Over the last year+, meetings have defaulted to being virtual. The pandemic forced everyone to come up with new ways to stay connected, give customer presentations, and ensure everyone still got to meet face-to-face, even if it was online through a webcam.
Platforms like Zoom and Teams skyrocketed in user count during the pandemic. Microsoft Teams went from 44 million active users in April 2020 to 145 million by April of 2021.
Choosing the right video meeting platform has been a challenge. There have been shortcomings with platforms like Zoom when it comes to security (hence the term “Zoom-bombing”). Lack of webinar features has also been an issue with video meeting apps. Some are designed for webinars, others designed for everyday meetings, but few, if any, could do both.
Microsoft has been a leader in this new remote and mobile digital age, and it’s putting all its weight behind Teams in Microsoft 365 to make it as versatile as possible. It recently added VoIP phone features through the Business Voice add-on and has added multiple video call and online presentation benefits that put it out ahead of other platforms.
Here’s a rundown of some of the new Teams features that make this platform a top choice for all your online meetings and presentations.
Teams Can Now Do Webinars
The ability to do webinars is a big value-add for Teams. It now is one of the few platforms out there designed for both everyday online meetings and for conducting webinars.
Users can designate a meeting as a webinar, which gives them the ability to customize a webinar registration page. Add a header image and any questions that you want to ask people as they’re registering.
All Teams images are from Microsoft.
The webinar addition also includes attendee reporting so you can see who signed up and who attended. Once people register for the webinar, they automatically receive a confirmation email with the meeting link.
Choose Three Professional Presentation Modes
Presenting over video conferencing typically looks less professional than presenting in person. You often don’t have much control over how your video feed looks, and people can just hear you instead of seeing you when you’re sharing a presentation.
You can get a little closer to an offline experience with Teams’ new Presenter Mode feature. It gives you three professional-looking views to show your audience for a more impactful presentation.
Choose from:
- Standout Mode: Your video feed is laid in front of your full-screen presentation.
- Side-by-Side Mode: Your video feed and presentation share the screen next to each other.
- Reporter Mode: Your video feed is larger, with the presentation over your shoulder.
Live Reactions Make Meetings More Fun
There can be an awkward silence when everyone is on mute and the person presenting and sharing their screen asks, “What does everyone think about that?” If people come off mute, it’s usually a jumble of talking over each other.
Teams has added Live Reactions to try to bridge that gap between audience interaction without a big disruption. Live Reactions mimics a feature you see in Facebook Live video streams, where users can click an emoji to react to something they see.
Live Reactions does the same, with emojis floating up briefly on the screen before disappearing. This makes for a more fun and interactive presentation without causing a presenter to get off track.
Add Flexibility with PowerPoint Live
Have you ever wanted to page back to a previous slide in a presentation that the presenter went past too quickly? Often viewers will either get bored or feel left behind if the pacing of an online presentation isn’t right for them.
PowerPoint Live adds more flexibility by allowing viewers access to the presentation slides, so they can click forward or backward between them. Only they will see their personal view, so they can do this without disrupting the entire presentation.
Another bonus of this feature for presenters is that they can now see their PowerPoint slide notes on-screen to help them give a more polished presentation. Others won’t be able to see their notes.
More Together Mode Backgrounds
Microsoft brought Together Mode to Teams a while back, but it had limited backgrounds that could be used. It has just added more backgrounds that are designed to accommodate both large and small groups. Even a group of three can appear together sitting at a lovely conference table.
Together mode is designed to give a feeling of togetherness even though teams are meeting from different locations. It puts everyone’s video feed in the same scene for a connected feeling.
Do You Need Help Setting Up a Smooth Video Meeting Experience?
Texas I.T. Pros can help your Denton or Wise County business unlock all the benefits of Microsoft 365 and help you set up a professional and connected video meeting environment.
Contact us today to learn more! Call 940-239-6500 or reach out online.