Microsoft is readying an update for its online collaboration platform Teams that will help close the gap between the desktop app and web client.
As explained in a rather cryptic roadmap entry, the “modern meeting experience” will soon be made available to those that access Microsoft Teams via their web browser. In an email exchange with TechRadar Pro, a Microsoft spokesperson clarified precisely what this will entail.
“This ‘modern meeting experience’ update brings features currently available in desktop to web. This includes the modern meeting stage views like Dynamic View, Large Gallery, and Together Mode, as well as the ability to switch amongst those selections. In addition to that, there are updates to the pre-join experience and the control bar,” we were told.
Microsoft Teams for the web
Microsoft began trialling the “modern meeting experience” on the web in February, but is now preparing for a full rollout in June, after which users of the Teams web app will have access to the same breadth of functionality as anyone else.
More specifically, web users will benefit from features like Large Gallery view, which allows for as many as 49 people to appear on-screen at once, and Together Mode, which places all attendees on a common virtual background.
The update will also give web client users new presentation options in the form of Dynamic View, a feature that allows for elements of the meeting screen to be moved around and resized depending on the content being shared.
Lastly, the Teams web app will give users new options in the pre-meeting landing page that will make it easier to select audio and video sources before dialling into a session.
More broadly, the update can be seen as part of Microsoft’s efforts to ensure the meeting experience is consistent for all Teams users, no matter which client or hardware they are using to dial in. Beyond the upcoming web app update, the company has made a number of additions with this goal in mind.
In recent weeks, for example, Microsoft has announced the expansion of the transcription feature to customers running Teams in a virtual machine, and an update that will improve the meeting experience on Mozilla Firefox. And previously, the company revealed plans to offer up important accessibility features to a wider range of attendees.
