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Posts tagged "Teams"

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Workers are actually far more obsessed with Slack than Microsoft Teams
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When it comes to collaborating with colleagues, most workers are more likely to use Slack, rather than Microsoft Teams, new research has found.. 

However, when it comes to making video conferencing calls, chances are people will be using Teams instead of Slack.

A report from SaaS intelligence firm Productiv found 175,000 of its users opt for Slack, while 70,000 went for Teams as their productivity weapon of choice, although many of these users overlap, and go for both platforms when it suits them.

Slack is for chats, Teams is for video calls

So, for overall engagement over 60 days (measuring for one day, a week, a month, and two months), in which “engagement” is defined as logging in and sending a message, Slack is a clear winner, getting more than double the engagement compared to Teams.

Measuring for a day, 37% of Slack users engaged with the platform, compared to 14% of Teams users. Measuring for two months, on the other hand, has shown 83% for Slack users, and 42% for Teams users. 

Similar figures are for group messages, as 92% of engaged users in Slack used the feature over the course of 30 days, while just 11% of Teams users did the same.

Read more

 > Microsoft Teams vs Slack: Which video collaboration service is best?

> Why Slack isn’t afraid of Microsoft Teams or any other competitor

> Salesforce finalizes Slack deal 

When it comes to attending meetings, however, Teams excels, while Slack lags behind. Measuring for a single day, just 2% of Slack users logged in for the feature, compared to 46% of Teams users. For 30 days, it’s 12% and 62%, respectively.

Among the possible reasons for this discrepancy, Productiv believes, is the fact that Teams comes bundled with, and is integrated well, with Outlook. Microsoft has also “heavily advertised” the video conferencing feature in its Teams platform, while many Slack users might not be fully aware of their platform offering the same functionality.

Finally, it could be due to many Slack users already very used to Zoom for video conferencing, Productiv concluded. 

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Microsoft scores strange own goal with latest Teams update
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Microsoft is preparing an update for collaboration platform Teams that has the potential to help users make the most of their desktop space, but is limited by a strange design decision.

According to an entry in the Microsoft 365 product roadmap, Teams users will soon receive the option to pack a larger number of messages on screen courtesy of a new compact mode.

The view mode will reduce both the font size and space between lines, allowing for 50% more chat messages to be displayed at once.

The feature is still currently under development, but should roll out to all Microsoft Teams customers by the end of the month.

Compact mode in Microsoft Teams

Although compact mode in Microsoft Teams will probably be inappropriate for anyone that struggles with vision problems, it could prove useful in a range of scenarios.

For example, multitaskers running Teams in windowed mode will be able to reduce the amount of real estate taken up by the app without cutting the number of messages they can see. The new mode will also benefit those running Teams on a portable monitor or work laptop, who until now have had to make do with reading fewer messages at a time.

Read more

> Why Slack isn't afraid of Microsoft Teams or any other rival

> We're all much more dependent on Teams than we want to believe

> Meet the CEO beating Teams and Zoom at their own game

Bafflingly, however, compact mode will only apply to one-on-one chats, not channels. It’s a strange decision, given the volume of messages that pass through group channels is typically much larger than in private chains.

The update will also apply only to the Microsoft Teams desktop client, at least for now, which means those working from smaller smartphones and tablets will not benefit.

TechRadar Pro has asked Microsoft about the rationale behind the decision to exclude channels from compact mode, and whether iOS and Android users will receive the option in future.

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Ditch the Microsoft Teams icon from the taskbar to speed up Windows 11
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There is a lot to take in if you've moved to Windows 11 from Windows 10, with many of the major changes visible in the taskbar. Yes, there is the repositioned Start button and the centered shortcuts, but there are plenty of other changes too. Just look to the right-hand side of the taskbar, and you'll notice all manner of changes since previous versions of Windows.

As Microsoft has tried to encourage people away from using the likes of Slack and Zoom, the company has been pushing its own Microsoft Teams app. A seemingly innocuous addition to the taskbar has been a shortcut to Teams, and while you may resent giving up space to the icon if you're not a user of the app, there are more reasons to hide the icon than simply saving space in your taskbar.

You might be surprised to learn that so long as the Microsoft Teams icon is housed in the Windows 11 taskbar, it is firing up processes in the background. These Microsoft Edge WebView2 processes are associated with the browser rendering engine, and they use up system resources that could be put to better use.

Drain on resources

The same is true of the Widgets icon that sits in the taskbar but, as developer Michael Niehaus points out, there is key difference between the two icons. While Widgets only launches processes when the icon is clicked, the mere presence of the Teams icon is enough to use up many megabytes of RAM.

