sony WDR sensor. In addition, it provides 3-way outputs, including HDMI connectivity, expanding the scope of streaming options and elevating the overall video and audio experience. What distinguishes the VC520 Pro3 is the connectivity through a single USB cable, making the installation process simple. The VC520 Pro3 Smart Composition feature – an embedded AI function – captures high-quality closeup images of meeting participants. Coupled with an extended speakerphone solution, the VC520 Pro3 ensures a high quality video conferencing experience. Learn more
VC520 Pro3 video conferencing system, including a video camera, microphone/speaker and a remote control.
Poly Studio E60
Newly certified for Teams, the Poly Studio E60 smart MPTZ optical zoom camera keeps presentations engaging. The main presenter is always in-frame, and every person in the room is shown with accuracy, even at the far end. With every detail captured, presentations are easier to follow. Learn more
Poly Studio E60 optical zoom camera.
Lenovo Wireless VoIP headset
The Lenovo Wireless VoIP headset (Teams) is engineered for the modern hybrid open workspace. It is Microsoft Teams certified and optimized for use in open offices, ensuring professional call quality and seamlessly collaboration with the Teams. Experience multipoint Bluetooth capabilities and enjoy an impressive 31 hours talk time between charges. With its ergonomic design and replaceable memory foam earcups, it is very comfortable for long time use. Learn more.
Lenovo Wireless VoIP Headset
Find certified for Teams devices for all types of spaces and uses at aka.ms/teamsdevices
Teams Platform
Addition of CapCut to Microsoft Teams app store
Now available in the Microsoft Teams app store, CapCut Speech is an AI-powered tool integrated with Teams. Teams users can quickly read text aloud with diverse voice options, create custom voices, edit audio by replacing parts, and translate audio between languages. Users can share their edited speech directly to Teams, enhancing communication and collaboration with AI-driven speech editing capabilities.
Frontline Worker Solutions
Latest Enhancements in Shared Device Mode (SDM)
Accessing Teams in Shared Devices Mode (SDM) has been streamlined, enhancing the experience for Frontline workers and providing users of shared devices better access to essential tools such as Viva Engage, Shifts in Microsoft Teams, and Power BI.
SDM support for Microsoft 365 on Android and Outlook on Android
More Microsoft apps, including the unified Microsoft365 app and Outlook, are now available on Android SDM devices. For details on additional SDM supported apps please refer to these links: Shared device mode for Android devices, and Shared device mode for iOS devices.
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