Microsoft Teams is getting a new feature — and Zoom should be worried

(Image credit: Microsoft/LinkedIn)

Sitting through countless Zoom meetings tin can drain the life out of you. Sure, there are some occasionally fun backgrounds to stare at, but it's by and large a cumbersome set of screens switching back and forth. But Microsoft Teams is getting fix to a new view to your work-at-home experience.

Amongst the features coming to Teams is a new manner to keep meeting attendees focused described in a Microsoft postal service as "Dynamic View." The characteristic is meant to let you see meeting participants and presentation content side-by side, while also existence able to customize how that information appears on your screen.

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With Dynamic View, yous get a customizable view of how you desire to see content being shared. Yous'll be able to pin participants you lot want to keep track of on-screen instead of having to search for them in a sidebar. You should likewise be able to better run across when a new speaker has begun participating likewise every bit when someone has "raised their paw" during a meeting.

Dissimilarity that with watching presentations and screen shares in services like Zoom. Typically, you see the screen and nothing else except the aforementioned lineup of faces on pinnacle of the screen.

We first got wind of Dynamic View back in July 2020 when it was announced aslope a series of other Microsoft Teams features designed to brand video meetings more than visually interesting and productive. But now we've got a target date for Dynamic View — Microsoft's road map lists it as arriving in March.

Boosted Teams updates in the past year take included live transcription, live reactions, speaker identification tools, and an integrated task app work in tandem to make Teams the more than flexible and convenient selection. These changes accept gone a long way toward making Teams feel more than like the no-brainer pick for large-scale business meetings and classrooms than a sigh-inducing headache that everyone tolerates.

Brittany Vincent has been roofing video games and tech for over xiii years for publications including Tom's Guide, MTV, Rolling Rock, CNN, Pop Science, Playboy, IGN, GamesRadar, Polygon, Kotaku, Saying, and more. She'southward also appeared every bit a panelist at video game conventions like PAX East and PAX W and has coordinated social media for companies like CNET. When she'southward not writing or gaming, she'due south looking for the next great visual novel in the vein of Saya no Uta. You tin follow her on Twitter @MolotovCupcake.