Did January or February actually happen in 2020? Can anyone remember what life was like back then?
Things have shifted exponentially since then and ten months on it’s still affecting everyday life. Although there is light at the end of the tunnel, and we can reflect on a difficult year.
For those of us who were lucky enough to be able to pick up and shift our jobs to a working from home environment, virtual communication has been key to helping us through, and at Trustmarque, Microsoft Teams has played an essential part.
Here we have put together a quick round-up of Microsoft Teams news from the last ten months and looking back it shows the pace of how things have moved on.
March
Microsoft Adds 12M Users for Teams in One Week
By Kyle Alspach, CRN
Microsoft on Thursday said the number of Teams users has seen explosive growth with the collaboration platform adding 12 million daily users in just the past week, as workplaces turn to the tool as a remote-work solution amid the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
The company says 44 million people globally are using Teams on a daily basis, up from 32 million as of March 11. It’s also more than double the amount from four months ago, when Microsoft reported 20 million daily active users for Teams.
April
Microsoft and NHS Digital to provide new clinical capabilities through Teams
By Owen Hughes, Digital Health
Microsoft and NHS Digital are introducing new clinical applications to Teams to support NHS staff dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.
In just a few weeks Teams has been made available to 1,275,000 NHS staff with an NHSmail account, in one of the most rapid roll-outs of a new digital platform ever undertaken in the NHS.
New capabilities that will now be layered on Teams include “virtual visits” that will allow doctors to schedule video appointments with patients at a given time, as well video-consultation trolleys that allow NHS staff working in isolation rooms to communicate with colleagues outside.
May
Microsoft Teams now lets everyone see up to 9 meeting participants at once
By Dan Thorp-Lancaster, Windows Central
Now you can view more participants at once in Microsoft Teams video calls. The video feeds from up to nine people can now appear on screen, up from the previous cap of four. When nine participants are on screen, you’ll see them laid out in a three-by-three grid.
Microsoft first announced this feature in April, stating that it would begin rolling out by the end of the month. The increase has been gradually making its way to users as part of a staged rollout, but it should be available to all now.
June
Microsoft Teams is different on desktop, iOS, and Android: Here’s what you need to know
By Simon Bisson, Tech Republic
Teams for the frontline
There’s been something of a sea change at Microsoft over the past few years. It used to be a company focused on skilled ‘knowledge workers’, with the slogan ‘A computer on every desk and in every home’. The mission statement is now ‘to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more’. With the change of emphasis from computers to people, there’s a shift to supporting first-line workers, who often work shifts and are usually paid by the hour.
July
Microsoft Teams: Real-Time Presence
By Anwesha Roy, UC Today
Digital is now our primary mode of connectivity, helping employees to practice social distancing and stay productive at the same time. But this can cause a major roadblock to transparency. How do you know a colleague has stepped out on an urgent errand? How do you check if a team member is stuck in an extended virtual meeting? In a sprawling team structure, how do you maintain visibility on what everyone is doing, their productive hours, and work patterns without being intrusive?
Microsoft Teams Real-Time Presence addresses this in a meaningful way.
August
Microsoft Teams Together Mode: Your Questions Answered
By Dominic Kent, Mio Dispatch
Microsoft Teams Together mode arrived in August 2020 and has been a hot topic ever since.
Ideal for the work anywhere environment, Together mode connects people like never before. Many services like Zoom, Slack, and Cisco Webex Teams offer group video conferencing. But Microsoft Teams Together mode makes video meetings more immersive.
As a virtual filter for online meetings, Together mode makes employees feel like they’re in the same room.
September
Microsoft Teams Confirms Superb New Updates and Features To Beat Zoom
By Kate O’Flaherty, Forbes
Microsoft’s Teams had a very busy September adding a host of new features. Now, the firm is looking to improve the performance of its Teams service as it continues in the battle to beat Zoom in the video conferencing space.
In an update detailing the features added in September, Microsoft explained how it was trying to improve Teams’ performance as a large proportion of the workforce continues to work from home.
October
Five ways Microsoft Teams updates will bridge the virtual-human experience
By Trustmarque’s own content enthusiast, Katherine Murphy.
Microsoft is redefining the inter-human virtual meeting experience in Teams. The platform’s developers have gone further than simply taking what we know and love in the real world and translating it online but are creating an entirely new space that mixes the best of both worlds. Seamless connectivity, easy collaboration, and instant access to apps and data.
November
What’s New in Microsoft Teams | November 2020
By Microsoft
[Microsoft] know you have been waiting for this post as November has been another month with a lot of great features that will help you get the most out of Microsoft Teams. Let’s jump right in!
- What’s New: Meetings
- What’s new: Calling
- What’s New: Devices
- What’s New: Chat & Collaboration
- What’s New: Power Platform and custom development
- What’s New: Management
December
This new Microsoft Teams feature may be its most useful yet
By Barclay Ballard, Techradar
Noise suppression is coming to mobile users along with Microsoft Teams desktop users
A useful noise-cancelling feature that has been available to Microsoft Teams desktop users for a few weeks now will soon be coming to mobile devices, the company has confirmed.
The feature uses artificial intelligence to filter out unwanted noise, meaning you can hear your fellow meeting participants more clearly.
Get more out of Mircosoft 365
As a Microsoft Gold Partner, we have a host of Modern Workplace services and solutions that can help you get the most from Microsoft 365 including Teams. We can help you:
- Deploy and adopt Office 365 with funding from Microsoft through our FastTrack Ready Service
- Gain total visibility, control, and manage costs with Prism+ for Office 365
- Bring together and enhance your Cyber Security posture with our funded Microsoft Security Workshops
Contact your Trustmarque account manager or get in touch and find out how we can assist you to make the most of your Microsoft investments.