If you're not using Teams, you might want to consider simply uninstalling the app. But to avoid the problem of having to reinstall it should you find you need it further down the line, there is an alternative – just hide the icon. This simple act is enough to prevent Teams from gobbling up resources in the background.

If you try right-clicking the Teams icon to delete it, you'll notice that no context menu appears. To remove the icon you will instead have to head to Windows 11's Settings app and go to Personalization > Taskbar, before moving the 'Chats' toggle to the 'Off' position.  

Via Ars Technica

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Microsoft Teams will let you keep your favourite messages for all to see
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Being able to pin messages in Microsoft Teams should be possible very soon, the company has confirmed.

In the official entry on the Microsoft 365 roadmap,  the software giant confirmed that the ability to pin chat messages to the top of the Teams communications service is planned for February 2022.

The ability to pin messages, similar to that offered by the likes of Slack and Telegram already offer, allows users to “pin” a specific message to the top of the channel, so that it’s always visible to other participants, regardless of the number of messages that came afterward. 

Nothing for mobile yet

The feature is set to be released for Microsoft Teams on PC and Mac clients simultaneously, but there's no word on mobile platforms just yet.

For mobile, Microsoft has recently confirmed that it is planning on adding predictive text to Teams, making it harder to make spelling or grammatical errors when typing on the go. This should be particularly interesting to hybrid and remote workers, who are often forced to communicate with their co-workers and clients while on a bus or a train.

Read More

> There will soon be no escape from Microsoft Teams, even in the office

> How to get the latest Microsoft Teams updates

> Microsoft Teams is more popular than ever, so you'd better get used to it

The launch will be one of a series of updates and upgrades to its online collaboration platform soon.

Elsewhere, there's also the ability to to combine business and consumer Teams accounts, hopefully putting an end to any unfortunate confusion between the two, and even the possibility of adding Microsoft's Cortana voice-recognition software to the platform.

The company also recently confirmed the launch of its walkie talkie feature in Microsoft Teams, allowing customers to use their smartphone or tablet as a walkie talkie that can work over both a cellular or wireless connection. 

Via: MSPowerUser 

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This new Microsoft Teams update will maximize your productivity on the go
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Mobile users of Microsoft Teams may no longer need to worry about making unfortunate typing errors thanks to a new update.

The collaboration and  video conferencing platform will soon receive predictive text features to its mobile app, a new entry in the Microsoft product roadmap shows.

The new addition should make it harder to make spelling or grammatical errors when typing on the go, particularly as many workers embrace the new world of hybrid working, meaning they may be messaging on a train or bus, or just when rushing to a meeting.

Predictive text on Teams

The entry in the Microsoft 365 roadmap notes that the new feature uses “assistive AI” to predict a user's answers and gives text suggestions so that, “you can finish phrases in one tap.”

The tool may use the same technology found in Microsoft Editor, which uses the company's own in-house AI technology to cut out errors across Word and Outlook.

The company recently announced that predictive text would be coming to Microsoft Edge, giving users of its web browser a similar “text predictions” feature that uses Microsoft's own in-house AI and ML technology to offer word suggestions to users.

Microsoft says the feature should roll out to all Teams users by March 2022. It will initially only be available to Android users, however given the huge popularity of Microsoft Teams (which recently topped 270 million monthly active users), it would be a surprise if an iOS version isn't forthcoming soon.

Read more

> There will soon be no escape from Microsoft Teams, even in the office

> Why Slack isn't afraid of Teams or any other competitor

> Microsoft Teams update lets you hide from your own face

The new feature is the latest in a series of recent updates to Microsoft Teams as the company looks to help keep its new and existing users productive and happy across the platform.

Also recently announced was the ability to combine business and consumer Teams accounts, hopefully putting an end to any unfortunate confusion between the two, and even the possibility of adding Microsoft's Cortana voice-recognition software to the platform.

The company also recently confirmed the launch of its walkie talkie feature in Microsoft Teams, allowing customers to use their smartphone or tablet as a walkie talkie that can work over both a cellular or wireless connection. 

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The Microsoft Teams empire is about to expand even further
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Microsoft has launched a new initiative designed to attract even more customers to its collaboration platform, Teams.

As described in a Microsoft blog post, the company is kickstarting a device trade-in scheme, whereby businesses can claim cash back on old video conferencing hardware and desk phones when they make the switch to Microsoft Teams.

The scheme will be facilitated by a partnership with Network-Value, a company that specializes in global device trade-in and responsible equipment disposal.

