Microsoft Teams continues to push the boundaries of online collaboration, surprising its users with ever more innovative features. Whether you are an experienced user or just discovering this tool, these new features are likely to transform the way you work, communicate, and collaborate on a daily basis.
Save valuable time with a simple command, personalize your conversations with custom-created emojis, or manage your notifications with just one click… Curious to know more? Discover in this article the six latest gems of Microsoft Teams that will change your collaborative work experience.
Microsoft Teams is an integrated collaboration platform that allows teams to work together seamlessly and efficiently, whether for real-time discussions, video calls, or file sharing. Designed to meet the modern needs of professional communication, Teams centralizes several essential tools, such as instant messaging, online meetings, and collaborative apps, into one space. It’s a key tool for improving company productivity and facilitating teamwork, whether remotely or on-site.
Microsoft Teams stands out for its flexibility and ability to adapt to the diverse needs of its users, whether they are novices or experienced. With its numerous features such as customizable notifications, visual content creation with Microsoft Designer, and app integration, Teams has become an essential pillar for companies looking to optimize their collaborative processes.
One of the most practical new features is the use of the slash. This little symbol can truly transform the way you navigate Teams. By pressing the slash (/) key, a quick menu appears, allowing you to perform actions without leaving your chat or channel.
With this feature, changing your status becomes child’s play. Are you in a meeting and need to focus? Just type /busy and your status is instantly updated. Similarly, you can quickly return to /available when you’re ready to interact again.
But that’s not all! The slash also lets you add loop components, integrate apps, and much more, all without wasting time navigating through different menus. It’s a real asset for those looking to work efficiently.
If you’re tired of seeing profile picture collages in your group chats, this new feature is for you. You can now customize your group image.
To do so, click on the current group image and choose from several default images, like a rocket. Save, and you’re done! It’s simple, but it adds a personal touch to your conversations.
Want to go further? You can now upload an image directly from your computer to set as the group illustration. And if you’re feeling creative, Microsoft Designer even allows you to create custom images that you can use.
Teams allows you to add your own custom emojis, an excellent way to make your conversations even more expressive.
Creating custom emojis has never been easier. Microsoft Designer lets you use artificial intelligence to generate emojis from text descriptions. After creating your emoji, simply download it and add it to Teams to use it in your conversations.
Once the emoji is added, it will be available to your entire team. You can use it as a reaction or in a message, and the best part is that everyone will be able to enjoy it!
We’ve all been there: in the middle of work, a chat channel gets busy and becomes a source of distraction. Fortunately, Teams has you covered by allowing you to disable notifications from a channel in an instant.
Simply open the message menu and click on “Disable notifications”. It’s as easy as that! This feature lets you stay focused on important tasks while still receiving essential information.
Teams goes even further by allowing you to customize notification sounds based on their importance. This gives you increased control over how you manage your sound notifications.
In the Teams settings, under the Notifications and Activities section, you can now activate specific sounds for urgent notifications and priority contacts. You can even choose from several tones such as Prioritized, Transferred, or Alarm.
You can also completely disable sounds when you’re in a meeting or when your status is set to busy. This prevents unnecessary interruptions while still allowing you to receive visual notifications.
Microsoft Teams now integrates Microsoft Designer, a powerful tool that lets you create impressive visuals directly from your Teams interface.
Just type the @ symbol in a chat or channel, then write Designer. Then enter a description of the image you want to create. For example, you could request an image of an interactive classroom with modern screens and digital boards. In just a few seconds, Designer will generate several suggestions that you can use in your projects.
Once the images are created, they can be shared directly in channels or private chats. All team members can view the suggestions and collaborate to choose the best option.
These six new features of Microsoft Teams are little gems that will help you work more efficiently, improve your collaboration, and further personalize your experience. Whether it’s using the slash, customizing group images, adding custom emojis, managing notifications, or even creating images with Designer, Microsoft Teams continues to reinvent itself to meet users’ needs.
So, what are you waiting for to try these new features? Share your thoughts in the comments and tell us which one impressed you the most! Don’t forget to subscribe to avoid missing the next tips and discover even more ways to optimize your Teams experience. And feel free to join our specialized training on learning tips and features of Microsoft Teams to optimize your collaboration.
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