Microsoft's smartworking platform gets new video calling features. From the next few days up to 9 users will be visible on the screen
In March, due to the coronavirus pandemic that forces half the world to stay indoors, the Microsoft Teams video calling and smartworking platform recorded an increase of 1,000% in the number of hours of audio and video calls. A result well beyond expectations, which is pushing Microsoft to accelerate the introduction of new features.
Microsoft, in fact, has realized that it can take a big advantage of this dramatic situation that is causing a spread of its platform that no marketing campaign could have ever brought in such a short time. And so, on Twitter, Microsoft has announced the next step: via the limit of four participants who can be seen at the same time in the same video call, we go to nine participants. Also from the tweet we learn that this feature will be released soon, but there is no official date yet.
A Microsoft engineer said in the official Teams forum that it will start from the end of April and that, in parallel, Microsoft will work to further increase this limit.The most likely thing, however, is that the ability to see nine people simultaneously in the same video call will be released gradually, in stages, to all users but at different times.
Microsoft Teams: what's new for video calls
Microsoft Teams, already today, allows you to video call more than 4 people simultaneously: the theoretical maximum number is even 10,000 participants. But, so far, only the last four people who spoke appear on the screen at the same time. Other platforms already offer more: Zoom lets you see up to 49 people at once, Google Hangouts Meet even lets you see all the people connected together on the same screen.
Naturally, the ability to see the video stream of multiple people at once (on all platforms) is related in two ways to the speed of the connection but also to the size and resolution of the screen: little use, in fact, to have 49 people visible if we then see 49 stamps on the screen and the video stream freezes continuously.
Microsoft Teams: coming soon even the multi-window
Until now in Teams you can use a single window to do all your work: chats, tasks, work. But Microsoft has already announced the arrival of multi-window mode: we'll be able to open a chat, a meeting or another function in a separate window and easily navigate between all the open windows. It also means that, in multi-monitor configuration, Microsoft Teams will be much more convenient to use.