Microsoft Teams has crossed over 115 million daily active users. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced the figures during the company’s earnings call with investors. This suggests that Teams has seen nearly a 50 percent rise in user additions in the past six months. In April, the company had announced that it had reached a milestone of 75 million daily active users due to a surge in usage owing to the COVID-19 crisis. Ever since, the company has been on a meteoric rise and has managed to keep the momentum going through the year.
Due to the pandemic, several companies have opted for a change in workplace strategy and are still working from home. This resulted in an increased usage for online video conferencing platforms like Microsoft Teams and Zoom. VentureBeat reports that Nadella announced the new daily active users figures during the earnings call.
“Teams now has more than 115 million daily active users. We are seeing increased usage and intensity as people communicate, collaborate, and co-author content across work, life, and learning. Microsoft 365 users generated more than 30 billion collaboration minutes in a single day this quarter,” Nadella said.
This marks a nearly 50 percent increase from 75 million daily active users from six months ago. In March, Microsoft Teams was at 44 million, and in just seven months, the platform has more than doubled its userbase.
Microsoft Teams has been adding new features throughout the pandemic. It recently introduced a Together Mode to reduce the fatigue that participants experience during a video call. Together mode uses AI segmentation technology to place participants in a shared background, like an auditorium. The company says this reduces background distractions and is especially helpful for brainstorms and roundtable discussions as multiple people will be speaking. It adds that Together mode makes it easier to pick up on non-verbal cues, making the conversation feel more natural.
Teams also got the ability to use custom photos as background images during video calls. It also introduced the functionality to schedule meetings and share links via Outlook or Google calendar. Users in the US also received the ability to turn on live captions during their calls and meetings.
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