The 15 Biggest Microsoft Teams Updates In October 2023

Major Microsoft Teams updates that start rolling out in October include collaborative notes and controlled-content meeting templates.

Collaborative notes. Controlled-content meeting templates. And leveraging Microsoft Graph for Teams transcripts.

These are some of the biggest updates with rollouts that start in October for Microsoft’s Teams collaboration application.

The rollout dates come courtesy of the Redmond, Wash.-based tech giant’s online roadmap for Teams and other applications within the Microsoft 365 suite.

Microsoft Teams Updates

Some features will work across multiple cloud instances, including Microsoft 365 Government Community Cloud (GCC), GCC High (GCC-H) and Microsoft’s cloud for the United States Department of Defense (DoD).

While some of the features will work across a variety of platforms and cloud instances and become generally available in October, others will have a more limited reach.

Some of these upcoming Teams features are meant for the premium version of the app, which Microsoft released earlier this year.

Teams Premium costs $7 a person a month, with other packages available for businesses and personal Teams use.

A free version of Teams is still available with group calling for up to 60 minutes and 100 participants and 5 gigabytes (GB) of cloud storage, according to Microsoft.

Other updates included on this list include:

*Unique links for external presenters

*Text notifications for appointments

*Changes for watermarked meetings

Here’s a look at some of the most important Teams updates that start to roll out in October.

Collaborative Notes

In October, Teams meeting participants gain access to collaborative notes to create and edit agendas, notes and actions items in real time.

Collaborative notes are a Loop component, which means these notes are in sync regardless of how many places they are located. Assigned tasks in collaborative notes automatically sync with Microsoft To Do and Planner, according to the tech giant.

The feature becomes GA for worldwide cloud instances for Android and iOS.

More Teams Premium, Frontline Manager Controls

Microsoft plans to launch an out-of-the-box controlled-content meeting template for Teams Premium users meeting with external participants.

Lobby bypass, who can present, chatting in the lobby, chatting in the meeting and who can record are some of the areas that users can control through preset default options in the controlled-content meeting template, according to Microsoft.

This feature will become GA on desktop and Mac platforms for DoD, GCC, GCC-H and worldwide cloud instances in October.

Speaking of controls, in October, Microsoft will start to roll out more manager-controlled privacy settings in Shifts, a schedule management tool inside Teams.

The new settings should allow frontline managers to set how far back employees can view data in schedule view, according to Microsoft.

Managers will also gain control over whether employees can view others’ breaks and notes. And managers can import and export reports for time-off schedules, open shifts and assigned shifts, according to Microsoft.

The feature will become GA for worldwide and GCC cloud instances on Android and iOS.

Graph API Access For Transcripts

An upcoming Microsoft Teams feature is access to the Graph application programming interface (API) for Teams meeting transcripts after meetings end.

The feature will be GA for developers and worldwide cloud instances, according to Microsoft.

The Microsoft Graph API is a single endpoint to access data and insights in the Microsoft cloud, including Microsoft 365, Windows and Enterprise Mobility and Security (EMS). Users can also leverage the Graph for machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities.

Teams Store App Reviews

In October, Microsoft Teams users will gain the ability to view and provide ratings and reviews for applications in the Teams store.

The feature becomes GA for worldwide and GCC cloud instances on web and desktop platforms, according to Microsoft.

Companies with apps in the Teams store include Zoho, 3M and LawToolBox.

External Presenter Links

External Teams meeting presenters will have the ability to receive unique join links for their webinars when organizers add the presenters to an event.

This link will let presenters bypass lobbies automatically and join webinars in a presenter role, according to Microsoft.

The feature becomes GA for worldwide and GCC cloud instances for Mac and desktop platforms in October.

Text Notifications For Appointments

External Teams meeting guest users will receive text notifications about appointments, appointment details and a link for joining the meeting by mobile device.

Starting in October, text notifications can be triggered for appointment confirmation, updates and a reminder 15 minutes before the appointment begins, according to Mcirosoft.

Worldwide cloud instances and users on web, Mac and desktop platforms will have access to the feature next month.

Workflows Updates

Microsoft will consolidate all Power Automate-powered workflow capabilities in Teams under the Workflows application.

