In November, Microsoft released a large update to Teams, including a number of new features and improvements to the app’s underlying infrastructure.

Fans of polls may now use a single click to create an instant poll, allowing meeting attendees to swiftly aggregate views using yes/no, thumbs up/down, or heart/broken heart replies. Presenters may execute this on the fly, making them more spontaneous and less scripted. Microsoft claims that their programme Teams is the only one that offers quick binary polling with the touch of a button.

To compare, Microsoft says, “with our rivals, presenters need to spend time to design a poll in preparation” with the November 2022 upgrade to Teams.

Microsoft claims that there are about 270 million active users of Teams each month, and that the company is introducing new capabilities at a pace of more than one per day. Microsoft said in July that it has introduced 450 new features to Teams during the course of the previous year. Users of Teams may now automatically watch up to 49 videos in a 7×7 grid during a meeting. To watch all 49 videos, visitors previously had to manually switch to Gallery mode. Microsoft said the exact amount of videos seen will be determined by the user’s hardware and device.

Since Microsoft updated its Electron-based software in November, the Teams desktop client has also been improved. Compared to the last big update in June of 2020, moving between conversations and channels is now much quicker. Microsoft first introduced the $10 per month Teams Premium add-on back in October. Meeting planners, brands, intelligent recaps, AI-generated tasks, individualised insights, intelligent searches, real-time caption translations, and heightened security are just some of the other AI capabilities users will have access to.

In November, updates to Teams on the web for Chrome and Edge browsers enhanced calls and meetings with a refreshed pre-join, dynamic view, and control bar.

Microsoft has also released transcription for Android’s Teams app, which can be used for both individual and group conversations.

For the hybrid workplace, Microsoft has modified Teams Rooms on Windows to mute video feeds of in-room participants on the front-of-room display. Teams Room and in-room laptop video galleries are tailored to show just distant guests’ video streams when users join an existing meeting with a personal laptop, Microsoft adds.

Users may now choose whether to accept or reject a group chat invitation from an unmanaged user, making Teams chat a more effective anti-spam tool.

Microsoft has included a scheduled send option, similar to postponing the delivery of emails in Outlook, to accommodate businesses with employees in different time zones. Users may specify the future date and time the message shall be issued.