With Microsoft Teams, the company has made it easy for users to connect with their friends and family members amid the pandemic. While everyone is limiting physical meetings amid the pandemic, video calls have become an integral part of all our lives. To take on Zoom, Google Meet and other video calling platforms Microsoft announced Teams for web and desktop on Friday. The best feature that this version of Microsoft Teams brings is the free video calls for everyone.
The tech giant has announced Microsoft Teams for desktop or web users will be free for up to 300 users every day. The company also said that users will not need to create a Microsoft Teams or Microsoft account to join a call on the web. Microsoft Teams for web will also support up to 49 friends or family members in a gallery view or what the company calls Together Mode.
Microsoft has introduced this feature to help users connect with their loved ones for Thanksgiving and not travel amid the pandemic. To use Microsoft Teams web version for free users will need to first create a meeting link and share it with the people who he/she wants to join the meeting. People will be able to simply click on the meeting link and join the meeting. As mentioned, they will not need to create a Microsoft Teams account to join a meeting.
The free service is expected to help Microsoft garner more and more users on the platform. Zoom is also lifting the 40-minute video call limit for Thanksgiving. Other video calling platforms like Google Meet has a 60 minute limit and Cisco Webex has 50 minute calll limit.
At the beginning of the pandemic, Zoom surged in popularity as hundreds and thousands of people across the globe joined the platform to connect with others. Microsoft Team was a little late at joining the competition and faced challenges from Google Meet, Zoom and other video calling platforms.