Microsoft Teams expansion

Earlier this week, it was announced that Microsoft Teams has breached yet another major milestone, racking up more than 270 million monthly active users (MAUs). For context, the service is said to have attracted fewer than 50 million daily users before the pandemic began.

However, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has warned that he does not expect Teams to sustain the current rate of growth. Indeed, with many businesses having now settled with a software partner, bagging new customers will surely be more difficult for Microsoft this year.

That said, the company will continue to do everything in its power to expand the Microsoft Teams empire, with the support of new initiatives like the trade-in scheme.

“IT and facilities directors are facing many tough decisions as businesses evolve to support a hybrid workplace. Considerations include the transformation of existing office space, standardizing the meeting experience globally for all employees, recouping residual value out of existing hardware and disposing of end-of-life devices,” wrote Microsoft

“When it’s time to upgrade your desktop phone or video conferencing systems, we’ve made it easier by leveraging the value of your existing hardware. Instead of spending valuable time trying to sell or recycle your hardware, simply contact Network-Value to receive a fast, competitive quote on your device inventory.”

Read more

> Why Slack isn't afraid of Microsoft Teams or any other rival

> We're all much more dependent on Teams than we want to believe

> Meet the CEO beating Teams and Zoom at their own game

Another way in which Microsoft will attempt to capture an even greater slice of the pie is through a continued focus on feature rollouts.

In recent weeks, for example, we’ve reported that Microsoft Teams is set to receive new features that let users hide their own face during a video call, use their smartphone as a walkie-talkie and run the software in a virtual machine.

Microsoft will hope that a combination of continual upgrades and out-of-the box thinking (as demonstrated by the trade-in program) will help make 2022 as successful as previous years where Teams is concerned.

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Microsoft Teams is more popular than ever, so you’d better get used to it
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The success of Microsoft Teams just keeps on growing as more and more users around the world sign up to the platform.

The video conferencing service now boasts over 270 million monthly active users (MAUs) according to the latest figures released by Microsoft.

This is up from the 250 million Microsoft Teams MAUs that the company reported just six months ago, as the hybrid working age continues to drive the platform from strength to strength.

Record Microsoft Teams numbers

In its latest quarterly financial report, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella noted that although the growth of Teams has been encouraging, it does expect this to slow somewhat as usage begins to plateau.

Microsoft changed how it measures Teams usage last year, switching from daily active users to monthly active users, which again possibly suggested numbers may be slowing somewhat.

The company is still busy working on updates and upgrades for Teams, however, with recent releases including a way for users to hide their own video feed whilst on a call, apply an emoji as a reaction to chat messages, and even add its Cortana voice-recognition software to the platform.

Read more

> There will soon be no escape from Microsoft Teams, even in the office

> Why Slack isn't afraid of Teams or any other competitor

> Microsoft Teams update lets you hide from your own face

Overall, Q2 2022 was an incredibly successful one for Microsoft, with the company beating analyst predictions to record another major quarter.

The company reported a 20% increase in revenues, which hit $ 51.7 billion, with net income up 21% to hit $ 18.8 billion. Windows OEM revenue increased 25% compared to the previous year, with Windows Commercial products and cloud services revenue increasing 13%.

“Digital technology is the most malleable resource at the world’s disposal to overcome constraints and reimagine everyday work and life,” said Nadella.

“As tech as a percentage of global GDP continues to increase, we are innovating and investing across diverse and growing markets, with a common underlying technology stack and an operating model that reinforces a common strategy, culture, and sense of purpose.”

Recent data collected by software firm StarLeaf found almost all (97%) businesses say that tools such as Zoom, Webex and Teams are now essential to their operations.

More than half (57%) of the 2,000 UK-based respondents claim their company would not be able to operate for more than an hour without access to their communications tools, while 27% admitted they would struggle to function for even 30 minutes.

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Microsoft Teams will soon push one of the worst Windows 11 features down your throat
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Although Cortana may be dead on mobile, Microsoft's digital assistant is alive and well on Windows 11 and will soon be making an appearance in Microsoft Teams.

While Cortana was first introduced in 2001's Halo: Combat Evolved on the original Xbox, the smart artificial intelligence construct eventually came to Windows Phone and Windows 10 PCs in 2014 as a digital assistant. 

Just like with Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa and Apple's Siri, Microsoft created Cortana to help Windows users set reminders, search the web and more.

Now though, according to a series of new posts on the Microsoft 365 Roadmap, the software giant is bringing Cortana to Microsoft Teams Rooms. With Microsoft Teams Rooms, businesses can configure a meeting room with a number of devices including displays, webcams and microphones so that an organization can use video conferencing software together as a group as opposed to having to use their own laptops.

