Microsoft Teams is getting a newly redesigned interface for the calling feature. With the design overhaul, the platform now shows contacts, voicemail, and calling history in a single location for a streamlined experience.
Along with that, Teams admins can now choose to make the OneDrive or SharePoint as the default recording storage location instead of Microsoft Streams. This should make it easier to share the recordings as well as transcripts.
It is also adding CarPlay support, allowing users to take advantage of the built-in controls and voice commands while being in the vehicle to operate Teams.
The calling feature in Microsoft Teams is designed with an aim to replace the desk phone and comes with a built-in spam protection feature as well as a number of other features like reverse number lookup, calling merging, and more.
The company is also planning to add support for users to transfer calls from mobile to desktop and vice-versa in the middle of the audio or video call. Microsoft says that the feature should be available in early 2021.
There are also some business-specific features coming, such as the ability for the users to create new voice-enabled channels to help integrate call queues into specific channels, which can be used by departments like IT or help desks.
As for the hardware, Microsoft is partnering with companies like Lenovo to make Teams Displays — standalone small displays for Teams collaboration. The company is also working on low-cost phones with native Teams phone app integrations.
