To help make virtual meetings look natural as well as encourage more engagements, Microsoft announces ‘Together Mode’ in Teams.
With Together Mode, Microsoft uses AI segmentation technology to digitally place meeting participants in a shared background. Making participants feel like they are in the same room. The feature tries to imitate a real environment so much that participants can lean over and tap each other or make eye contacts.
It doesn’t use the traditional grid boxes, instead, Microsoft is introducing new environments. Starting with an auditorium view now and hopes to roll out new views in the future.
“People can now practice some of the social signaling they would do in real life.”
Microsoft notes that focusing on other people’s faces and body language is important to human interaction. This, research shows reduces the chances of experiencing fatigue during video meetings and interactions.
Here is a video of how the feature works.
Introducing Together Mode in Microsoft Teams
“Today we’re announcing a set of new features in Microsoft Teams that make virtual interactions more natural, more engaging, and ultimately, more human“, shares Jared Spataro, Corporate Vice President for Microsoft 365.
“It’s all about enabling people everywhere to collaborate, to stay connected, and to discover new ways to be productive from anywhere“, he continues.
The feature comes in a set of updates that will be rolling out to the Microsoft Teams collaboration solution. Other new features are dynamic view, video filter, live reactions, Cortana in Teams, chat bubbles and suggested replies.
Microsoft Education Lead for North, West, East & Southern Africa, Levant & Pakistan countries, Angela Nganga, shares on what learners and facilitators can do to ensure a safe digital learning environment as they learn.
Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world, quoted South African activist and former president Nelson Mandela. Investment in education is one of the biggest investments any country can make for its current and future generation. Currently, around 420 million people across the world would be lifted out of poverty with secondary education consequently improving the quality of life globally by more than half.
Today, as more and more people across the African continent are required to stay home due to government lockdown interventions, we are seeing a massive shift towards remote learning. This has meant the growth in the usage of collaborative tools such as Microsoft’s Teams to create virtual classrooms wherein educators can communicate with their students in real-time.
In the Middle East and Africa Emerging markets alone, over 1.5 Million students and teachers are leveraging Microsoft Teams as the remote learning platform during this period.
Through such platforms, educators can connect with and support students in much the same way they could in person with live meetings wherein they are able to show video, share presentations, and even invite external speakers for virtual field trips.
But, as students and educators move online, naturally there is an increase in the risks to security and safety.
As we adjust to the new normal and governments take the much needed next steps towards safely re-opening the economies and adopting possible return to school strategies, blended learning will play a key role in ensuring that some of the non – essential aspects of learning that do not require face to face interaction are enabled while ensuring the online safety and security of students.
Educational institutions, therefore, need to take steps to ensure that digital learning environments are safe by setting up concrete policies and restrictions when using these tools to guard students’ safety, while also ensuring that online classrooms remain engaging and giving educators the tools they need to create a focused learning environment.
Restricting access to meetings can safeguard students
There have already been multiple occurrences around the world wherein unauthorised users have gained access to virtual classrooms.
Just this month alone we’ve seen an online graduation ceremony interrupted with racial slurs by hackers, last month a man gained access to an online class and exposed himself and another online lecture was interrupted by playing audio of inappropriate content.
When educators set up meetings to teach students a link is created which participants can use to enter these meetings. Sharing these links online to reach students can seem like a quick and easy way to communicate with students when and how to enter live meetings but this also opens meetings up to anyone who sees the link.
To ensure the safe digital learning environment of educators and students, administrators should instead create identities (or profiles) for each student and teacher which requires them to log into the tool to join the meeting. Within Teams, administrators can thereafter choose to turn off the ability for anonymous users to join the meeting by changing it within the meeting policies.
Within meetings, educators can also make sure that all students are present in the classroom and there are no unexpected attendees by selecting “show participants” in the meeting controls giving them greater control over who is admitted into the lesson.
Managing the virtual classroom keeps students safely engaged
Educators are often required to manage students in physical classrooms to ensure good behaviour and keep students focused on learning the coursework being taught. This is required when teaching online as well.
Online classrooms introduce a new dynamic for both teachers and students alike making managing disruptions and curbing inappropriate messaging, a task which educators need to perform in new ways. Now, these disturbances can also appear in the form of unauthorised users with disruption often being their main goal.
To manage disruptions while ensuring the safety of students, administrators should limit students’ ability to schedule meetings, initiate private calls, and monitor chat sessions to remove inappropriate messaged in channel meetings. This can be done by restricting meeting roles for students within a meeting.
Educators can control the learning environment further in Teams by creating meetings for classes within specific channels which allows them to disable student-to-student chat if necessary and allows them to track class discussions in context.
Other functionalities such as being able to blur video backgrounds, mute participants, and control who can present during the meeting are key for ensuring safe learning for students with Teams.
A new world of learning
We have entered an unexpected and often challenging time where in just over a month the education landscape has completely transformed. But as we have also seen, technology is a powerful tool that can be used to overcome these challenges and sometimes even improve on functions such as learning. With technology, education can be interactive, engaging, and controlled as long as we ensure digital security to protect students and staff online.
