Microsoft has recently introduced Teams Premium, a new model that is expected to be priced at $10 per month per user. This move comes amidst a backdrop of EU investigations into anti-trust and anti-competitive allegations. The upcoming Teams Premium, scheduled for launch in February, aims to address concerns raised by competitors like Slack. While the official release is yet to come, Microsoft has provided a preview of the Premium version that is currently available.
The Premium edition of Teams promises enhanced functionalities in return for the monthly subscription, instead of simply being a paywall for basic access. Among the notable features showcased in the preview is live translated transcriptions, reminiscent of a premium offering previously introduced by Zoom. Accessing Zoom’s live translation feature necessitates a premium subscription along with an additional $5 monthly fee specifically for this functionality.
In addition to live translations, the Premium version of Teams will come equipped with expanded branding capabilities, suggesting a focus on enhancing virtual presentations, possibly catering to conferences, besides its core meeting and chat functions. Notable inclusions in this Premium version are tools to:
“Deliver a high-caliber webinar experience through advanced functionalities, such as streamlining event workflows with registration waitlists and manual approval, facilitating pre-event activities for presenters through a virtual green room isolated from attendees, and ensuring attendees view shared content and on-screen participants exclusively.”
Microsoft has also emphasized improved end-to-end encryption for Teams Premium, underlining the significance of features that one might not appreciate until they are missing.
Another valuable addition in the Premium tier is the intelligent meeting recap feature, using AI to automatically generate meeting summaries based on captured transcriptions during the session. This feature is likely to alleviate the burden on attendees tasked with recap duties after meetings.
According to the blog post unveiling the Teams Premium Preview, admins can sign up for access through the Microsoft 365 Admin Center.
We appreciate you as a Ghacks reader. The Microsoft Teams Premium Preview hints at some interesting new features that could enhance collaboration experiences for users. Stay tuned for more updates on gHacks Technology News.
Image Source: DANIEL CONSTANTE / Shutterstock
