What you need to know
- Microsoft shared all the new features that rolled out to Teams in December 2020.
- There are several new features for meetings, calls, chats, and devices.
Each month, Microsoft rolls out new features to Microsoft Teams. While Microsoft generally covers features as they roll out, they also gather them all together in monthly roundups. Microsoft just released a post summarizing all the new features that shipped to Microsoft Teams in December 2020, here are some highlights of what's new.
Meetings
On the meetings side of things, Microsoft rolled out virtual breakout rooms. These allow you to separate into smaller sub-meetings, which is a handy tool for business meetings or classrooms. Teams also gained support for end-of-meeting notifications and an improved pre-join meeting experience.
Microsoft also added support for translating live events in Japanese, Korean, French, French-Canadian, Spanish, Spanish-Mexican, Traditional Chinese, Swedish, Dutch, Italian, Hindi-Indian, Portuguese-Brazilian, and Russian to up to 50 languages.
Microsoft also extended the limits for live event participants to June 30, 2021.
Calling
Teams now has a split button in the chat header for audio and video calling. The feature displays multiple numbers for your contacts, which makes it easier to pick which number you'd like to call.
Microsoft also rolled out support for live captions on 1-to-1 calls. This makes it easy to read what people say in a call, which is handy in loud environments.
Chat and collaboration
Microsoft changed how search results for messages appear. Now, when you search for a message, the top three messages appear, rather than messages sorted chronologically.
Teams now supports offline access to files on iOS devices. This is a useful addition for people who move in and out of areas with signal or Wi-Fi connections.
Microsoft Stream videos have been streamlined when embedded into Teams. According to Microsoft, you should see up to a 25 percent reduction in loading Stream videos and up to a 90 percent reduction in the videos starting to play.
Plenty more
There were also improvements for devices that work with Teams, security updates, and quite a few new features for Teams for Education, governments, and first-line workers. Make sure to check out Microsoft's post to see the complete list as well as longer summaries of each change.
Microsoft Teams allows you to collaborate with colleagues, upload files, send messages, and chat through video. It integrates with Office 365 and several other cloud services.
