Microsoft Teams rolls out Walkie Talkie feature to all users

Source: Microsoft

Microsoft Team's Walkie Talkie feature is now rolling out to all app users. It was initially announced two years ago and has been in preview until this update. As the name suggests, it lets you turn these devices into a walkie-talking that works over cellular data or Wi-Fi. The company primarily pitched this feature to frontline workers and customer-facing employees. And now, it will be available to all users who want access to it. According to The Verge, an iOS version has been launched, too.

Microsoft Teams will soon automatically record meetings for you

Microsoft

In case you didn't know, it currently isn't possible to automatically record meetings on Microsoft Teams. But it looks like Microsoft is finally ready to change that. The Teams Engineering team confirmed to a user on the Microsoft Teams forum that they are working on this feature. Funny enough, the request was made even before the pandemic hit, back in September 2018). Three years later, someone from Microsoft's team finally decided to confirm that the feature is coming. 

According to 9to5Mac, this feature will be available for macOS and Windows. And it will always show at the top of the meeting that it is being recorded for safety reasons.

Microsoft Teams is down for many users

Microsoft Teams users are experiencing a global outage which is blocking connectivity and access. The affected users are mostly reported in Europe and Asia, although the issue might be more widespread.

“We’ve confirmed that this issue affects users globally,” says Microsoft’s 365 status account on Twitter. “We’re reviewing monitoring telemetry and recent changes to isolate the source of the issue.” Microsoft's representatives said. This is the second widespread outage to the company's meeting and collaborations solution this month. Microsoft Teams also struggled with connectivity issues last month, but this was credited to an authentication change. 

Microsoft's other cloud servies like Azure, Office 365, and Xbox Live seem to be working. 

Source: The Verge

Skype gets Microsoft Teams' Together Mode

Microsoft Skype is getting Together Mode from Teams. The fun video calling feature uses AI to take your face and shoulders and place them together with other people in your call in a virtual space. It requires at least five people with webcams to put everyone in a virtual environment that makes it look like you're beside each other. You don't even have to use the Skype app to utilize Together Mode. It works with the web version of Skype and without the need to create an account. Together Mode was introduced back in July to cater to pandemic-era meetings. The NBA even used the feature to bring basketball bans courtside in a virtual experience of its live games. 

Aside from this surprising new addition, Skype is also getting the Large Grid Mode, where you can see everyone's live stream simultaneously. Skype also offers more background options and allows you to add people to ongoing calls with their phone numbers.

Source: The Verge