Microsoft Teams is getting a huge upgrade that could change how your business works

(Image credit: Microsoft)

A new business service plan is coming to Microsoft Teams in mid-March, according to reports. Teams Pro will add webinar and meeting intelligence functionality to the Teams platform, giving Microsoft the opportunity to target a sizeable new market.

Microsoft Teams has already captured a large portion of the work from home market since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, becoming as essential to remote work as a good monitor or desk. However, competition is fierce between online collaboration platforms and Microsoft knows that it must continually reinvent Teams to fight off the challenge posed by the likes of Zoom and Google Meet.

As a result, the coming Teams Pro plan will be welcomed by users frustrated by the online meeting options currently offered by the platform. Although details are scarce, it is thought that Teams Pro could include features like dynamic views in addition to webinar functionality.

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The pro plan

There is currently no word on whether Teams Pro will be free or launch as a paid add-on. The Microsoft Office Message Center notes that Teams Pro will be made available to all users “with M365/O365 E3, E5, A3, A5, Business Standard, and Business Basic licenses” but aside from that, there isn’t much to go on.

Teams Pro will also come with Meeting Insights integration, the solution that commercial users of Microsoft 365 and Office 365 in Outlook will already be familiar with. It will supply meeting participants with content before meetings begin and let them review content afterward, such as meeting notes.

Although Teams has seen its user figures surge as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, it is likely to be overlooked for larger presentations in favor of bespoke webinar software. The addition of the Teams Pro service plan will hope to change that.

Also, check out our rundown of the best collaboration tools available

Via ZDNet

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Barclay has been writing about technology for a decade, starting out as a freelancer with ITProPortal covering everything from London’s start-up scene to comparisons of the best cloud storage services. After that, he spent some time as the managing editor of an online outlet focusing on cloud computing, furthering his interest in virtualization, Big Data, and the Internet of Things.