It's a good day to be a Microsoft Teams free user. The communication platform has just released a boatload of features to its complimentary tier, including enhanced design features and better camera functionality.
Microsoft Teams' Communities platform is now available on Windows 11 devices too, while Windows 10 and macOS users will have to wait a little longer to gain access.
This major update comes shortly after the web conferencing solution rolled out virtual avatars for all users, and released Microsoft Teams Premium, an advanced tier packed with a raft of AI-powered features.
Microsoft Teams Free Ramps Up Its Offering
Microsoft Teams is back with another update, and it's claiming to be its biggest one yet.
Teams users are now able to collaborate with communities on Windows 11 devices, a privilege that was previously reserved for iOS and Android devices. The community feature, which was first launched on its free tier in December, lets users create communities from scratch, invite new members, and create and host events.
“Today we’re announcing the most significant set of updates to the free version of Microsoft Teams since December 2022, which will begin rolling out to customers now.” – Microsoft's blog post
The web conferencing kingpin announced that the platform will also be available on Windows 10 and macOS devices soon.
But Teams isn't stopping there. In a recent blog post, the company revealed Windows 11 users will also be gaining access to Microsoft Designer — an AI-powered tool that allows you to create personalized graphics, illustrations, and other designs simply by entering a prompt.
Microsoft Teams Designer tool. Source: microsoft.com
The smart feature utilizes DALL-E 2 technology, an OpenAI deep learning model that generates digital images from natural language descriptions.
Microsoft is also improving its camera functionality for Teams users. Members of the community will now be able to use Microsoft's new capture experience to record videos from their mobile devices.
Is Microsoft Teams the Best Free Video Calling App?
Microsoft Teams is already one of the leading names in video conferencing, and it works hard to retain its top position.
Earlier this week the video app launched customizable avatars, a feature that software rival Zoom has offered since March. Designed to give users that “much-needed camera break,” the avatars let you interact with meetings through a 3D “cartoonified” version of yourself.
Benefiting from its partnership with AI powerhouse OpenAI, Microsoft Teams also released a Premium Tier in February which boasts a plethora of smart features including the summarization tool “intelligent recap” and watermarking options.
All things considered, Microsoft Teams is definitely a standout collaboration tool. But with Zoho Meeting offering a competitive array of features at a lower price point and Zoom providing one of the slickest user experiences on the market, it's worth shopping around before committing to the tool.
Check out our guide to the best Microsoft Teams alternatives to learn more about other quality options.
