October 19, 2026
The Microsoft Teams platform announced a set of advanced features designed to organize the work environment, facilitate collaboration, and reduce time spent on daily tasks.
Quick commands to get things done
The command bar feature allows you to perform multiple actions without having to navigate between application pages. The user can type a slash (/) to view available commands, such as “/available” to change the availability status, “/brb” to indicate staying away temporarily, and “/dnd” to activate Do Not Disturb mode. The “/goto” command also allows you to move to a specific conversation or channel, “/meetnow” helps start or join a meeting, while the “/settings” command opens the settings menu. The report indicated that these commands do not work on mobile devices.
Control notifications
The platform gives users the ability to customize notifications according to the importance of each channel, in order to avoid receiving continuous alerts for all messages. The channel options menu allows you to select which alerts you want to follow to reduce inconvenience and ensure you don’t miss important updates. Users can also access notification and activity settings to change the sounds associated with alerts, control their appearance during meetings, and modify their size, content, and location on the screen.
Additional applications within the platform
Teams is not limited to chats, video calls, and calendaring, but its functionality can be expanded by integrating external applications such as Asana, Dropbox, Canva, and Turnitin. Available options include tools for collaboration, file sharing, and education, as well as AI-powered apps to help with planning and note-taking, which can be used during meetings to facilitate the exchange of opinions and document discussions.
Pin important conversations and tools
The platform supports the pinning feature to keep the most used applications, chats and channels at hand; An application can be installed in the sidebar, or a tab can be added to a conversation or channel to enable participants to quickly access files and tools related to their work. In the same context, the application allows you to hide less important conversations and channels from the interface without losing the ability to follow new messages and signals in them.
Tools to support people with disabilities
“Teams” provides wide options to support people with visual, hearing, and mobility disabilities, including live captions and written transcripts of meetings, in addition to “Sign Language Mode,” which helps participants keep sign language interpreters clearly visible. Other capabilities include screen reader support and keyboard shortcuts. In addition, a number of Microsoft 365 applications include an accessibility scanning tool, which detects problems such as the absence of text descriptions for images and poor color contrast, and suggests appropriate solutions to address them.
