This week marks the third anniversary of Microsoft Teams, and at a time when remote working is more prevalent than ever before with unprecedented growth amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The software giant counted 32 million daily active users of Teams last week on March 11th, but this jumped by 12 million to 44 million daily active users yesterday.
The nearly 40 percent increase in demand comes as many businesses adjust to remote work and school closures require the adoption of e-learning techniques. Microsoft’s new Teams features are designed to improve remote meetings as they become the default work mode rather than the pre-pandemic exception.
First real-time noise suppression. If you’ve ever been in a remote meeting where someone is typing loudly on their keyboard or has the radio playing nearby, you’ll know how distracting these background sounds can be. This feature minimizes these unwanted noises, allowing users to hear what’s being said.
Then there’s the Raise Hand feature. In remote meetings with a lot of participants or particularly chatty individuals — it can be hard to make your voice heard. Tapping the Raise Hand icon sends a visual signal to everyone in the meeting that you’ve got something to say.
Other new features include pop-out chats, to help you jump more easily between conversations, and a booking app, which will make it easier to schedule and conduct virtual appointments. There’s also support for offline and low-bandwidth use, so you’ll be able to read chat messages and compose replies even if you’re offline.
Finally, there are some device-orientated developments. A new integration between Teams and RealWear head-mounted devices means that industrial workers will be able to use Teams to access information and communicate hands-free with remote colleagues from their job site. New devices certified for teams are also on the cards. The Yealink VC210 is available now, while Bose nose cancelling headphones 700 UC will be on sale in late spring.
These new features are available now, and given the current global health crisis they could not have come at a better time something Microsoft is well aware of having made Teams available for free to the UK’s NHS workers during the coronavirus outbreak.
Microsoft’s new Teams features and daily active numbers come just a day after its main competitor, Slack, launched its biggest redesign yet. Slack is improving the UI of its chat app, with a focus on more customization and simplification. Slack hasn’t provided an updated daily user count since October when it revealed 12 million daily active users, just short of Microsoft’s previous 13 million count.
