Microsoft Teams now lets you brighten up your background however you want
It could soon be a lot easier to make your Microsoft Teams conversations more engaging and personal thanks to a new update from the company.
The video conferencing service has revealed that it is working on a new tool that will allow some users to upgrade their existing wallpapers with more personalized and creative designs.
In his entry on the official Microsoft 365 roadmap, the update, labeled “decorate your space in Teams Meetings,” allows users to “create more personalized and engaging wallpapers by applying advanced effects that enhance and decorate your real space.”
Microsoft Teams wallpapers
Microsoft won’t go into much detail about this new experience, but we suspect it means users will be able to edit and customize the existing Teams background to their liking.
The feature, scheduled to launch in September 2023, will be available for both Windows and Mac, but with one major hurdle: only Microsoft Teams Premium users can access it.
Microsoft Teams Premium first launched in February 2023 when the company wanted to provide an upgraded and more personalized experience with a number of AI-powered plugins and features.
This includes GPT 3.5, the AI language model developed by OpenAI, to automate certain mundane tasks around meetings as part of the “intelligent recap” feature.
The company is currently offering Microsoft Teams Premium for $7 per user per month, a 30% discount off the “standard price” of $10 per user.
The update is the second feature in recent weeks that will only be available to Microsoft Teams Premium users, following news that live translated conversation transcripts will also launch soon. Users can view a live, translated transcript of their call, with a number of different languages supported.
Microsoft Teams backgrounds have become a popular addition for many users looking to liven up their conversations and meetings, with the company continuing to add new templates and options over the past few months. This includes a recent selection of six new background categories designed to “evoke different moods and actions,” hopefully improving employee productivity during Microsoft Teams conversations.
The video conferencing giant also recently announced it’s working on a new tool that will group emojis, GIFs and stickers in one place, making it easier to find and share the reaction you want.