14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft announced at the Ignite conference this week a new series of updates for Microsoft Teams, including background blur to make video calls less… well… embarrassing.
Technically, with this new feature, the background can be fully blurred whenever you’re participating in a video call, thus removing distractions and focusing on the actual conversation.
“Sometimes working from “anywhere” is less than ideal. So, now you can blur your background in Microsoft Teams. It keeps your team focused on the conversation, not the cat doing parkour behind you,” Microsoft says.
Additionally, Microsoft Team is getting support for recordings, so meetings can be re-watched at a later time, with extra features like transcripts generated by Microsoft Stream. The transcripts allow better management of meetings, making them searchable using specific keywords.
Improved cloud video support
And last but not least, Microsoft is adding new cloud video improvements in Microsoft Team by including support for a bunch of new services.
“Through partner offerings from Polycom, BlueJeans and Pexip, a full portfolio of legacy devices can now be full-fledged audio/video participants in Teams meetings with content sharing,” the company says.
The background blur and meeting recording features are available today, while cloud video support for Pexip and BlueJeans would land by the end of October. Polycom’s CVI is also released today.
Microsoft has also announced a series of smaller updates, like calling support for all VOIP-enabled customers (previously, this feature was only available for those with Calling Plans), as well as screen sharing in a private chat session.
“You can even let them take control to collaborate on content together. To share your screen during a private chat, simply click the open sharetray icon on the top right of the screen and pick one of the available window options,” Microsoft says.
The software giant claims Microsoft Team is the fastest growing business app in its history, with more than 329,000 organizations and 87 Fortune 100 companies using it.
