Microsoft Teams brings new features to improve the video calling experience

This Wednesday (8), the Microsoft announced several new features for the Microsoft Teams, which were developed with the aim of facilitating the interaction and engagement of people at this time of the new coronavirus pandemic, where people are forced to spend more and more time in videoconferences to keep in touch with co-workers, friends and family.

One of the novelties is the introduction of the “Together Mode”, a new way to organize the screen space of a video conference. Instead of separating all participants into dozens of tiny frames occupying the entire screen, the program uses artificial intelligence segmentation technology to make people participating in a video conference occupy a single shared environment, bringing the videoconferencing experience of a face-to-face meeting.

By grouping all users closer together, it is easier to pay attention not only to what is being said, but also to the body language of these people, facilitating real engagement in the subject under discussion. It is also possible to define which background environment will be shared by users, allowing you to hold a work meeting in a background that simulates an office or chat with friends in an environment that looks like a coffee shop. This function is already in the testing phase, and should be generally available in mid-August.

And for those who want to keep the conversations organized in the more traditional way, Microsoft Teams will also introduce the function “Dynamic View”, which will give users more control over how participants in a conference are viewed. With this mode, the application will use AI techniques to define the best way to organize participants in a meeting, in addition to facilitating the manual organization of screens by the user and the sharing of content through the camera.

According to Microsoft, Dynamic View is an evolution of improvements that had already been announced a few months ago by the company, and will also have the possibility of making video calls with up to 49 people simultaneously and the possibility of dividing the conference participants into smaller groups to discuss topics that are of interest to only a fraction of those participants.

Other novelties revealed by the company were the introduction of filters for calls (which use AI software to improve the lighting of the place where the user is or blur the background for those who do not have a scenario for online meetings) and an increase in the number of maximum number of participants of interactive presentations (for example, an online class, where people are free to discuss via text chat and, at certain times, turn on the audio and even the camera of their devices to ask questions) in up to 1000 people, and closed presentations (when participants cannot interact in any way) for up to 20 people.

Better engagement with Microsoft Teams

Among the novelties aimed at turning videoconferences into more spontaneous conversations is the possibility of “Live Reactions”, where a user can interact by sending an emoji that will appear to everyone who is connected, and will serve for the person who is talking to have an idea of ​​whether everyone is able to follow or not without being interrupted.

A change to the text chat scheme was also announced, where instead of the user having to enter a specific window for conversations (which takes his attention away from the person who is talking), all messages sent by the chat appear as notifications on the screen. of each of the participants, allowing a greater engagement on the part of all in the subjects that are being commented on the topic under discussion.

And to make conversations even easier on the Microsoft Teams, the program will use its AI to analyze submitted questions and suggest answers that can be sent with just one tap. For example, if someone calls in Teams to ask if you can join a meeting, the app will already suggest answers like “Yes I can!” for you to send with just one click.

The company also announced a new task app, which will allow you to centralize all appointments and tasks scheduled between the various Microsoft programs (such as Outlook, Planner and Microsoft To Do) within Teams itself, allowing quick access to different lists of independent tasks whether you're on your computer or browsing on your cell phone.

Greater inclusion with Microsoft Teams

In addition to improving engagement, Microsoft is also concerned with making meetings that take place through Microsoft Teams more inclusive, allowing more people to get the most out of them.

One of the novelties in this regard is an update to the real-time subtitles function in the program, which will not only subtitle in real time what is being said, but also indicate who the speaker is in that sentence, making it easier for people with hearing orient themselves about who is speaking what in a meeting with many active participants.

Another novelty is a tool for real-time transcription, which will provide another way to follow what is being said in the conversation via text. Instead of placing the captions on the user's own screen, the application creates a window where it is possible to follow the complete transcript of the meeting, with the identification of which user said each sentence. And at the end of the call, her full transcript will be available to send to anyone.

Microsoft also promises some changes to the Whiteboard, the visual collaboration tool for Teams. In this tool will be added functions to insert text, add virtual “post it” and the ability to drag and insert files, thus allowing that even people who are not using a Surface Hub or any other device with a touch screen can participate in the sessions of creation with the tool.

speaking in the Surface Hub, Microsoft also announced that these devices can connect to calls and send files to equipment in a meeting room, also adding some controls that do not yet exist in this type of connection, such as the possibility of turning off the device's microphone from those present in the room. , adjust the audio volume or turn the camera on and off. 

Also announced for Teams was the extension “Reflect Messaging”, which will allow those responsible for a group (whether managers in a work group or professors in a study group) to send all their subordinates a questionnaire about the relationship between personal life and work, so that they can better understand how everyone of your team are feeling and help deal with the stress and fatigue caused by a relationship that is only kept at a distance. 

Another novelty will be the integration of Microsoft Teams with the virtual assistant Cortana, which will allow users to make a call, join a conference, send messages via chat, send files and perform various other actions within the application just by voice commands.

As with all the other news presented by Microsoft, the integration with Cortana with Teams should happen within the next few months, but at first it will be for users Microsoft 365 Enterprise that use the Teams mobile app (both Android and iOS) and will only recognize English commands.

Screens for Microsoft Teams

In addition to improving the program itself, the Microsoft is also thinking about other ways to improve users' experience during meetings. Therefore, the company has teamed up with hardware partners, and they launch new devices specially developed to facilitate calls through Microsoft Teams.

the screens for Microsoft Teams are touchscreen devices with a built-in camera, microphone and speaker to facilitate participation in video calls from anywhere the user is. These devices can also be easily integrated with the computer (allowing easy access to files and appointment book, among others) and some models will also support Cortana, allowing use only by voice commands.

The first of these devices to hit the market will be the Think Smart View from Lenovo, which is now available in the company's online store at a price of $349,99. This model does not yet support Microsoft's virtual assistant, and the first models with Cortana should be released within the next few months. 

Source: Microsoft