Microsoft Teams continues to impress the video conferencing crowd and it sure looks like it's going to beat Zoom in the space it currently conquers.
The Windows-maker has been keeping itself busy dropping new features to improve Team's user experience. And just this week, the company has really outdone itself when it announced a new set of features that will roll out this year.
In a move that's welcomed by many, Microsoft Teams will now be able to accommodate up to a thousand people. In these huge conference call, participants can all turn on their videos, unmute to talk, and chat to their heart's content.
Microsoft also has ambitions to allow up to a whopping 20,000 participants. This is targeted to those who just need to watch a meeting, presentation, or a gig or show potentially.
If this feature materialized, it would allow Teams to support more schools, churches, and even big live events. Zoom's free calls currently allow up to 100 people currently, but the call would have to end after the 40-minute mark. Paid accounts, meanwhile, offer a maximum of 1,000 people.
Teams also have the Together Mode, which uses an AI model that allows participants to be placed in a shared background. Microsoft feels it's essential for people to have that sense of togetherness in virtual calls as if "you're sitting in the same room."
The idea is that you can remain engaged in the meeting when a hoard of people are talking because the shared background will help you to just focus on their faces. There's also a feature called Dynamic View that allows users to customize the way they view content and people on the call. For example, it offers you the ability to view shared content and participants side by side.
Microsoft Teams sure is getting better and better, but its rival Zoom, though still a widely used video chat platform, has been through a lot. Unfortunately for Zoom, the surge of users has been exploited by hackers and brought light to its security flaws. Microsoft is taking notes and has since promoted Teams' security and privacy features.
Now is definitely a good time for Microsoft to upgrade Teams since Zoom is somehow laying low in order to enhance its security features in light of the criticisms on its security protocols.
That being said, Teams isn't the only video conferencing we should watch out for. Soon, there will be more choices. And that's actually great.
