Microsoft Teams will launch new animated backgrounds feature for more engaging virtual meetings

Microsoft Teams is making virtual meetings more engaging and visually appealing with the introduction of new animated and still backgrounds. The updated backgrounds are categorized into six themes that include contemporary designs, wood and light, colorful clouds or mountains, and more. In addition to providing a fun visual experience, some of the backgrounds have been specifically designed to cater to users on the autism spectrum.

The reimagined visual library aims to represent users and their work styles, helping them to create a personalized meeting experience. The updated still background imagery has already been released, while animated versions will be available from June. This update is the biggest since the virtual background collection was first launched in 2020, and is part of Microsoft's continued efforts to improve the Teams platform.

With 300 million monthly active users, Microsoft Teams is one of the most widely used video conferencing platforms. The new backgrounds aim to help users make meetings more engaging and create a better virtual experience. The design team has focused on representing people in both fun and imaginative scenes, as well as realistic spaces. In Microsoft's own words: "The dynamic background feature in Teams Meetings allows users to replace their existing background with a dynamic animation for a more immersive virtual environment. It offers various options to enhance meeting experience with creativity and personalization according to their preferences."

Our take: Microsoft's meeting suite is becoming increasingly large and powerful. While new features that compete with established versions from other services like Zoom are always welcome, recent actions by Microsoft to limit the exposure of third-party apps within basic Windows actions in an attempt to steer users towards Microsoft's own services have caused some caution.