Microsoft Teams Gets New Default Gallery Experience, Other Meeting Features

Key Takeaways:

• Microsoft Teams has introduced a new default gallery view, optimizing the display of meeting participants in a visually appealing 16:9 aspect ratio.
• Microsoft Teams is also simplifying meeting joins with a redesigned invite layout and shortened meeting links.
• Microsoft Teams free users will now retain access to chat even after the meeting concludes.

Microsoft Teams continues to set the pace with a slew of new features and capabilities aimed at improving the meetings experience. The first new feature the company highlighted today is a new default gallery experience that will be available in public preview later this month.

Microsoft says that the new default gallery experience displays all meeting attendees in tiles that have a 16:9 aspect ratio. The new gallery view will be available for all types of meetings, irrespective of the size or content being shared. Microsoft Teams uses AI to optimize the viewpoint of virtual attendees who speak or raise their hands during a meeting.

Microsoft Teams meetings now give users the ability to customize the number of participants that are visible on their screens. Users have the option to select from 4, 9, 16, and 49 participants based on their personal preferences. In addition, Microsoft Teams allows attendees to hide their own video tile from the gallery view to reduce distractions.

Updates to the meeting join experience

Microsoft has announced that it will be making improvements to the meeting join process in Microsoft Teams. A new simplified meeting invite will better group related information, which is expected to roll out in February 2024. Later this year, Microsoft Teams will introduce shortened meeting links, which will make it easier for users to share and join meetings.

Microsoft Teams is simplifying the process of joining meetings for people using the app with a free Microsoft account. Currently, free users can only join work meetings as anonymous guests via a web browser. Microsoft Teams will add a new feature to let free users join work meetings right from the Teams desktop app. Users will also be able to retain access to the meeting chat after it concludes. This new capability will be available in February 2024.

New Together Mode layout coming to Microsoft Teams

Last but not least, Microsoft is updating the Together Mode feature with a new layout to improve the content-sharing experience in Teams meetings. The new layout is similar to the front row experience in Teams Rooms, and it moves the video participants to the bottom of the screen. Microsoft expects to roll out the new Together Mode layout next month.