Articles about Microsoft Teams

Since the shift to virtual and hybrid working, we’ve all experienced some form of video fatigue. Whether it be back to back video meetings discussing different topics or enduring a meeting that has lasted well over an hour, the era of virtual meetings can be challenging and as a result can lead to unengaged attendees.

While these challenges may be hard to overcome and are a common problem for all, there are a number of different tools and technologies that organizations can implement to have a positive impact on productivity and engagement during video meetings.

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Microsoft Teams' pandemic-inspired rise within the enterprise hit a new milestone recently when the company announced the app had 145 million daily active users.

Microsoft has been the biggest beneficiary of the shift to remote work as thousands of businesses have adopted its 365 platform to support employees. However, due to the speed at which many organizations adopted the collaboration app, there are often pockets of employees resistant to using Teams because they're more comfortable with alternatives like Slack or Zoom.

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Among the main beneficiaries of the pandemic-related shift to remote working have been suppliers of workplace collaboration and conferencing software.

New research from digital experience management platform Aternity shows that Microsoft has been a big winner with Teams usage increased nearly 3,900 percent since the beginning of pandemic.

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A few days ago, we reported that Microsoft was going to be revealing what's next for Microsoft 365 and Teams.

Today, it's been as good as its word, taking the wraps off Microsoft Viva, a new Microsoft 365-powered platform that brings together communications, knowledge, learning, resources, and insights -- from anywhere you work.

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COVID-19 has changed the world for many of us, and led to unprecedented numbers of people working from home. Quite what the future will hold for businesses once the pandemic is over remains to be seen, but it’s safe to say that not everyone will be headed back to the office.

Microsoft 365 and Teams has made it a lot easier, and more practical, for people to work and learn from home, and on Thursday, Feb 4 the software giant will be revealing what’s next for those two important tools.

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Microsoft Teams has been one of the winners of the pandemic, with usage in December 2020 estimated at 115 million daily users, growing from 32 million in early March.

But this success has also made Teams a tempting target for hackers. Cloud security specialist Avanan has released a new report, based on analysis of nearly 200 enterprise customers, looking at the risks of using teams and how to combat them.

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Whether you are working remotely from home or working in an office, a time will probably come where video chat will need to happen. This is particularly true during the pandemic, but even before COVID-19, businesses were increasingly having employees work remotely or from satellite locations. While many businesses and employees have functional webcams built into their smartphones and laptops, the integrated microphones are usually subpar. Quite frankly, when it comes to meetings, clear audio is far more important than webcam video quality.

Today, Jabra launches its latest full duplex portable speakerphone, and it looks like a winner. Called "Speak 750," it can connect via a USB or Bluetooth. Don't have Bluetooth in your PC? Don't worry -- Jabra includes a USB dongle in the box. The Speak 750 should provide far superior call experience than any integrated laptop or smartphone microphone. There are two models from which to choose -- a Microsoft Teams Certified variant and a UC model.

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Research from technology services company NTT Data shows that 56 percent of office workers still expect an element of working from home in their jobs even when offices reopen.

The future workplace is likely to involve a blend of working remotely and working in the office. Core to enabling this new hybrid way of working is secure communication and collaboration technology, particularly Microsoft Teams.

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Much, if not most, of the recent attention on Zoom has been focused on its various privacy and security issues. Understandably keen to change the narrative, the company put out a statement last week in which it claims to have 300 million daily users. One problem: it isn't true.

Zoom may have been eager to get numbers out there that suggested greater popularity than the likes of Google Meet and Microsoft Teams, but the claim to have 300 million daily active users (DAUs) was misleading, and the company has been forced to retract its initial statement.

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A security flaw in Microsoft Teams made it possible for attackers to take over accounts just by getting a victim to view a GIF. The vulnerability stemmed from the way in which Teams handles images and could allow for account takeovers and data theft.

Security firm CyberArk discovered the issue over a month ago and then worked with the Microsoft Security Research Center under Coordinated Vulnerability Disclosure to get the vulnerability fixed. With COVID-19 leading to a huge increase in the number of people working remotely and relying on the likes of Zoom and Teams, the prospect of such an easily exploitable vulnerability is concerning.

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The need to protect remote working is exercising many organizations at the moment. Abnormal Security is launching a new Microsoft Teams Protection product to help guard the platform against social engineering attacks.

It automatically detects suspicious messages sent within a customer's Microsoft Teams environment, lowering the risk of phishing attacks infiltrating internal Teams communication channels.

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Video conferencing tools like Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Skype have been the center of attention in recent weeks because of companies' increased reliance on them during coronavirus lockdowns. Zoom has been in the headlines for many of the wrong reasons, however, and Microsoft is keen to ensure it doesn't get tarred with the same brush.

The company had made a series of commitments about its Teams software, promising users that their virtual conversations are private and secure.

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The problem with messaging and video conferencing platforms is that there are just too many of them. You and your work colleagues might be happily working away in Slack, but need to communicate with another team using Microsoft Teams.

To help get around this issue -- and to save you from having to switch allegiances -- Slack is launching new integration options via a new add-on app. This means it is possible to place a Teams call from Slack, and there are many more integrations to come.

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Over the weekend, Microsoft post an article on its Azure blog announcing that there had been an astronomical 775 percent surge in the use of its cloud services. Despite the massive increase in traffic, the company added, uptime was good. But the blog post wasn't entirely correct.

Since we published a story about the claims, Microsoft has contacted us to say that it had not been "was not as clear as they intended to be with the previous statement". The company has provided updated stats explaining what it meant to say -- and it's rather different.

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The worldwide coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is leading to many people self-isolating, and employers encouraging -- or requiring -- staff to work from home. Many schools also decided to turn to remote teaching solutions to keep pupils away from the risk of infection.

Just as millions of people settle into the idea of remote working or learning, many for the first time, Microsoft Teams is suffering with major problems. Users found that they were unable to send messages via Teams, and were met instead by a notification reading: "we're sorry -- we've run into an issue".

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