A new Microsoft Teams update is due to fix one of its most annoying minor issues – but could raise a whole host of other potential problems.
The video conferencing service is working on a tweak that will allow meeting participants to change their display name to whatever they choose.
Microsoft means well, of course, but knowing your co-workers, friends and whoever else you use Microsoft Teams with, how much this feature is used in a positive way might be up for debate.
Microsoft Teams names
In its entry on the official Microsoft 365 roadmap (opens in new tab), the company notes that allowing name changes will allow users, “to have flexible representation in different meetings, regardless of their tenant set display name.”
The update is listed as being in development for now, but has a listed rollout start date of July 2023, meaning users shouldn’t have too much longer to wait. Upon release, it will be available to desktop and Mac around the world, with further platforms most likely set to follow soon.
The news is the latest attempt to boost Microsoft Teams’ customization aspects. Most recently, the company announced it would be bringing video filter effects and avatars to the platform to allow a bit of extra personalization.
Among the upcoming visual effects are animated frames and video hue altering, on top of existing tools that allow users to blur backgrounds and soften the video feed to mask and obscure blemishes.
The service also recently announced a number of under-the-hood upgrades aimed at improving the user experience when navigating around the Microsoft Teams platform, including making it much faster to switch between chat and channel threads.
The company claims that these changes should contribute to a 30% speed increase when switching between Microsoft Teams chats or channels.
