A new app for Microsoft Teams is looking to help users better manage their calls, meetings, and more.
According to an entry on the company’s roadmap (opens in new tab) for upcoming features, the new addition will, “provide(s) a single location where professionals and administrators can create and manage scheduled and on-demand virtual appointments in Microsoft Teams”.
This is likely to feature integration with Outlook’s Calendar, which syncs across the entire Office 365 platform to help users manage their time and pinpoint availability for online meetings. Chances are, it’s also a move that will see Microsoft up its game against Google Workspace, which already has some slick UI between its Meet video conferencing platform and other communication tools like Chat and Gmail.
Teams meeting scheduler
The roadmap entry continues to describe the new feature’s ability to “view valuable appointment insights and analytics, get real-time status updates in a queue view, and send appointment reminders.”
In an effort to retain its dedicated users and attract new customers, it seems that Microsoft is trying to create an environment where users do not need to flick between different apps to schedule their work lives, instead offering up all the relevant tools in one place.
Google has also simplified the way its Workspace users flow between communications apps, bringing Chat and Meet closer in the new Gmail interface that became the default – and only – view in Q4 2022.
For now, it seems that the Teams update is set to come to desktop client and web app versions of its platform, however mobile apps tend to follow suit too.
Previews will be available by the end of the year, says Microsoft, with general availability set for February 2023. Microsoft has typically delivered on its timescales, however more recently, some rollouts have been delayed because, of course, these products are ultimately in development. Regardless, an Easter deadline seems reasonable.