Microsoft Teams has quickly become an essential tool for communication and collaboration in businesses of all sizes. While most users are familiar with its core features like video calls, chat, and file sharing, many are unaware of some of the more powerful and lesser-known tools packed into the platform. In this post, we look at 10 hidden gems that can help you get even more from Microsoft Teams.
Real-Time Noise Suppression
Background noise can be disruptive during calls, but Teams now offers Background Noise Reduction and Voice Isolation. The unwanted noise could be someone mowing the grass, from a building site – or someone with a very “clicky” keyboard.. This feature will automatically mute the noise, ensuring people stay focused (or prevent them from getting annoyed).
Live Transcription & Captions
Teams offers live transcription of meetings, turning spoken words into written text in real-time. This is especially useful for attendees who may have missed something or need to refer back to specific discussions. It also relieves the person normally nominated to take minutes.. For those who are hard of hearing or need translation, live captions are a game-changer. We find if you have several people in the same room (on a conference call), transcription can be a bit confused. (You can then use Copilot or your favourite LLM to summarise the discussion).
Together Mode
Teams introduced Together Mode, which places all meeting participants in a shared virtual space, making it feel like you’re sitting in the same room. Rather than see dozens of people, in their respective “squares”, with together mode – people appear to be sat together. It’s not for everyone – but offers something different 🙂
Teams together mode, a view that brings everyone together in a shared background.
Breakout Rooms
For larger meetings, Breakout Rooms allow you to split participants into smaller groups for more focused discussions. This feature is perfect for training sessions, brainstorming, or any scenario where smaller collaboration groups are needed. It’s a bit of a niche feature – but something larger organisations may embrace.
Teams Premium
Using Teams Premium, you can automatically generate AI-driven meeting recaps, which include key highlights, action items, and summaries. For regular users of Teams, Teams Premium is a worthy upgrade. The Personal AI takes real-time notes and integrates with One Note.
Instant Polls and Surveys
Need quick feedback during a meeting? Teams integrates instant polls and surveys directly into the meeting interface, allowing participants to vote or provide feedback in real-time. It’s a simple way to keep meetings interactive and gather opinions quickly. To be fair – if there are only three people on a call, the value is less. However, for large company briefings or large stakeholder discussions – it is a useful feature.
With Poll, you can get constructive feedback on questions by creating a real-time poll right from a chat or channel in Teams.
Whiteboard Enhancements
The Microsoft Whiteboard in Teams has been upgraded with additional templates, sticky notes, and real-time collaboration features. It’s a perfect tool for brainstorming sessions or sketching out ideas during meetings, making it easy for teams to share and visualise ideas. We find users of Microsoft Surfaces (with stylus) get the most use from the whiteboard feature.
Custom Meeting Backgrounds
While most are familiar with background blur, Teams has stepped it up with custom meeting backgrounds. You can replace your background with professional images or your company branding, ensuring your video call looks polished even if you’re working from home (and haven’t managed to decorate, tidy-up, etc).
Tasks App Integration
The Tasks App in Teams integrates with To Do and Planner, helping you manage tasks and track progress without leaving Teams. It centralises task management for individuals and teams, ensuring everyone stays on top of their workload.
Microsoft Copilot
Microsoft Teams now integrates Copilot, an AI assistant that can summarise meetings, suggest follow-up actions, and even draft responses. It’s a fantastic productivity boost for busy teams, allowing you to automate many of the administrative tasks that come with meetings. Copilot is the most exciting new feature – and is proving invaluable for regular Teams users.
new Teams Features – the Microsoft 365 Roadmap
If you would like to know which new features are around the corner, not just for Teams but any Microsoft 365 product – check out the roadmap.
The Microsoft 365 Roadmap page provides updates on upcoming features, enhancements, and new products across the Microsoft 365 suite. It helps users stay informed about planned releases and improvements.
Conclusion
Microsoft Teams is more than just a communication tool—it’s an all-in-one platform designed to enhance productivity, collaboration, and engagement. Most users don’t use half the functionality of Teams. Productivity moves to a whole new level once you start using Teams as an entire application platform, using things like Azure and Power Platform.
Looking to implement or optimise Microsoft 365 or for your organisation? Contact Manx Technology Group to see how we can help you make the most of this powerful tool.