As a way to support educational institutions as they work to ensure a safe digital learning environment, Microsoft has created a more in-depth guide to serve as a foundation to their safety plans, and thus help to give teachers, students, and parents’ peace of mind while also making learning more productive.
Microsoft is increasing the number of participants who can be viewed simultaneously on the Teams meetings stage from four to nine. The company made the announcement introducing new features to the service.
How this works is that it will optimize for attendees who have video-enabled. It will then place the remaining audio-only participants below the meeting stage. Microsoft notes, “the layout will adapt, based on the user bandwidth and alter the number of videos shown to provide the best meeting experience“.
In addition to this, the company also announced other features. These include Raise Hands, – a feature that lets meeting participants identify they want to speak -, one on one live recording, Background effects and Background Blur for iOS.
“The new capabilities will further the experience for our customers“,Microsoft says.
The new features are live and being rolled out in stages. Microsoft says it will take a few weeks if you don’t have it yet.
Microsoft Teams has seen a surge in usage since the outbreak of Covid-19 global pandemic. It currently has more than 75 million daily active users. Recording more than 200 million meeting participants in a single day in April.
In healthcare alone, CEO, Satya Nadella shared there were more than 34 million Teams meetings in the past month. In education, more than 183,000 educational institutions now rely on Teams.
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Microsoft is giving Kenya courts six months free access to its Office 365 collaboration platform dubbed Teams as social distancing rules take root in the wake of Covid-19.
Open court sessions are suspended to limit exposure to the virus. Kenya courts are therefore relying on technology to continue operations and avoid backlogs.
Chief Justice David Maraga notes the court’s activities involve an extensive exchange of paperwork which risks the spread of the virus.
While it is prudent to upscale court activities it will not be wise to have open court sessions at this time. This doesn’t mean the courts have closed down,court operations have never and will never be closed. The proceedings can only be conducted remotely through increased use of technology. Except in exceptional circumstances, all pleadings are being filed and served electronically. All other matters including the delivery of judgements shall be handled through video conferencing or email. I want to announce Microsoft has donated the application of Microsoft Teams for use for six months free of charge.
Global pandemic Covid-19 has changed the way most people work. Governments are issuing lockdowns, curfews, cessation of movements and restricting the number of individuals at gatherings to curb the spread of the deadly virus. This has compelled businesses and organizations including courts to rethink their work model.
Technology companies such as Microsoft, Facebook, Zoom and Google have stepped in to help companies wade uncertain times as they seek to stay afloat. Most of the tech firms are offering video conferencing, remote and team collaboration tools free of charge during this period. Microsoft announced it is making Teams – which comes bundled in Office 365 – free for everyone.
“During this extraordinary time, it is clear that software, has a huge role to play across every industry and around the world“, notes Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella. Speaking about the company’s unique role as a platform and tools provider during this global pandemic.
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Microsoft announces it will start allowing users without an internet connection and those with low bandwidth connectivity toread chat messages on Microsoft Teams platform. This is to make it easier for users to continue working no matter where they are.
This part of a wider upgrade programme aimed at enhancing the user experience, the company shares. As more and more organisations, employees and students across the globe shift to remote working and learning in an effort to keep themselves and the people around them healthy and safe amidst Covid-19.
“Enabling remote work is more important than ever, and we are committed to building the tools that help organisations, teams, and individuals stay productive and connected even when they need to work apart,” says Jared Spataro, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft 365.
As part of this upgrade programme, Teams is also introducing real-time noise suppression capabilities to minimize
distracting
background noise, allowing participants to hear what is being said. In
large meetings, it is also sometimes difficult for remote participants to chime
in when they have something to say. The newly introduced raise hand feature lets anyone in the meeting send a visual signal that
they have something to say.
“We continue to invest in experiences that will make it easier for teams to communicate and collaborate. The new capabilities we are announcing reflect our commitment to two things: building the very best online meeting experience for our customers; and bringing technological solutions to traditionally underserved professionals, including first line and healthcare workers,” explains Spataro.
Teams will soon enable
users to pop out chats into a separate window to help them streamline their workflow and
move more easily between ongoing conversations.
We are also expanding the Teams devices ecosystem, with new devices certified
for Teams. The Yealink VC210, now generally available, is the first collaboration bar certified for Teams,
and brings together speakers, microphone, camera and the Teams app to deliver a
meeting experience for smaller conference rooms that is simple to install and
easy to manage.
Over
the last three years, thousands of organisations, large and small, have
discovered how Teams can be their hub for teamwork, helping them to stay
connected and engaged. Today, 93 of the Fortune 100 use Teams, and 32
million people around the world make use of the solution daily.
In
the face of COVID-19, there are countless stories from customers who are using online
video conference facilities like Teams to connect and thrive in inspiring ways.
Universities across the world are moving courses online while doctors are using
Teams for videoconferencing with patients, especially those who are most
vulnerable to Coronavirus, as a way to protect both patients and
healthcare providers. Organisations are also using the online platform to conduct
orientation and trainings for new incoming employees.
Also introduced is the new Bookings app in Teams which makes it easy to schedule, manage and conduct virtual appointments for situations like healthcare patient consults, client meetings, or job candidate interviews.
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