Microsoft is working on a series of updates for online collaboration platform Groups that will extend some of the most important and useful features to a larger set of users.
A pair of new entries on the company’s product roadmap show that Microsoft Teams Users calling from the office will soon benefit from both end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for one-on-one calls and the ability to join meetings via password.
The first will give Teams Rooms users access to the gold standard level of security, making it impossible for third parties to monitor conversations. Meanwhile, the ability to use a meeting ID and password to join a session will eliminate the unnecessary hassle of having to formally book a meeting room in order to use it for video meeting.
Microsoft Teams for hybrid work
From the transition to hybrid workwhere employees split their time between home and the office, Microsoft has expressed the need to create a consistent meeting experience that spans all work locations.
For example, the company has leaned heavily on PowerPoint and Teams integration, aiming to ensure presentations they are as engaging and interactive for remote participants as they are for those in the room.
Separately, the company has developed new features – such as e.g Loop elements – is designed to support asynchronous collaboration, helping to reduce the volume of meetings required to collaborate with remote colleagues.
The philosophy extends to different types of users as well as different work locations. In April 2022, for example, Microsoft took steps to address it common problems face workers using Teams in the field customer service calls.
With the latest round of updates, Microsoft is closing the capability gap between users running teams from their home or office via business laptop and those using conference room equipment.
The new features are currently under development, but are expected to roll out to users in the coming months. End-to-end encryption for calls in Teams Rooms is scheduled to launch sometime in August, with the new opt-in option set to follow by the end of October.
