M365 Changelog: (Updated) Microsoft Teams: Automatic lowering of a user’s Raised Hand after speaking
MC501981 – Updated April 25, 2023: Microsoft has updated the rollout timeline below. Thank you for your patience.
Teams will soon have a feature that will alert attendees in meetings that have raised their hands and already had their questions addressed to automatically lower their hand. This will allow meeting organizers the opportunity to focus on unanswered questions.
This release will be rolling out only to Microsoft Teams Desktop users.
This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 90022.
When will this happen:
Public Preview will roll out in mid-February (previously early February).
Rolling out to Production will begin in mid-March and expect to complete rollout by late April (previously late March).
GCC will begin rolling out in late April (previously late March) and complete by early May (previously early April).
GCC-H will begin rolling out in late May (previously late April) and complete by early June (previously early May).
DoD will begin rolling out in early June (previously early May) and complete by mid-June (previously mid-May).
How this will affect your organization:
Users who raise their hand in a Teams meeting and speak in the meeting will see a notification informing them that their hand will automatically be lowered soon. They will be able to choose to keep their hand raised. If the user doesn’t take action on the notification, their hand will automatically lower. This should ensure smoother meeting facilitation for organizers and presenters.
What you need to do to prepare:
You may want to notify your users about this new capability and update your training and documentation as appropriate.