New features now available for Microsoft Teams

Microsoft’s collaboration and communication platform Teams has been upgraded with enhanced tools.

Developed to facilitate working in groups with improved integration, the new capabilities also advance the Microsoft’s ongoing endeavour to make Teams the go-to chat platform for enterprise use.

Product manager for Microsoft Teams, Marissa Salazar, recently presented a rundown of the new services and features available for the popular platform. The top news item was the integration of Outlook and Teams which offers users the option to relocate an email-based conversation in Outlook over to a chat in Teams with a single mouse click, or alternatively take a Teams chat into an Outlook email.

Another user option now available is the ability to assign members of a company or organisation with a designated tag, allowing them to target messages more effectively. Multiple recipients can be reached at once with a tag that covers all employees in a predetermined group making for far more efficient communication.

Meetings and calls have also been awarded an update with live captions capability. This feature can be activated during meetings in Teams, allowing participants to read, in real time, everything said. The new tool has been designed to improve accessibility and effectiveness of meetings, especially when communication must be conducted in crowded or noisy conditions, athough Microsoft still advises always speaking slowly and clearly when using its Teams platform.

Salazar stated that although the feature only supports English at present, other languages will soon be available. Additionally, meetings can be recorded and stored by admins in cloud storage with Microsoft Stream.

Enhanced security abilities now allow admins to monitor all content being shared on Teams in more detail. Microsoft has also switched on an option that delivers a legal hold on active chats over private channels stored within user mailboxes, allowing messages to be reserved if they are required later.

Powered by cutting-edge machine learning, new tools provided in the update will also assist enterprise admins to zero in on, capture and then take down any instances of inappropriate messaging on Teams. Both external and internal communication can now be effectively scanned and reviewed by those monitoring, ensuring all content submitted complies fully with a company’s corporate policy.

A selection of other features and capabilities have also been introduced, with a mind to make navigating in Teams even simpler. Users can now pin personal apps they frequently need to access to the Teams platform’s left-hand rail, and IT admins are able to manage, upload, allow or block any new apps easily via the admin centre in Microsoft Teams’ ‘Manage apps’ page.

If your company currently makes use of Microsoft technology to stay at the forefront of its sector, we can help you realise your plans. With extensive experience of creating bespoke solutions using the very latest products available from Microsoft, we’re perfectly suited to assist. Experts on collaborative platforms and software as a service (SaaS), we can craft intranet answers to your business needs. Contact our specialist team today for advice and support.