Cortana is coming to Microsoft Teams Rooms

In the first update to the Microsoft 365 Roadmap, Microsoft explained that “Cortana voice activation will be enabled by default on newly imaged Microsoft Teams Rooms solutions” beginning this month.

This means that Teams users will be able to shout out voice commands to their Teams Rooms devices to start a video call, change settings and more. Fortunately though, IT admins will be able to adjust this setting to disable voice activation. At the same time, Microsoft has updated the Cortana iconography that appears on the front of a room display and in the console UI in a Microsoft Teams Room according to the second update.

Finally in the third update, the company explained that Cortana will support additional languages on Teams devices that are set to different locale languages. Currently American English, Canadian English, Australian English, Indian English and British English are supported.

While voice activation can certainly be useful in shared meeting rooms designed for video conferencing, business users may not be too keen on having a character from a video game speaking up during their all-hands meetings.

Also check out our roundups of the best business webcams, best headsets for conference calls and best video conferencing software

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Microsoft Teams emoji are about to get more annoying than ever
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If you've ever felt that you just can't express yourself enough on a Microsoft Teams call, then a new update coming to the platform could well be the answer.

The video conferencing service is set to introduce a new way to react to messages that will let you show exactly how you feel using emojis.

According to the official entry in the Microsoft 365 roadmap, the new “Microsoft Teams Expanded Reactions” feature will “allow users to apply any emoji as a reaction to chat messages”.

Over reaction?

Microsoft says that users will be able to pick from over 800 emojis “to react the way you want”, with reactions show in the chat window.

The feature is currently listed as “in development”, with an expected release date of March 2022. The company notes that, when released, the feature will be available to Microsoft Teams users across the world, and includes web, desktop, Android and iOS users. 

It will be the latest in a long series of additions and upgrades to Microsoft Teams as the company looks to continue helping users around the world enjoy hybrid working.

This isn't the first time that emojis within Microsoft Teams have been mentioned either, as a new selection of images were released by the company as part of the launch of Windows 11. The new 'Fluent Design' look did cause concern among some users following the release of some of the new emojis, with users mocking their unclear depictions and puzzling looks.

While Fluent design is now available for Windows 11 and Office 2022, as well as key apps such as Paint and Calendar, it is still yet to appear in Teams, with Microsoft only saying that the new designs will arrive in February 2022 alongside live transcripts of calls, better meeting options, and other features.

However there were raised eyebrows across the technology world in November 2021 when Microsoft revealed that its infamous Clippy mascot was coming to Teams as part of a Retro Sticker Pack.

Recent data collected by software firm StarLeaf found almost all (97%) businesses say that tools such as Zoom, Webex and Teams are now essential to their operations.

More than half (57%) of the 2,000 UK-based respondents claim their company would not be able to operate for more than an hour without access to their communications tools, while 27% admitted they would struggle to function for even 30 minutes.

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Microsoft Teams update finally lets you hide from your own face
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One of the worst part of video calls could soon be eliminated for Microsoft Teams users thanks to a new update coming to the service.

The video conferencing platform has revealed it is working on a new feature that will let users hide their own video feed whilst on a call.

This means that Microsoft Teams users will no longer be confronted with the sight of their own face pretending to pay attention (or losing focus), instead just letting them view other co-workers.

Microsoft Teams video

“Currently, the user's video is displayed at the bottom right corner of the meeting screen,” the official entry on the Microsoft 365 roadmap reads. “This feature allows users to hide their own video during a meeting. This will help reduce distractions during the call while still having your video available for other participants.”

The feature is currently shown as “in development” in Microsoft's roadmap, but the entry does claim a projected release date of January 2022. When it does arrive, the feature is set to be available to all Microsoft Teams users worldwide across web and desktop versions.

The update is one of the latest in a series of features announced by Microsoft as it looks to help Teams users increase productivity and efficiency as the era of hybrid working shows no sign of abating.

This includes the recent announcement that Microsoft Teams will soon allow users to mute notifications whilst they are in a video conferencing meeting or don't want to be disturbed.

This should mean an end to distracting notifications or alerts when you’re in the middle of an important meeting.

Recent data collected by software firm StarLeaf found almost all (97%) businesses say that tools such as Zoom, Webex and Teams are now essential to their operations.

More than half (57%) of the 2,000 UK-based respondents claim their company would not be able to operate for more than an hour without access to their communications tools, while 27% admitted they would struggle to function for even 30 minutes.

TechRadar – All the latest technology news

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