What You Need to Know About the New Microsoft Teams
In October 2023, Microsoft announced the general availability of the new Microsoft Teams app. Later that same month, Microsoft announced that any classic Teams users who had not updated to new Teams would be automatically updated starting March 31, 2024.
In the announcement, Microsoft said its goal was to “reimagine Teams from the ground up to deliver a faster, simpler, smarter and more flexible app to help you stay productive and collaborate more effectively.”
Microsoft’s investment in its communication and collaboration platform epitomizes how important the company believes it is for team members to work together while located apart as remote working becomes more commonplace among organizations.
Updating early will give you and your team members a chance to get used to the new interface, explore the new features and work out any kinks that could affect your organization’s day-to-day workflow.
New Teams comes with a slew of new features and experiences, so let’s jump in and discuss what you can expect when the switch is made.
You Can Update Teams Early
It’s important to note you don’t have to wait until the end of March to update to new Teams.
In fact, if your organization heavily depends on Teams, it would be in your best interest to update early. With Microsoft forcing all users to update March 31, you should expect some disruption on that day, and the best way to avoid that disruption is to update before everyone else.
When you open classic Teams, you’ll see a toggle in the upper left-hand corner to switch to new Teams.
Updating early will give you and your team members a chance to get used to the new interface, explore the new features and work out any kinks that could affect your organization’s day-to-day workflow.
New Teams Features
- AI integration: New Teams will have Microsoft’s AI tool Copilot heavily integrated within the app. Users can summarize chats, meetings and calls with Copilot, which includes meeting notes, tasks, highlights and timeline markers. (A Microsoft 365 Copilot license is required to access Copilot in Teams.)
- Use multiple accounts at once: Multi-Tenant Multi-Account support in new Teams allows users to sign in to multiple work or school accounts without signing in on multiple web browsers. Users can receive notifications and participate in chats, meetings and calls across multiple accounts without hanging up on a call or switching between accounts.
- Faster experience with less memory consumption: Microsoft said the new Teams app launches twice as fast, and users can join meetings twice as quickly compared to classic Teams. This faster experience happens while the app uses 50% of the computer’s memory resources.
- Less clutter: Microsoft billed new Teams as “a simpler user experience that makes it easier to do more in a few clicks.” Searching for team members is more intuitive, threaded conversations make it easier to keep up with chats and a less chaotic interface makes the overall experience more enjoyable.
If you have any questions about new Teams, please reach out to us at support@hungerford.tech.
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