Microsoft Teams and Microsoft 365: we start from a more "human" telework
First of all the trends behind how customers of Redmond use the tools of the group; then the results of a Harris Poll survey of over 2,000 remote workers in six countries1; and finally the conclusions of over 30 research projects from all over Microsoft that seek to understand the experience of workers through surveys, interviews, focus groups and social media.
One of the results allowed Microsoft to understand that the collaboration at a distance it is more mentally demanding than in person. Thanks to the presence of a brain wave and stress level detection device, the study provides two important lessons: in a world that is moving towards a smarter job, the difficulty of just thinking about being able to go back to work increases in the office, in close contact with others. This places an incredible responsibility in technology but also in understanding the situation psychologically.
With a second study, Microsoft found that the brainwave markers associated with work overload and stress are significantly higher in video meetings compared, for example, to writing e-mails. Also, due to the high levels of sustained concentration, fatigue starts to show up in 30-40 minutes. If you consider the dozens of videocalls that often follow one another, a few hours later one is tired as at the end of a day at the office.
The research suggests several factors that lead to this sense of tiredness: having to concentrate continually on the screen to extract the relevant information and the reduction of cues non-verbal cues that help you read the situation when you are with others . To help address these challenges, the behemoth has released a series of updates for the Microsoft Team, designed to help create a free and more human with the people with whom you are working and reduce the fatigue of the meeting: the mode Together and the view of Dynamic.
The modes Together is a new experience of meeting in Teams using the AI to place digitally, the participants in a shared background, making them feel as if they were sitting in the same room with all the others. As explained by Microsoft: "Together makes meetings more engaging, helping you to focus on the faces of other people and on the language of the body and making it easier to grasp the cues non-verbal cues that are so important to human interaction. It is great for meetings in which most people speak, such as brainstorming or the round tables, because it makes it easier for participants to understand who is speaking".
with regard To Dynamic, this concerns a series of improvements that promise to give you more control on how you see the shared content and as participants in a meeting interacting with them. The new controls, including the possibility to show the content that is shared, and the specific participants side-by-side, allow you to customize the view according to their preferences and needs. "The dynamic view is based on the improvements of the meetings that we announced last month , that include a wide view of the gallery, where you can see videos of a maximum of 49 people at the same time, and virtual rooms, which allow organizers to divide the users into smaller groups for specific sessions".
Another gem of the Teams that will be released in August are the “Live reactions”. The non-verbal messages such as smiles and nods of the head can be difficult to notice in online dating, making it difficult for submitters to assess the reactions of the audience. "Soon you will be able to respond during a meeting by using the emojis that will appear for all" continues Microsoft. "The Live reactions are a function shared with PowerPoint presentations Live , which allows members of the public to provide immediate feedback to the presenter. In the future we shall also bear the PowerPoint presentations Live to the users of the Teams, for a further involvement".
Other new features worthy of note are the Live transcripts, Microsoft Whiteboard and Cortana in Teams. If Teams already shows the transcription of the spoken word, live as a way to follow what is being said, soon will come also the assignment of the speaker to the captions so that everyone knows who is talking. The live transcriptions, provide another way to follow the discussion, with the update to obtain a file of the transcript that is automatically saved in the chat tab for that meeting . "Later in the course of the year, we will add the possibility to translate the captions live in the subtitles, so you can follow in a language different from that spoken".
For what concerns the Whiteboard, come new features, including faster loading times, sticky notes, text and the ability to drag and drop. These features allow members of Teams who do not have access to a touchscreen or a Surface Hub to participate in sessions of the Whiteboard during meetings. Finally, Cortana, arrive in the mobile application Teams. Cortana uses the IA and the Microsoft Graph to provide voice-guided assistance and to stay in touch with colleagues even when you have your hands full, to ask the assistant to make a phone call, attend a meeting, send messages chat, share files, and more.
"These experiences of voice-guided assistance are provided using the company's services Cortana enterprise level with respect to the commitments of Microsoft 365 in the matter of privacy, security and compliance. Cortana will be available in the next few weeks in the mobile application Teams on iOS and Android for users to Microsoft 365 Enterprise in the United States in the English language".
