Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Computing

New Microsoft Teams, Outlook features are designed for hybrid remote work

Arif Bacchus
By

Microsoft is detailing new research centered around the ongoing “reshuffle” to hybrid work. It is also showcasing solutions to help support the new normal for organizations where a mix of employees might work from both at home and in the office. New features for Teams, Outlook, and even LinkedIn and PowerPoint all fit in with those plans.

Leading these features is a slight update to Outlook. As part of helping meeting organizers understand who will be at a meeting, the Outlook RSVP feature will let people specify whether they will attend meetings in person or remotely.

Related Videos
The new RSVP experience open in Outlook on the web.

Fitting in with that, Microsoft is even redesigning the Working Hours tool. It will let you include work schedule specifics directly in your calendar, so others can know when and where you’ll be working. Both features will be coming early next year.

Related

PowerPoint meanwhile is picking up a neat integration with Microsoft Teams. Coming in 2022, a new PowerPoint experience called Cameo will allow presenters in Teams meetings to customize how and where they appear on the screen with their slides. This builds on the existing work Microsoft has done with Speaker Coach, which can help improve your presentation skills.

Then there are the futuristic innovations for Microsoft Teams Rooms — the popular conference room system. Microsoft will be introducing A.I.-enabled cameras, which can use audio, facial movements, and gestures to detect who in the room is speaking and also zoom in on them for a better perspective.

Multiple video streams and people recognition are the other two features. These are designed to allow in-room participants to be in their own video pane, and also identify the profile name of enrolled users within their video pane.

Other features coming to support hybrid work include search filters on LinkedIn that will make it easier to search for remote, hybrid, and onsite job opportunities. There are also new (free) LinkedIn Learning courses that make learning skills for remote and hybrid jobs easier. Microsoft is even pushing out a public preview of the Viva Connections app in Teams, which can help in tasks like expense reports, requesting time off, and doing timesheets.

Hybrid work is becoming more important to get right, as even Microsoft is delaying a full office reopening. The company had planned for October 4 to be the first date to reopen its Redmond, Washington, offices, but the new COVID-19 strains have pushed back plans. You can see the full details in Microsoft’s report in the Work Trend Index.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
The Windows 11 taskbar is getting an important new update
windows 11 taskbar third party app pinning

Microsoft is working on new experiences for Windows that will allow developers to enable pinning for third-party applications, as well as enable pinning to the Taskbar.

Microsoft recently announced the details of these upcoming functions in a blog post. This is the brand's attempt to universalize its pinning process across all apps used on Windows. In practice, it will be similar to how pinning works on the Edge browser, with the Windows 11 users being notified by the Action Center about a request for pinning to the Taskbar by the app in question.

Read more
6 things I want to see in the new iMac
Apple's 24-inch M1 iMac is an all-in-one solution.

Apple’s 24-inch iMac got a major redesign in spring 2021, but it’s been a long two years with no updates to speak of since then. Many of us are impatiently waiting to see what comes next.

Now, though, rumors are swirling that a new version is coming this year. That means there’s a lot to look forward to -- and a lot of potential pitfalls that Apple needs to avoid. With so many possibilities floating around, here’s what we want to see in the next 24-inch iMac.
A decent price

Read more
What is 5G? Speeds, coverage, comparisons, and more
The 5G UW icon on the Samsung Galaxy S23.

It's been years in the making, but 5G — the next big chapter in wireless technology — is finally approaching the mainstream. While we haven't yet reached the point where it's available everywhere, nearly all of the best smartphones are 5G-capable these days, and you're far more likely to see a 5G icon lit up on your phone than not.

There's more to 5G than just a fancy new number, though. The technology has been considerably more complicated for carriers to roll out since it covers a much wider range of frequencies than older 4G/LTE technology, with different trade-offs for each. It's also a much farther-reaching wireless technology, promising the kind of global connectivity that was once merely a dream found in futuristic sci-fi novels.

Read more