Microsoft Teams Gets New Time-Based Prompts, Town Hall Graph APIs

Microsoft Teams introduced a host of new features that enhance collaboration and user experience in August 2024. The highlights include time-based prompts in Copilot in chat, channel cards, Town hall Graph APIs, and updates for Teams Rooms and devices.

Chat & collaboration features

For starters, Microsoft has added support for time-based prompts to Copilot in chat. This new feature allows users to include a clear time frame within their prompts to get targeted results, such as last month or December 2023. The AI assistant will only provide insights into information from messages sent within the specified time period.

Additionally, Microsoft Teams users can now request to join a shared channel via a URL, with approval or denial managed by the channel owners. Microsoft has also introduced channel cards, which display key details such as the channel description, team name, last activity time, and membership information.

The latest Microsoft Teams update allows external users to access applications in group chats. The installation of apps within group chats will adhere to the app policies of the hosting user’s organization. Moreover, users can now show/hide the Discover feed in Teams channels by going to Settings > General.

Meetings features

Microsoft has added support for intelligent meeting recap with AI-generated notes and tasks for GCC customers. The intelligent meeting recap feature also lets unscheduled town hall participants to search for meeting recordings by speaker name and topic title on Android devices. This capability requires a Teams premium license. Microsoft Teams town hall participants can now send reactions, including like, love, applause, laugh, and surprised.

Organizers can use Graph APIs to create, update, publish, and delete town hall events. They can also export Q&A attendee questions as a .CSV file and share it via email or a SharePoint site. Additionally, Microsoft Mesh users hosting multi-room events can view participants’ raised hands and reactions across all rooms. However, this feature is exclusive to Teams Premium customers.

Last month, Microsoft released several capabilities for Teams Rooms and devices. Users can now join Zoom meetings with an ID and passcode on Teams Rooms on Android. Meanwhile, IT admins can upload custom background images from the Teams admin center. Microsoft says that these features require a Teams Rooms Pro license.

Last but not least, Microsoft announced a couple of new Teams-certified devices in August 2024. These include Yealink CM20 Ceiling Audio System, Yealink Teams Phone MP E2 series, and Logitech Rally Bar + Mic Pods for Teams Rooms on Windows (with Lenovo Core).