Microsoft Teams Gets New Meeting Gallery, Custom Emojis and Reactions

Key Takeaways:

• Microsoft has introduced a new meeting gallery view for Teams meetings.
• New capabilities for Teams events include drag-and-drop customization of presenter lists, content management for town halls and webinars.
• Microsoft Teams Premium users can now access built-in event templates.

Last month, Microsoft Teams released a host of new features aimed at enhancing user experience and functionality. Highlights include an upgraded gallery view for meetings, new customization options for event organizers, and updates for Teams Rooms and devices.

Microsoft Teams has introduced a new gallery view that automatically sizes tiles equally for all meeting participants. This gallery view displays 16 participants by default, but users can expand it to show up to 49 people. Users also have the option to remove or hide themselves from the main gallery.

Furthermore, Microsoft has added new features for Teams events, including a drag-and-drop tool for organizers to customize the presenter list on webinar event pages. Organizers can also control what content participants see during town halls or webinars. Government customers can now host town hall events with up to 20,000 attendees.

Microsoft Teams Premium customers can now use built-in event templates in Microsoft Mesh and rejoin past events using old links. Microsoft Mesh users can also access new avatar reactions and set personal boundaries.

Chat & collaboration features

Microsoft has introduced a feature in Teams chats that lets users create and upload custom emojis and reactions. Administrators can control this feature or restrict who can create new emojis through the Teams Admin Center. Microsoft has also enhanced the built-in search functionality in the Teams desktop app. The new messages filter allows users to view recent message result suggestions to quickly jump to a particular conversation.

Additionally, Microsoft Teams has added new sound notification controls to help users stay focused and avoid distractions. Users can customize their notification experience by navigating to Settings > Notifications and activity. Moreover, cross-cloud guest access on the web is now available for enterprise customers. It’s also possible to turn off notifications for a specific channel post in Microsoft Teams.

Updates for Microsoft Teams Rooms

Microsoft has unveiled several updates for Teams Rooms and devices. Customers can now use AI-powered meeting recaps and ask questions to the Copilot AI assistant in Teams Rooms on Windows. This feature is powered by Microsoft’s cloud-based speaker recognition technology, which can identify and distinguish between speakers by analyzing unique vocal traits such as pitch, tone, and speaking style.

Later this year, Microsoft plans to expand this capability to the Teams desktop for bring your own device (BYOD) meeting spaces and Teams Rooms on Android devices. The company has also announced some new Teams-certified devices, including Sennheiser TeamConnect Bar M, Jabra PanaCast 50, and Yealink WH64 Headset.

Last but not least, Microsoft has rolled out several new capabilities for Teams Phone devices, including detailed call history and an updated People app. Other capabilities include an explicit consent recording meeting policy, support for private line, and call transfer improvements.