Microsoft Teams is familiar to many of us as a way to hold meetings remotely for work, or as a way to stay in touch with friends and family. As with all tools though, familiarity can mean that we fall into habits, and that can mean missing out on some really useful new features.
To help you get the most out of a product that looks set to remain a part of our lives, we’ve put together a list of the top five useful features that you may not have known about.
Noise-canceling on calls is two-way. The aim is to cancel out your background noise so that you can hear clearly in your headset, but also so that your colleagues can hear you clearly when you speak without additional noise.
Microsoft Teams can do this very effectively allowing you to even go to the supermarket or on public transport while in a meeting.
To activate noise cancellation, you need to click on the three dots on the meeting control bar and select ‘Settings’ then ‘Device Settings’ and then under ‘Noise Suppression’ select ‘High’.
Most people are aware that you can record your online meetings. However, these recordings can take up a lot of space on your system, and can also take a lot of time to review.
If you are using the Teams desktop app, a better way to review a meeting may be to use the transcript function to take notes which you can either save or share with others and review in your own time. This allows you to search for specific parts of the conversation and quickly get the information you need.
To access the recording and transcript feature, you need to click on the three dots on the meeting control bar and select the ‘Record and Transcribe’ function on the drop-down.
Note: If you don’t see the transcription options, ask your IT admin to enable this feature for you.
Microsoft Teams also provides a virtual whiteboard that allows meeting participants to work on a document or presentation at the same time.
The whiteboard feature allows you to draw, write, and add shapes or images to the board making it a great tool for creative presentations.
To access the whiteboard feature, click on the ‘Share’ button and select ‘Microsoft Whiteboard’
One way to promote a sense of togetherness and engagement during Teams meetings is the ‘Together mode’ feature. It creates a virtual environment where all participants appear together in the same room.
This mode is activated when you click on the three dots on the meeting control bar and select ‘Together mode’.
Microsoft Teams provides live captions and subtitles in real-time during a meeting, which can be particularly useful for people with a hearing impairment or those in noisy environments.
The captions and subtitles are automatically generated by Teams, but you can also customize the settings to make them larger or change the color.
To access the live captions and subtitles feature in Teams, simply click on the three dots on the meeting control bar, select “Language and Speech’ and then ‘Turn on live captions’.
If you have questions about using Teams or other Microsoft 365 applications in your organization, speak to a Penta expert today.
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