Soon, even non-smartphones will be able to raise a hand in Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams allows people to dial into meetings through a phone line. This is a way to get people into a meeting that don’t have access to a smartphone, PC, or other internet-connected device. While it gets people into the meeting, it lacks much of the functionality of using a web-connected device. At least one of those gaps is being closed, thanks to an upcoming feature for Microsoft Teams.

Soon, Teams will allow PSTN participants to raise their hands in a meeting by pressing * and 5 on the number pad.

Here’s the description from the Microsoft 365 roadmap:

Presenters and Organizers can now prevent PSTN participants from unmuting. This change also allows PSTN participants to request to speak by raising their hand in a meeting via dial-pad command (press *5).

The feature is marked as in development and could arrive as soon as this month, though that date is subject to change.

Microsoft has several features related to PSTN devices, including recording PSTN calls, which rolled out last month.