Microsoft launches new Teams, LinkedIn features focused on hybrid work

Microsoft today announced new features for LinkedIn and Microsoft 365 developed to address the demands of providers transitioning to hybrid work for the duration of the pandemic. In a statement, CEO Satya Nadella stated that the capabilities, most of which are anticipated to launch inside weeks, are intended to make computer software and services more dynamic as the well being crisis disrupts planned returns to the workplace.

“Our new data shows there is no one-size-fits-all approach to hybrid work, as employee expectations continue to change,” Nadella stated. “The only way for organizations to solve for this complexity is to embrace flexibility across their entire operating model, including the ways people work, the places they inhabit, and how they approach business process.”

Outlook, Teams, and Viva

In 2019, Microsoft launched Teams Rooms, a conference area handle platform paired with a rebranded release of Skype Room Systems. After previewing earlier this year new AI-powered tools heading to Teams Rooms, Microsoft today detailed what it calls “a new category of intelligent cameras,” powered by active speaker tracking, numerous video streams, and people today recognition.

Active speaker tracking enables in-area Teams Room cameras to use audio, facial movements, and gestures to detect who in the area is speaking — and zoom in for a closer viewpoint. Multiple video streams permit in-area participants to be placed in their personal video pane. And people today recognition identifies and displays the profile name of enrolled customers inside their video pane.

Microsoft says that all 3 new features will be readily available to OEMs like Jabra, Poly, Neat, and Yealink in the coming months and roll out as updates more than the course of the next year. One of the OEMs, Logi, plans to introduce a complementary docking station with constructed-in speakerphone and touch controls optimized to work with Teams.

Other new Teams features announced today involve Dynamic view in Teams, which automatically adjusts components of the meeting so that attendees can far better see the area and content. There’s also updates to the Companion mode in the Teams mobile, which provides in-area attendees fast access to engagement features like chat, live reactions, Whiteboard, and meeting and device controls like the capability to join a meeting, cast a PowerPoint, mute the area, and turn area cameras on and off.

New apps in Teams meetings assistance genuine-time interaction, enabling participants to share and interact with app content in the meeting stage. Meanwhile, new lighting corrections, which will arrive in the coming months, are developed to assistance attendees show up in video-on meetings in low-light environments.

In PowerPoint, Microsoft is introducing a new feature named Cameo. Set to debut in 2022, Cameo integrates the Teams camera feed into a presentation, enabling the presenter to customize how and exactly where they want to seem with slides. Another new AI-powered feature, Speaker Coach — also set to launch next year — privately shares guidance on users’ pace, notifying them if they’re interrupting a person and reminding them to verify in with their audience.

Hot desking and CarPlay

Another Teams capability unveiled this morning is assistance for hot desking, which permits people today to find and reserve versatile workspaces in their offices. Employees can book spaces in advance applying Outlook or Teams to access their private Teams calendar, chats, meetings, and more. Accompanying new Outlook RSVP and Working hours features let people today specify regardless of whether they’ll attend in-individual or on the net and permit them to involve work schedule specifics in their calendars.

Teams displays can be made use of as a standalone device or second screen with the hot desking knowledge. Upon signing out, private information and facts is removed from the device. Microsoft says the Lenovo ThinkSmart View will assistance the feature by the finish of 2021, ahead of the arrival of Working hours and RSVP early next year.

Lastly on the Teams front, Microsoft is adding assistance for Apple CarPlay. Users can join Teams meetings and make calls hands-cost-free on the road in supported vehicles beginning this month — Siri pulls up meetings when prompted.

LinkedIn and Viva

Microsoft also announced a public preview of the Viva Connections mobile app, which is set to roll out in September. Viva Connections builds into Teams and offers a point for news and conversations inside a customized feed. In the dashboard, staff can obtain sources and actionable tasks like submitting expense reports, requesting time off work, or verifying vaccination status to return to the workplace.

On the LinkedIn side, the platform is rolling out devoted job search filters to assistance more quickly surface remote, hybrid, and onsite possibilities. LinkedIn will quickly also provide a space in organization profiles exactly where providers can specify regardless of whether open roles will need vaccination, and regardless of whether the organization plans to migrate back to an workplace, remain remote, or go hybrid.

To market reskilling and upskilling, LinkedIn says its ability-developing platform, LinkedIn Learning Hub, will grow to be normally readily available in two weeks. In the meantime, the social network has made almost 40 LinkedIn Learning courses cost-free till November 9, 2021.

“The shift to hybrid work is exciting but will be a challenge for every leader and organization. Organizations that embrace the change and incorporate flexibility into their operating models will create better and more inclusive work environments,” Microsoft Teams basic manager Nicole Herskowitz wrote in a weblog post. “At Microsoft, we’re committed in supporting a hybrid work culture where flexibility leads the way — giving our customers and our employees the power to work from anywhere, anytime, and take control of their personal development and wellbeing.”

Originally appeared on: TheSpuzz