Microsoft unveils new professional features in Microsoft Teams

Microsoft will roll out a suite of new features for the anniversary of its team collaboration software, Microsoft Teams. The features will be added to the software throughout 2018 allowing users to record, transcribe and save meetings to the cloud, integrations with voice assistant Cortana, inline message translation and several others. This integration with Cortana will give Microsoft an edge in its competition with Slack, in a time where voice-based computing has become crucial in workplace and business productivity applications.

In recent years, Microsoft Teams will take the advantage of cloud recording to let users record meetings and create an automatic transcription of what was said. The feature will include facial recognition in the future so that meeting remarks can be properly attributed. The inline messaging translations between languages in channels and chat, background blur option for video calls, proximity detection for adding available Skype Room Systems to meetings will definitely give it an edge in the market.

Microsoft is now targeting large enterprises that already have its apps in-house. Teams can be used as a full in-house meeting system even if participants don’t have access to a computer or internet making it very useful for companies. The company mentioned that 200,000 businesses in 181 countries use Microsoft Teams that include new customers like NASCAR, General Motors, and Technicolor. Microsoft is also anticipated to present a free version of Microsoft Teams soon, and it is working on integrating its service into the Surface Hub conferencing displays.