Microsoft Teams, Google Meet add more features to catch up to Zoom
More people per screen and other additions hit the videoconferencing apps.
Choosing the best videoconferencing software among Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, and Zoom is getting harder as the three rivals add competitive features. In the past few days, Meet and Teams unveiled some new features to catch up to or surpass Zoom, the top app on the market. Here are some of the latest new additions:
Added to Microsoft Teams
The conferencing app from Microsoft had a maximum limit of 250 participants per meeting but that is going up 20% to 300 people now. Product manager for education Mike Tholfsen tweeted that the change was rolled out on June 27.
Microsoft is planning to increase the number of people who can be seen on-screen at one time from nine, in a three-by-three grid, to 49, in a seven-by-seven grid, the website MSPoweruser reports.
Coming to Google Meet
Just weeks after adding its videoconferencing app to Gmail, Google unveiled a few more improvements it will soon add to the software.
The upcoming version of Meet will allow users to substitute a background picture or show a blurred background instead of revealing the room they are in. The app will include several default background pictures, or users will be able to upload their own, The Verge reports.
The new version will also use Google’s A.I.-driven real-time captioning technology to add captions to videoconference sessions.
Meet is also getting the seven-by-seven tile view that displays 49 participants per screen.
And Meet will provide a raised-hand icon to allow meeting participants to signal to the host that they have something to say.
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