Hybrid is here to stay – for inclusion and more engagement
Microsoft wants to inspire and share experiences how hybrid meetings can succeed. They are critical to building a successful work culture, Hybrid is here to stay. It is not only about the question if we work from our home offices or go back to the office like pre-pandemic. Microsoft wants to make sure that everyone is on equal footing with their colleagues, no matter where they join from. In our Hybrid Work Tour with Microsoft Germany we have proved that you can also deliver Webinars and Video Live Streams on the road, driving in Vans.
To make meetings and video conferences more interactive, inclusive, and engaging, Microsoft Teams offers new layouts are like a combination of gallery view, together mode and front row. Remote participants can always be seen, even if there is also content displayed which makes a huge difference compared to past experiences. Front row is especially helpful because it lets in room attendees see remote participants at eye level, making hybrid meetings feel a lot more natural by placing everyone face to face. They work on single and dual displays ranging from 55” to 100+ and Admins can configure is a default layout.
Introducing a new category of intelligent cameras
Microsoft has featured new Jabra Panacast 50 which is not only a Microsoft Teams certified camera which includes loudspeaker and microphones. It is also the only Microsoft Teams Devices which offers Video Conference AND whiteboard content capturing experiencing in one single device. Days are over when remote participants had to guess what in-room attendees were drawing on the wall.
If you are joining the meeting onsite, intelligent cameras can produce multiple video streams, enable remote attendees to see each person in the conference room in their own video frame as well. Overall, attendees receive more context which is helpful to manage the meeting.
Intelligent cameras also feature AI powered active speaker tracking, which recognizes facial movements and gestures to refine the accuracy of its speaker detection capabilities. This is also going to play a major role when we are seeing more integrations of Microsoft Mesh, the Metaverse and Microsoft Teams where you can switch your camera off and join as your Avatar. It also helps remote attendees to see who is speaking, this goes hand in hand with Intelligent Speakers like EPOS EXPAND Capture 5.
Microsoft is also improving dynamic view by prioritizing video coming from a MTR, giving additional space in the meeting gallery to those room video feeds.
Inclusion and Meeting Diversity is key, Microsoft wants to enable everyone to have their turn to speak. Therefore, they have introduced the order of raised hands in a meeting, also for remote attendees. Seeing the order really helps ensure all voices are being heard and reduce confusion and frustration – because Hybrid is here to stay.
Bio
Ragnar Heil is a Microsoft Teams MVP in the category of Office Apps & Services. Before he joined Quest as EMEA Channel Account Manager, he worked at Microsoft in several roles such as SharePoint Senior Consultant, Office 365 Customer Success Manager, and Partner Channel Lead for Office 365 E5. Microsoft has awarded him as MVP for Office Apps + Services. He has published several books and articles about New Work and is a founding member of Working Out Loud Community. Find his Social Media Channels here https://linktr.ee/ragnarh
