Microsoft Teams is about to make it easier to chat during meetings
It will soon be easier to follow typed messages within Teams meetings.
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What you need to know
Microsoft Teams allows people within meetings to communicate with video, voice, and text. However, meetings make it difficult to communicate through all of those mediums at once. To combat said difficulty, a new feature for Microsoft Teams will let you see what people type within the chat of a meeting without having to pop open the meeting’s chat window.
An upcoming update to Teams will bring support for chat bubbles. These chat bubbles will appear on everyone’s screen within a meeting, making it easier to see what people type during a meeting. Right now, you have to manually open the chat window within a meeting to see what people type. This can crowd your screen and means you have to manually switch back and forth between the chat window and other items, such as the participants list.
“Chats sent during a Teams meeting will surface on the screens of all meeting participants, making the chat more central to the conversation,” reads the feature’s description in theMicrosoft 365 roadmap. The feature is currently set to arrive in May 2021, though dates on the Microsoft 365 roadmap are always subject to change.
Microsoft first announcedthat chat bubbles were on the way in July 2020.
Microsoft Teams lets you call and chat with your colleagues, friends, and family in one-to-one calls, group calls, or meetings. Soon, it will support chat bubbles within meetings to make it easier to follow along.
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Sean Endicott is a tech journalist at Windows Central, specializing in Windows, Microsoft software, AI, and PCs. He’s covered major launches, from Windows 10 and 11 to the rise of AI tools like ChatGPT. Sean’s journey began with the Lumia 740, leading to strong ties with app developers. Outside writing, he coaches American football, utilizing Microsoft services to manage his team. He studied broadcast journalism at Nottingham Trent University and is active on X @SeanEndicott_ and Threads @sean_endicott_.
