Microsoft Teams, a platform that has seen a surge in the wake of COVID-19 closings that have moved many meetings to video applications, will be getting more robust in terms of third-party applications soon. The company explained to The Verge that applications will be allowed to span across chat and collaboration, introducing workflows that expand into meetings.
The new features will allow developers to let apps integrate into Teams during video calls, before, and after meetings. They will be able to display content and notifications during Microsoft Teams calls.
Tabs will be added to meeting invites where users can interact with apps before the meeting begins. During the meeting, Teams will allow users to pull apps into live calls. It can show information in a sidebar or introduce notifications. It will also allow for apps to have buttons in the meeting controls bar.
This does away with the need for screen sharing to bring in outside content to Microsoft Teams environments. It also allows for the information from third-party apps to be linked in individual Teams meetings in archives and histories. These capabilities will be available for testing in late July.
Microsoft is also introducing a new Together Mode. According to The Verge:
This Together Mode combined with third-party apps in meetings could lead to an interesting future for Microsoft Teams in the era of remote working. “Every single feature that you see us announcing is to amplify meetings … we’re thinking about extensibility of all of them,” explains [Archana] Saseetharan [group product manager, Microsoft Teams]. “Everything that Teams is doing has an extensibility play to it, and how we amplify the possibilities for developers to plug more and more deeply into the product.”
This announcement should be a welcome one to any Technology Manager that has a company that utilizes Microsoft Teams. The truth is that videoconferencing and collaboration have become a necessary part of the workforce. Especially during COVID-19, but it will outlast that as so many become used to these systems. Allowing for more robust capabilities will benefit every user.
Especially within the archive. Now, the information that is shared during meetings from third-parties will be accessible by users that missed out. It will be interesting to see how Teams changes as a result of this new integration.
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