Microsoft Teams can now suppress background noise during video calls

The ongoing coronavirus outbreak has more people working from home lately, and that means more folks using group communication software like Slack and Microsoft Teams.

So, right on cue, Microsoft has added a bunch of clever features to Teams to help increase productivity, including background noise suppression, and a ‘raise hand’ button to ask questions. As a Slack user at work, I’m so jealous right now.

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The AI-powered noise suppression feature works automatically canceling outworks by automatically canceling out noise from the background such as the rustle of a bag of chips, the drone of a vacuum cleaner, or your cat meowing. I take a lot of calls on Hangouts or Zoom every week, and I really wish they would also incorporate this feature.

Teams is also getting pop-up chat windows, so you can continue chatting with your colleagues while you’re on a call.. Plus, the new version of Teams also has support for reading chat messages when you’re not connected to the internet.

Along with this, the firm is also launching more enterprise-focused features such as Microsoft 365 voice feature in the US — making the app a fully functional calling system.

The company said on March 11 they had observed 32 million daily active users (DAUs) on the app. However, due to more people working from home during the outbreak, that number is 44 million as of March 18.

Earlier this month, Microsoft rolled out Bookings in Teams, a feature that lets you schedule and manage virtual meetings with people. The company is also giving out free subscriptions to the app’s premium version over six months, and it’ll remove a member limit on the free version.