New feature aims to lessen distractions from co-workers.
At the Ignite 2020 digital conference last month, Microsoft announced a range of new features for Microsoft Teams. One of these was the Online Status indicator.
Microsoft Teams added indicators on the web, Android, iOS, and Windows 10 to alert the attendees or organizers about a user’s online presence. Users can check the status by clicking the profile icon. Green is for Available, red circles are for Busy or Do not disturb. There is also a yellow indicator that suggests the user is away from their Teams.
Vincent Bellet, Microsoft Principal PM, has announced in a LinkedIn post that the feature is now available in Microsoft Teams.
The new Offline Status option appears at the bottom of the Presence Status settings list. Once the Offline Status indicator is set, the change will be reflected in the person’s profile icon. If the feature doesn’t change the way Microsoft Teams works, it gives users full access to the app while keeping their presence hidden.
This Offline option will allow workers to use the Microsoft Teams platform without others knowing they’re online, allowing them to take a break from communications to focus on their work.
Helping remote users during the pandemic
Due to the COVID-19 emergency, many people work remotely today and are using services like Microsoft Teams for daily communication with the office and co-workers. The new “Appear offline” feature allows remote users to go on the platform and perform tasks or projects without intrusions or interruptions from co-workers.
Teams users will also get the ability to change their presence for a specific period of time next month. The feature helps users to select a specific time duration for their Offline status. The list of available durations will include – Custom, This week, Today, 2 hours, 1 hour, and 3 minutes.
For example, if a user sets the ‘Away’ status for 1 hour, Teams will automatically reset the availability status to real-time after one hour.
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