Microsoft Teams has been thrust into the limelight ever since the COVID-19 pandemic and its lockdowns. At the time, it was a way for many businesses to survive the constant curveballs thrown by the pandemic and the Government’s response to it.
In a way, the unavoidable circumstances forced many business owners to see the vast benefits IT can bring to their enterprises. Nowadays, SMEs still use Teams, whether their staff work from home full-time, part-time or simply across different sites or departments.
The software is constantly updating, and the future looks even better. Here are a few things you can expect from Microsoft Teams in the coming weeks and months.
Excel Live
Excel Live makes collaborating across Microsoft Teams much easier. It enables your staff to work in real-time across multiple sheets, even while you have an ongoing meeting. Crucially, everyone can view the screen from their own point of view. This eliminates the need to screen share and means different employees can view different data separately.
Excel Live was released for public preview in August 2022. A live version of Excel is nothing new. It was first released for Office 365 users back in 2017. However, its integration with Teams will help your meetings flow more efficiently.
AI-enhanced video feed
Microsoft is working on ongoing projects with AI specialists like Jabra, Logitech and Huddly. They’re working on making it a much simpler process when you have multiple attendees on a single camera. We’ve all been there. It can be challenging to grasp your meeting’s numbers, making communication a little more tricky when several people are on one video feed.
Of course, it’s unavoidable. Sharing a camera saves bandwidth and is more straightforward for the attendees. The AI technology in development will focus on enhancing the individual participation of each person on camera. For example, the AI will show each person in the room on a separate video feed during the Teams meeting, which aims to make participants feel more directly connected to each other.
More tools for webinars
The updated webinar settings and packages are well worth a reminder. Recently, Microsoft changed the webinar structure, making the setup and settings more unique to individual businesses. For instance, you can now ensure the webinar presenter or speaker stands out, and get custom information from the attendees. Branding is also a great new feature – your logo, banner and colour scheme really make it your own.
As more SMEs become familiar with the updated Teams webinar tools, we expect them to be used more. Webinars are a great way to reach out, share knowledge, build connections and market your brand.
Notifications for new Class Notebook pages
In November 2022, we expect to see updates to the Class Notebook software. Trainers and delegates will both be notified when new pages are added. This makes it much easier for everyone to keep up to date. If your business uses Class Notebook or is associated with another company making the most of it, you’ll be glad to hear about this.
Who added that Whiteboard sticky note?
Also, in November, Microsoft’s roadmap means they’re scheduled to deliver an updated Whiteboard Sticky Note experience. When someone adds a sticky note to the Whiteboard, all the participants in Teams will see who added it. With this comes an air of accountability and will perhaps mean more focus on dedicated, helpful sticky notes. Ensure your business makes the most of these when it comes out.
Get Vantage 365’s help with Microsoft Teams
Vantage 365 are specialists in Microsoft 365 solutions. We help businesses across the country, large or small, make the most of cloud-based technology. Most organisations can vastly increase their efficiency and output productivity with the correct setup and features.
We have years of experience putting our passion for IT into helping your business grow and succeed. We’ll integrate with you and your team to identify what technology will be the most valuable and cost-effective. If you’d like our help, we’ll assist with a strategy and its implementation.
Are you interested to hear how the constantly evolving Microsoft Teams can help your SME? We’d love to hear from you. Click the Get in touch button at the bottom of the page. If you’d prefer to email us, we can be reached at hello@vantage365.co.uk. Finally, feel free to ring us (01384 593720).
We look forward to hearing from you and helping your business make the leap to Microsoft 365.