Launched in November 2016 as part of the Office 365 productivity suite, Microsoft Teams has only become more powerful and flexible over time. Following are a few of the lesser-known features we are excited about, and eager to share.
Auto-Record Meetings
How many times have you gotten behind on taking notes and regretted not having a recording of the meeting? With Teams, that won’t happen anymore. In Meeting options, switch the Record Automatically toggle to Yes before the meeting begins.
When the meeting starts, Teams will automatically begin recording it. After the meeting, the video will appear in the meeting chat and in Microsoft Stream. (Note: this setting must be enabled by your IT Admin. Additionally, Microsoft is changing the retention parameters for recorded meetings. Keep reading our newsletter, because we will let you know when that happens!)
Download Meeting Transcriptions
Meeting notes can be very useful for all participants, but taking them can be a chore. With Microsoft Teams, you don’t have to. Once the recording of your meeting is ready, click on the ellipsis and open your video in Microsoft Stream.
Open the next ellipsis you see and click on Update Video Details. Choose the Video Language section, click Autogenerate a caption file and click Update. Once the process is finished you will be able to download a transcription of the meeting from the Microsoft Stream section.
Automatically Adjust Mic Sensitivity
This feature, added recently, is really helpful! To tweak your mic sensitivity settings select Settings > Devices and then turn on Automatically Adjust Mic Sensitivity.
Several cool Teams features require accessing a Channel (a designated place for teams to share messages, tools, and files) which is very simple to set up. To create a channel if your company isn’t using them yet, go to your Team in Teams. Click on the ellipses to the right and click Add Channel.
Make Chats Searchable in you Channel
You can not only save your chats in your Channel, but Teams makes it easy to tag chats with memorable, more searchable titles. Doing so enables users to easily find their way back to them in the future if needed. To enable searchability, select the pencil next to the member names at the top and type a title that relates to the content of the chat and includes a word or phrase that will help you find it again.
Email Forwarding to a Channel
Microsoft has made it easy for you to forward an email to any Microsoft Teams Channel you desire.
To do this, look for the ellipsis next to the Channel name and click on Get Email Address. This creates an email address for the channel that you can now use to mail anything directly. It’s a handy way of making it even more accessible.
