Microsoft is working on a new feature for its collaboration platform (opens in new tab) Teams that will allow users to create spur of the moment video meetings (opens in new tab) more easily.
As per an entry (opens in new tab) in the company’s product roadmap, an upcoming Teams (opens in new tab) update will introduce the ability to create instant “Meet Now” links, which can be used to launch directly into a session.
The feature mimics a similar option available with Google Meet (opens in new tab), allowing users to bypass the admin associated with creating a calendar entry for a meeting (i.e. filling out the time and date, selecting attendees etc.). Instead, a meeting link can be created with just one click and distributed via Teams (opens in new tab) channels or chats.
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The new feature is still currently under development, but is scheduled to begin rolling out to users by the end of the month.
Microsoft Teams update
With video conferencing having become part and parcel of the professional experience during the pandemic, any opportunity for minimizing the bureaucracy that goes into organizing sessions is likely to prove popular.
Although creating a fully-fledged calendar marker remains the better option if a large number of attendees are involved or if a meeting isn’t set to take place for a number of days, the new Meet Now feature will be ideal for quick check-ins.
Beyond the new instant meeting option, Microsoft is also reportedly working to streamline the process of joining a scheduled meeting via email service (opens in new tab) Outlook.
The current process is unnecessarily protracted, requiring the user to launch the meeting link in their web browser (opens in new tab), which in turn boots up the Teams desktop client, but not before asking for further confirmation.
However, the company is set to eliminate these unnecessary extra steps by adding a simple ‘join meeting’ button (opens in new tab), which will let users launch into a call directly from their Outlook (opens in new tab) window.
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