What you need to know
- Microsoft Teams' Walkie Talkie feature is getting a major upgrade.
- Users will now be able to leverage the feature's capability to communicate across multiple channels.
- The upgrade is expected to ship for iOS and Android users from early December 2023.
- The expanded support for the feature will allow users to connect up to five favorite channels in multichannel mode.
With more organizations shifting to hybrid work and embracing the work-from-home approach, the dependence and reliance on video conferencing tools like Microsoft Teams continues to grow. In the past few months, we've seen Microsoft ship neat features to the platform with the aim of improving its user experience.
The Walkie Talkie feature on the platform has proven to be of immense value to end users, and Microsoft is enhancing its capabilities even further with a major upgrade, as spotted by our sister site, TechRadar Pro. Microsoft is expanding the feature's support to multiple channels. This will foster easier communication over multiple channels, ultimately enhancing productivity.
What does the Walkie Talkie feature in Microsoft Teams do?
The feature first shipped to the platform at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, as organizations transitioned to hybrid work. According to Microsoft, it's designed to provide instant push-to-talk (PTT) communication for teams. Moreover, it "allows users to connect with their team using the same underlying channels they're members of."
When will support for multiple channels ship to the Walkie Talkie feature?
Support for multiple channels is expected to ship to users in December 2023, but it's limited to iOS and Android devices.
What does the added support for multiple channels mean?
As highlighted in the Microsoft 365 Roadmap, users will have the capability to connect up to five favorite channels in multichannel mode. Moreover, the expanded support for the feature will allow users to listen to incoming transmissions from these favorited channels automatically. It'll also be easier for users to initiate PTT transmission on these channels.
Do you use the Walkie Talkie feature in Teams? What are your thoughts on this upcoming change to the feature? Let us know in the comments.
