This could be the most annoying Microsoft Teams feature ever
Don't mess this up, or you'll be a Microsoft Teams pariah
A new Microsoft Teams update could let you pull the ultimate power move whilst on your next call - but could also cause you to severely annoy everyone in your team.
The video conferencing service has officially launched a new feature that will allow call participants to mention everyone in a group all at once.
The new "Mention Everyone" feature is similar to how Microsoft Teams users can currently "@ mention" a particular person within a chat - just a whole level above, as users will now be able to have the option to @ mention “Everyone’.
Microsoft Teams @Everyone
However, doing so will also mean all participants in the chat will receive a notification, potentially causing a deafening tidal wave of pings and alerts on the various smart devices across your office.
In its entry on the official Microsoft 365 roadmap, the company says the new feature will be, "removing the hassle of mentioning each person’s name one by one or missing someone." Just how true (or anxiety-inducing) this may prove to be, time can only tell.
The feature seems to take inspiration from Microsoft Teams' great rival Slack, which already allows chat participants to mention everyone in a chat by typing "@here".
The new addition is rolling out now, and is available to all Microsoft Teams users across Android, Desktop, Web, Mac and iOS.
Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter
Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed!
The news is the latest upgrade to the Microsoft Teams chat feature as the company looks to make the platform a comprehensive communications offering for users everywhere.
This includes a fix that will let users track down full chat conversation threads after clicking on a search message results. The update means that when users search for a chat message in Microsoft Teams and click on a message result, they are taken to a view that contains the full thread that features the desired message, rather than just a single line of text as had been the case.
The company is also reportedly hard at work on a new build of Teams that will offer major performance upgrades, helping save your device's battery life. The rewritten "Microsoft Teams 2.0" software is designed for modern machines, meaning it should be more efficient, resulting in a speedier experience and reduced battery drain for laptops.
Microsoft says “Teams 2.0 will consume half the memory of the same consumer account on Teams 1.0”, noting the reduction in RAM and CPU usage could see businesses issuing more scaled-back hardware to some workers, seeing them save costs. End users should also be able to notice the resulting battery improvements when using the software.
- Check out our rundown of the best online collaboration tools available
Mike Moore is Deputy Editor at TechRadar Pro. He has worked as a B2B and B2C tech journalist for nearly a decade, including at one of the UK's leading national newspapers and fellow Future title ITProPortal, and when he's not keeping track of all the latest enterprise and workplace trends, can most likely be found watching, following or taking part in some kind of sport.