Microsoft is making two changes to improve the user experience of Microsoft Teams meetings. Microsoft 365 message center notification MC312489 (updated January 13, Microsoft 365 roadmap item 87452) describes a problem where the focus of meeting participants can be interrupted by Teams notifications. Microsoft characterizes the issue as “highly distracting” and say that the lack of any way to disable notifications during meetings as “highly painful.”
If you’re a busy Teams user involved in multiple chats and channel conversations, there’s no doubt that many notifications can arrive during a meeting. Individuals differ in their ability to ignore frequent pinging, but there’s no doubt that it’s good to be able to suppress notifications while a meeting is in progress. In this case, two controls are available. A general setting for meetings (Figure 1) turns notifications on or off for all meetings. The default is to allow notifications during meetings, which reflects current behavior.
Figure 1: Option in Teams settings to mute notifications during all meetings
If you leave notifications during meetings on and need to turn them off during a specific meeting, a new Mute notifications option (Figure 2) is available in the […] menu (sometimes called the utility menu or meeting tray). The option disables notifications for the duration of the current meeting and doesn’t apply to other meetings.
Figure 2: Option to mute notifications during an active meeting
I’ve chosen to disable notifications for all meetings. If I need to enable notifications for a call, the Allow notifications option is available. You can also use this option to reenable notifications if you block them during a meeting. Muting of meeting notifications is now available in the preview version of Teams.
A “block notifications when in meetings” setting is also available in the Teams mobile client.
Hide Your Video
MC310349 (updated January 11, Microsoft 365 roadmap item 86370) describes the second change, which introduces the ability for a user to hide their video feed on the “stage” used by Teams to display the feeds of meeting participants. In other words, a user sees the video feeds from other participants but doesn’t see their own feed.
According to Microsoft, not being able to suppress their video feed leads to “meeting fatigue” because people are “constantly processing our own image during calls.” This means that users are constantly drawn to check out their video (possibly to check that they’re not committing a social gaffe like wearing unmatched clothes, having unbrushed hair, etc., which is the kind of thing I do).
To be truthful, I’ve never thought much about the need to hide my video from myself, but a bunch of people support the idea in the Microsoft Feedback portal saying things like “It’s so annoying to have your own picture in your face all the time at meetings” and “It’s exhausting and distracting seeing yourself on the video all the time.” More importantly, a contributor notes that, “Hiding self-view is critical for individuals with special needs (and all persons for that matter) to reduce/eliminate distractions and improve therapeutic focus.” This is obviously an issue that matters to a great number of people who want to share their video with other meeting participants without seeing themselves (which rules out simply disabling your video).
Given the size of the Microsoft Teams installed base, it’s important that the developers listen to the community and action suggestions with heavy support, so it’s good to see Microsoft responding. When deployed later this month for completion in standard tenants in February, users of the Windows and Mac desktop client (but not the Linux, mobile, or browser clients) can select the Hide for Me option in their feed’s […] menu (Figure 3) to suppress display of their feed. Other meeting participants will view the feed as normal. The Unhide for Me option reverses the process.
Figure 3: The Hide for me option to suppress display of a user’s video feed in a Teams meeting
You can also select your name in the participant list and hide or unhide your feed from that […] menu.
When a user hides their video feed, the card for the feed collapses in the gallery (shown vertically or horizontally according to your choice). Teams displays a chevron to allow the user to expose the card again and access the […] menu should they want to unhide their feed. Unlike change for meeting notifications, no global control is available to hide your video feed by default for all meetings.
Constant Tweaking
At this point in the development of core Teams subsystems like meetings, I think we’re likely to see a succession of small but important changes to tweak how meetings run and make them more people-friendly. Looking back at where we’ve come from, it’s a mystery how early online meetings worked. We must have all been in a constant state of anxiety! The increased importance of remote meetings and lots of software engineering has got us to where we are today. Expect more tweaking for meetings in the future.
Keep up to date with developments in Teams and other workloads by subscribing to the Office 365 for IT Pros eBook. Our monthly updates make sure that our subscribers understand the most important changes happening across Office 365.
