Microsoft Teams video meetings are getting more “fun, comfortable, and personal” with custom backgrounds and new features for its free version.
As more and more people continue to work from home since the COVID-19 pandemic changed our lives forever, video calls continue to replace many people’s physical “office” experiences. To help people spice up their video calls a bit, Microsoft Teams is introducing custom backgrounds for video meetings on its platform. But that’s not all. The free version of Microsoft Teams is getting a few new features too!
In a blog post last week, Jared Spataro, Corporate Vice President for Microsoft 365, said that people are twice more likely to choose a video call on Teams than before, and total video calls in Teams have grown by over 1,000% in March. These trends have led Microsoft to “accelerate new features” that will help users customize their video experiences and make their video meetings more “productive, comfortable, and fun.”
Related | How To Place Microsoft Teams Calls Directly From Your Slack Chat
Microsoft Teams Custom Backgrounds For Video Calls
One of these features is a new custom background effects in Teams, which enables teams to work more productively and collaboratively.
Last year, Microsoft brought background blur to Teams video meetings, “to help everyone preserve privacy and keep their attention on their teammates.” At the time, they also created preset images that could be used as backgrounds. Now, people can also upload their own images to use as backgrounds – or choose one from the collections of backgrounds available online.
“No need for a green screen, or even a blank wall,” explains Spataro. “Teams uses a highly trained model that differentiates the subject from their background and can impose a custom background over everything else, making it easy and fast to start expressing yourself in all your meetings.”
New Features In Microsoft Teams Free Version
There are many people out there who don’t use a paid version of Teams, which has become “an important way for teams to meet and collaborate online.” To help them continue their collaboration efforts, Microsoft is bringing several new features to the free version of Teams.
Schedule Meetings
Users of the Microsoft Teams free version can now schedule meetings and send out invitations in advance. The new feature expands on “Meet Now,” giving people the option to copy a meeting link to send to others or send an invite directly through Outlook or Google calendar.
Current users are receiving this new feature first, while new users will be able to use it soon. There is no time limit on meetings in the free version of Teams.
Live Captions
Users on Teams free are now able to turn on live captions during their calls and meetings, making them more inclusive, and giving those who participate in another way to “follow along with the conversation and address the needs of participants with different hearing abilities or language proficiencies.”
The feature is currently available as a preview in U.S. English. Existing users of the free version of Teams will get the feature first, and it will be turned on automatically.
Microsoft Teams Free Version Features
- Unlimited chat and search
- Audio and video calling
- Scheduled meetings
- 10 GB team file storage and 2 GB personal file storage per person
- Ability to use the Office web apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote)
- Unlimited app integration
You might also like
More from Other Platforms
TikTok Is Now Banned On All Devices Issued By The US House Of Representatives
The chief administrative office of the House issued a directive establishing TikTok, the popular social media app, as a security …
How To Create Instagram Notes (And Delete Them!)
Instagram Notes are a new feature launched by Instagram that allows users to share posts containing only text and Emojis.Instagram …
TikTok Is Testing A Full-Screen Horizontal Mode
The new TikTok Full-screen horizontal mode means Creators could now create a single video that's optimized for both TikTok and …
WhatsApp Introduces 3D Avatars
3D Avatars are now finally available on WhatsApp, months after their debut on Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger.WhatsApp 3D Avatars can …
Discord Rolls Out Server Subscriptions In The US
Discord server subscriptions are available for all servers whose owners are in the US, ranging in price from $2.99 to …
Apple Redesigned The Entire iCloud.com Experience
Apple has given iCloud.com a major redesign, adding widget-like tiles that make the site look and feel a lot more …
Discord Launches Voice Channel Emoji Reactions
Discord has released Voice Channel Reactions, a new feature that celebrates one of the most popular behaviors on its platform…the …
YouTube Brings Shopping Features To Shorts
YouTube is testing affiliate marketing and in-app shopping features on Shorts, less than a week after TikTok began testing similar …
TikTok Academy: A New ‘TikTok For Business’ Education Platform
TikTok last week announced the launch of TikTok Academy, a new education platform to help marketers develop TikTok expertise.
