Microsoft Teams will soon support end-to-end encryption for one-on-one calls to address customers' security and compliance requirements. Thereby, providing an additional option for conducting sensitive online conversations, the company announced on Tuesday. IT admins will have full discretion over who can use the end-to-end encrypted calls in the organisation.
The feature will be available to commercial customers in preview form in the first half of this year, the company said during its virtual event, Ignite 2021.
They also announced a new Presenter mode that helps presenters customise how their video feed and content appear to the audience. "Our first mode, Standout, shows the speaker's video feed in front of the shared content. Next, Reporter will show content as a visual aid above the speaker's shoulder, just like during a news segment," the company said. "Third, Side-by-Side will show the presenter's video feed alongside their content as they present. Presenter mode will be available soon.”
Microsoft also introduced several other features that will make it easier to collaborate across organisations.
"Now with Teams, you can easily organise and conduct interactive webinars for people inside and outside of your organisation with up to 1,000 attendees," said Jared Spataro, Corporate Vice President for Microsoft 365.
If your webinar grows to over 1,000 attendees, Teams will seamlessly scale to accommodate a 10,000-person, view-only broadcast experience. "Plus, during this time of increased remote working, you can take advantage of even larger 20,000-person broadcasts through the end of this year," Spataro added.
Presenters often share their desktops in virtual meetings, creating an inconsistent presentation experience and limiting the ability of the audience to interact. To address this, the company announced PowerPoint Live in Microsoft Teams, which will enable presenters to deliver more engaging presentations.
Presenters will now be able to lead meetings with notes, slides, meeting chat, and participants all in a single view. The tech giant also brought new gallery views to Microsoft Teams Rooms, including Together mode and large gallery, to make it easier to see everyone during the meeting.