{"id":null,"mode":"button","open_style":"in_modal","currency_code":"EUR","currency_symbol":"\u20ac","currency_type":"decimal","blank_flag_url":"https:\/\/office365itpros.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/tip-jar-wp\/\/assets\/images\/flags\/blank.gif","flag_sprite_url":"https:\/\/office365itpros.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/tip-jar-wp\/\/assets\/images\/flags\/flags.png","default_amount":100,"top_media_type":"featured_image","featured_image_url":"https:\/\/office365itpros.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/cover-141x200.jpg","featured_embed":"","header_media":null,"file_download_attachment_data":null,"recurring_options_enabled":true,"recurring_options":{"never":{"selected":true,"after_output":"One time only"},"weekly":{"selected":false,"after_output":"Every week"},"monthly":{"selected":false,"after_output":"Every month"},"yearly":{"selected":false,"after_output":"Every year"}},"strings":{"current_user_email":"","current_user_name":"","link_text":"Virtual Tip Jar","complete_payment_button_error_text":"Check info and try again","payment_verb":"Pay","payment_request_label":"Office 365 for IT Pros","form_has_an_error":"Please check and fix the errors above","general_server_error":"Something isn't working right at the moment. Please try again.","form_title":"Office 365 for IT Pros","form_subtitle":null,"currency_search_text":"Country or Currency here","other_payment_option":"Other payment option","manage_payments_button_text":"Manage your payments","thank_you_message":"Thank you for supporting the work of Office 365 for IT Pros!","payment_confirmation_title":"Office 365 for IT Pros","receipt_title":"Your Receipt","print_receipt":"Print Receipt","email_receipt":"Email Receipt","email_receipt_sending":"Sending receipt...","email_receipt_success":"Email receipt successfully sent","email_receipt_failed":"Email receipt failed to send. Please try again.","receipt_payee":"Paid to","receipt_statement_descriptor":"This will show up on your statement as","receipt_date":"Date","receipt_transaction_id":"Transaction ID","receipt_transaction_amount":"Amount","refund_payer":"Refund from","login":"Log in to manage your payments","manage_payments":"Manage Payments","transactions_title":"Your Transactions","transaction_title":"Transaction Receipt","transaction_period":"Plan Period","arrangements_title":"Your Plans","arrangement_title":"Manage Plan","arrangement_details":"Plan Details","arrangement_id_title":"Plan ID","arrangement_payment_method_title":"Payment Method","arrangement_amount_title":"Plan Amount","arrangement_renewal_title":"Next renewal date","arrangement_action_cancel":"Cancel Plan","arrangement_action_cant_cancel":"Cancelling is currently not available.","arrangement_action_cancel_double":"Are you sure you'd like to cancel?","arrangement_cancelling":"Cancelling Plan...","arrangement_cancelled":"Plan Cancelled","arrangement_failed_to_cancel":"Failed to cancel plan","back_to_plans":"\u2190 Back to Plans","update_payment_method_verb":"Update","sca_auth_description":"Your have a pending renewal payment which requires authorization.","sca_auth_verb":"Authorize renewal payment","sca_authing_verb":"Authorizing payment","sca_authed_verb":"Payment successfully authorized!","sca_auth_failed":"Unable to authorize! Please try again.","login_button_text":"Log in","login_form_has_an_error":"Please check and fix the errors above","uppercase_search":"Search","lowercase_search":"search","uppercase_page":"Page","lowercase_page":"page","uppercase_items":"Items","lowercase_items":"items","uppercase_per":"Per","lowercase_per":"per","uppercase_of":"Of","lowercase_of":"of","back":"Back to plans","zip_code_placeholder":"Zip\/Postal Code","download_file_button_text":"Download File","input_field_instructions":{"tip_amount":{"placeholder_text":"How much would you like to tip?","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"How much would you like to tip? Choose any currency."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"How much would you like to tip? Choose any currency."},"invalid_curency":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Please choose a valid currency."}},"recurring":{"placeholder_text":"Recurring","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"How often would you like to give this?"},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"How often would you like to give this?"},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"How often would you like to give this?"}},"name":{"placeholder_text":"Name on Credit Card","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter the name on your card."},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Enter the name on your card."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Please enter the name on your card."}},"privacy_policy":{"terms_title":"Terms and conditions","terms_body":null,"terms_show_text":"View Terms","terms_hide_text":"Hide Terms","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"I agree to the terms."},"unchecked":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Please agree to the terms."},"checked":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"I agree to the terms."}},"email":{"placeholder_text":"Your email address","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter your email address"},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Enter your email address"},"blank":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Enter your email address"},"not_an_email_address":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Make sure you have entered a valid email address"}},"note_with_tip":{"placeholder_text":"Your note here...","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Attach a note to your tip (optional)"},"empty":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Attach a note to your tip (optional)"},"not_empty_initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Attach a note to your tip (optional)"},"saving":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Saving note..."},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Note successfully saved!"},"error":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Unable to save note note at this time. Please try again."}},"email_for_login_code":{"placeholder_text":"Your email address","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter your email to log in."},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Enter your email to log in."},"blank":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Enter your email to log in."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Enter your email to log in."}},"login_code":{"initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Check your email and enter the login code."},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Check your email and enter the login code."},"blank":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Check your email and enter the login code."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Check your email and enter the login code."}},"stripe_all_in_one":{"initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter your credit card details here."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Enter your credit card details here."},"success":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter your credit card details here."},"invalid_number":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card number is not a valid credit card number."},"invalid_expiry_month":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's expiration month is invalid."},"invalid_expiry_year":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's expiration year is invalid."},"invalid_cvc":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's security code is invalid."},"incorrect_number":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card number is incorrect."},"incomplete_number":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card number is incomplete."},"incomplete_cvc":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's security code is incomplete."},"incomplete_expiry":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's expiration date is incomplete."},"incomplete_zip":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's zip code is incomplete."},"expired_card":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card has expired."},"incorrect_cvc":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's security code is incorrect."},"incorrect_zip":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's zip code failed validation."},"invalid_expiry_year_past":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's expiration year is in the past"},"card_declined":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card was declined."},"missing":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"There is no card on a customer that is being charged."},"processing_error":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"An error occurred while processing the card."},"invalid_request_error":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Unable to process this payment, please try again or use alternative method."},"invalid_sofort_country":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The billing country is not accepted by SOFORT. Please try another country."}}}},"fetched_oembed_html":false}
One Reply to “New Notifications and Video Settings Improve Microsoft Teams Meetings for Users”