Microsoft has been working hard on making MS Teams the go-to program for video-conferencing. However, Zoom still dominates the networking scene; but MS Teams has been learning some lessons. Is it time you took another look?
Views
The launch of the seven by seven grid to view up to 49 participants is welcome as many found that not seeing colleagues disturbing. The new ‘Together mode’ feature to place everyone on the call within the same frame as an audience is impressive. Many tutors will sigh with relief as it is so tricky to gauge understanding without seeing your audience. This feature will update on your program towards the end of the year.
Presenter layouts
Being able to see the presenter during screen sharing is key to delivery. The new custom layouts allow for an overlay of the presenter on the Powerpoint slideshow as it is shared.
Breakout rooms
Having been available to Zoom users for a long while now, October saw the introduction of breakout rooms on MS Teams. The host can place participants into smaller rooms for discussion and smaller workshops and return them to the main room.
Recording meetings
This feature is one area MS Teams starts to overpower Zoom. Not only can the visual recording of the participants, but also the Powerpoint presentation, closed captions, chat, meeting notes and transcripts are all automatically recorded and available immediately. This feature allows not only the participants to recap, but also non-attendees to catch up.
Webinar
With Zoom, you need to upgrade to add webinar capabilities even on your pro subscription. MS Teams has this covered in your O365 subscription. Not only do you have all the tools to hand, but also acceptance checklists and automated emails to encourage attendance. Towards the end of this year, a new dashboard will appear after the webinar to show audience participation and engagement. Great if you want to improve your offering and so garner more followers in future webinars.
Integration with Office365
We haven’t even mentioned integration tools yet! New tricks include approvals and later this year’s integration with Adobe Sign and DocuSign, within Teams. Excel already works seamlessly with Teams, but with PowerBI, you can take those datasets within excel and visualise them, and present within Teams. A SharePoint hub within Teams will allow access to the organisation’s files, branding, and intranet.
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