In the Workflows personal application, users can manage all Teams-related workflows and create and kick off workflows through a new entry point called “message extension,” according to Microsoft.

Users can still use the “message actions” entry point.

The feature becomes GA in October for worldwide and GCC cloud instances on web, desktop and mobile platforms.

Along with this change, users of new Teams – also called Teams 2.0 and T2.1 – gain the ability to configure workflows within Teams channels in October.

This feature should work with worldwide cloud instances for Mac and desktop.

Teams Watermark Updates

In Teams Premium, users will gain the ability to record watermarked meetings.

The meeting recording playback will show an email identification as the watermark, according to Microsoft. After the meeting, users can watch the recording with the watermark on the web and on mobile platforms.

Watermarks are meant to deter participants from taking unauthorized screenshots of meeting content, according to Microsoft.

The feature will start to roll out in October for worldwide, GCC, GCC-H and DoD users on Android, Mac, desktop and iOS, according to Microsoft.

In addition to this feature, come October Teams Premium meeting organizers can choose between single watermarks and repeated watermarks.

With a single watermark, viewers’ emails will appear on top of the shared content and video feed. With single watermark enabled in meeting options, the watermark is enforced for all meeting participants.

The feature enters GA in October for the same cloud instances and platforms, according to Microsoft.

Telemetry Retention To Help Issue Fixing

Come October, Teams Premium meetings will retain real-time telemetry for up to seven days to help meeting quality troubleshooting for administrators.

The change should help admins by providing more time to identify and fix quality issues with granular telemetry after the meeting is over.

The feature will become GA for worldwide cloud instances on the web, according to Microsoft.

Simpler Join Meeting Experience

An improved experience for joining Teams meetings by mobile device starts to roll out in October.

Microsoft promises that the new experience will have fewer steps for joining the meeting, especially for joiners outside of the organization, according to the vendor.

Users who join without signing in will gain the ability to preset and preview video settings and audio settings before joining the meeting. And users with multiple accounts will get a new account switching experience.

The feature will become GA for GCC, GCC-H, DoD and worldwide cloud instances on Android and iOS devices, according to Microsoft.

Meeting Engagement Data Access

Teams Premium meeting organizers will gain access to total reactions, raised hands, cameras turned on and other engagement data in October.

Organizers will have the ability to view the data through the “attendance” tab after a Teams meeting, according to Microsoft.

The feature will become available for GCC and worldwide cloud instances on Mac and desktops.

Automatic Teams Device Updates

In October, Microsoft will start to roll out automatic updates of Teams on Android-based Teams devices with no need for manual intervention.

Administrators can manage automatic updates by organizing devices into update phases, according to Microsoft. Admins can also pause rollouts temporarily from the Teams Admin Center.

The feature will become GA for the worldwide, GCC-H and DoD cloud instances, according to Microsoft.

Teams devices include phones, displays and panels, according to Microsoft.

More Government Access To Conversational Bots

GCC-H and DoD cloud instance users have the option for conversational bot support in meetings and calls next month.

The feature should work on Android, Mac, web, desktop and iOS platforms, according to Microsoft.

These bots can run simple and repetitive tasks such as customer service and support. They use text, interactive cards and task modules to interact with web services, according to Microsoft.

Webhook Connector Expansion

Microsoft will make incoming webhook connector enablement and uploading by tenant administrators in GCC-H generally available starting in October, according to the tech giant.

Webhooks and connectors connect web services to channels and users in Microsoft Teams, according to the tech giant.

Webhooks are user-defined hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) callbacks that notify users about actions in the Teams channel. Connectors allow users to subscribe for notifications and messages from web services.

The feature is set for Android, Mac, web, desktop and iOS platforms, according to Microsoft.

Display Name Changes

Next month, Teams meeting participants can edit their display names regardless of the tenant-set display name.

Users can change their display names during the meeting and it will last throughout the meeting, according to Microsoft.

The feature will be released for worldwide, GCC, DoD and GCC-H cloud instances for Mac and desktop platforms.

In addition to this feature, in October organizers will gain the ability in Teams Premium to hide the names of participants from other participants during a webinar, according to Microsoft.

Only organizers and presenters will see participant names. This feature becomes GA for the same cloud instances in October, but with the addition of Android and iOS platforms.