In 2020, when the pandemic hits, most companies were forced to transition to a remote work setup. It was challenging and, at the same time, interesting as it brought an unfamiliar environment and experience.

And after 2 years, it showed a lot of advantages and disadvantages for both business owners and workers; thus, some things helped to support this setup.

Microsoft Teams is one of the things that helped sustain the remote work setup. It is a well-known application from Microsoft in the technology world. Many features have been added since 2020 for the users to give the best Teams experience and provide the need to have a more straightforward remote work setup.

2020 to 2022 Updated features of Microsoft Teams

Microsoft teams started to connect users with its chat, call and sharing video. But now, in just 2 years during the pandemic, Microsoft has improved and produced better and greater applications and features that will allow users to get more than being connected and be more efficient in using Teams.

Teams Profile

Real-time status: You have multiple levels to choose from; available, busy, do not disturb, be right back, appear away, appear offline. You can also set the duration or how long you want to appear in the status.

More options for notification settings – Many profiles, meetings, tasks, and channel modifications settings are added. Go to your profile picture, select Settings > Notifications, and different modification options will show.

Multilingual/Spell-checker will automatically adjust to your system’s keyboard language.

Background noise and Mic settings – You do not need to install a noise-cancelling application because the team also has its own. Go to Settings > Devices > Noise suppression and select High for a more robust suppression. Same with the mic, you can adjust its sensitivity in the same settings.

Set your out of the office from Teams – Not just outlook can set OOO replies. Teams are now capable too. Select your profile picture, and then Set status message > Schedule out of office.

More emojis – More emojis mean more fun, from eighty-five emojis before to over eight hundred emojis with different skin tones for specific emojis to express your emotions and feelings.

Diagnostic logs – You can now check the Teams diagnostic records by simply going to the team’s icon, right-click and choosing Collect support files. The result will be available in the Downloads folder.

Message appearance – Teams can set their preferred chat density, spacing of chat messages and how many texts will show in the chat window.

Contact’s local time zone – Find someone’s time zone contact’s profile picture.

Teams Meetings

Audio, Video and Background settings – You can choose which audio and video device you will use. You also have an option to disable it if you wish to. Same with background, you can set what kind of background you want others to see from you and the scene during your meeting, before or during the session in the settings.

Review of Meetings – Participants can now review and access the notes, transcripts, chat, shared files and more even if the meeting has ended. Organizers will also find the attendance report here.

Pinning Videos, Presenter, and Live captions – You can pin a specific video or speaker to show on the top during the meeting. Live captions are currently available in US English only.

Audio and video managing for attendees– An option for the presenters to manage attendee audio and video to prevent them from unmuting during meetings and who can turn on their cameras.

Transfer meetings between devices – One of the best-added features. You can switch to other devices based on your comfortability during an appointment or call.

Multiple Presenters – if you need a break from the presentation, a colleague with access to the presentation file can stop and resume where you stopped presenting.

Lobby settings for invites – Let invited people bypass the meeting lobby. Anyone who receives an invitation, including a forwarded invite, can join the meeting directly.

Record meeting – Start recording the meeting, and the video will appear in chat and Microsoft Stream right after the meeting.

Note: This setting is enabled by your IT admin and may not be available to everyone.

Teams Channels and Tasks

New conversation tab/button – this button will let you create new conversations and not reply to the thread.

Pin – pin anything that needs to be pinned and will be visible to other members. The pinned items in a channel will show in the channel info pane. You will find this at the top, right of the channel. Select Show channel info, and you will discover Pinned posts below the list of members who have recently contributed to the channel.

Channel calendars – Start scheduling meetings with your team with the new shared channel calendar. You can view all channel events in one location and add them to your calendar.

Publish a company-wide task list – Deliberate tasks with your colleague via teams. It will have an easier transition from viewing tasks while conversing regarding the task with the members.

Microsoft App Association

SharePoint Lists in Teams – Access lists to manage and track work and other things with your team by adding the list to a channel in teams.

Microsoft Whiteboard – Just like a teacher’s whiteboard, it is now available for chat, channels, and meetings that will help in discussion and presentations.

Approval App – Communicating regarding your request in teams chat and have it approved via teams instantly.

Google Workspace – Click the meeting link from Google Workspace calendar meetings and get directed to teams by the new Teams add-on.

Outlook to Teams meeting – You can attend your saved meeting in your Outlook calendar to Teams meeting with just a click.

PowerPoint – Collaboration of Teams and PowerPoint made it easier to have successful presentations. Imagine using the best features of Teams for meetings, and adding PowerPoint presentations is a beautiful thing.

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