Five new Microsoft Teams features you can’t afford to miss

Microsoft Teams has released a range of exciting new features, making it easier to collaborate, manage meetings, and personalise your workspace. Whether you’re a regular Teams user or just getting started, these updates are set to enhance your experience and improve team productivity. Let’s explore a few of the standout features.

1. Renaming the ‘General’ channel

At long last, Teams has introduced the ability to rename the default General channel. Previously, this channel name was fixed and couldn’t be customised, but now you can give it a more meaningful title that better reflects the purpose of the space. This change helps teams organise their channels more effectively, making it easier to locate and manage workstreams.

What’s the benefit:

• Provides more flexibility to customise and organise channels.
• Allows more specific naming conventions that reflect the channel’s purpose.
• Ideal for teams managing multiple projects or departments, improving clarity.

2. Automatically set work location with bookable desks

For hybrid workers, keeping track of where colleagues are based is key to smooth collaboration. The latest Teams update automatically sets your work location when you book a desk in the office. This means your status in Teams will reflect whether you’re working from home or in the office without needing any manual updates.

What’s the benefit:

• Automatically updates your location status when booking office desks.
• Makes it easier for colleagues to see where you're working from.
• Improves hybrid team coordination and planning, especially for in-person collaboration. 

3. Meeting Recap and artifacts automatically shared in Microsoft Outlook

The new Meeting Recap feature automatically sends a summary of your meeting to participants via Microsoft Outlook.

This includes key artifacts such as meeting recordings, transcripts, and important notes. You no longer need to manually share these materials after the meeting; they are automatically distributed, making follow-up more efficient.

What’s the benefit:

• Saves time by automating the distribution of post-meeting materials.
• Ensures that participants receive everything they need, from recordings to notes.
• Centralises meeting follow-up content in Outlook, making it easier to access.

4. Copilot in Teams Meetings can now source responses from Meeting Chat

Microsoft’s AI assistant, Copilot, has become even smarter. Now, Copilot can source responses directly from the meeting chat. This means if someone asks a question that’s already been answered in the chat, Copilot can pull that information and respond automatically. It’s a handy way to make meetings more efficient and ensure nothing gets missed.

What’s the benefit:

• Speeds up responses by drawing on information already shared in the chat.
• Reduces the need for repeating information in meetings.
• Improves meeting flow by automating responses to frequently asked questions.

5. New ‘Shared’ tab in chat

Managing files in chat just got easier with the new ‘Shared’ tab. This tab collects all the files, links, and shared content from your conversations in one place, making it much easier to find the resources you need without scrolling through long chat histories.

Whether you’re working on documents, links, or any shared materials, they’re all organised under this tab for quick access.

What’s the benefit:

• Provides a dedicated space to manage all shared files and links from chats.
• Saves time by eliminating the need to scroll through long conversation threads.
• Helps keep important resources easily accessible in a central location.

Why these updates matter

These updates to Microsoft Teams are designed to enhance productivity, personalise your experience, and streamline collaboration. From renaming the General channel to using AI-driven features like Copilot sourcing chat responses, these improvements are helping to make Teams an even more powerful tool for hybrid work.

If you’re looking to get the most out of these new features, or need help implementing Teams solutions for your organisation, contact Vantage 365 for expert advice and tailored support.