As the number of people working from home saw sudden spikes, Microsoft is adding new features to its video conferencing app Teams. As a part of its efforts to ensure a smoother transition to remote work, some latest features are coming to spice up your Team’s calls.

Amongst the notable changes, the company rushed to release the long-awaited custom background feature, making it generally available in the application. The feature allows you to replace your messy background during a video call with a default set of images. However, the ability to update custom images will be available next month, but you can use a hack to enable it now.

New Raise Hands Feature Coming To Microsoft Teams Meetings This Month

Besides the new custom background feature, Microsoft plans to roll out some interesting features in the coming weeks, with the ability to “Raise Hands” being one of them. The feature would be pretty handy for conducting remote meetings with a long list of participants.

Excuse me! The new raise hand feature in #MicrosoftTeams allows meeting attendees to identify when they wish to speak with a visual cue on their video feed, making it easier to actively participate in large meetings — coming to Microsoft Teams later this year. — Microsoft Teams (@MicrosoftTeams) March 21, 2020

With this change, Microsoft Teams will make it easier for the participants to make their voices heard. Once the feature rolls out, you will be able to send a visual signal to others by tapping the Raise Hand icon, indicating that you want to say something.

“The new raise hands feature in Teams allows meeting attendees to identify that they wish to speak by toggling the hand icon in the meeting control bar, making it easier to actively participate in meetings. When a meeting participant has raised their hand, an icon will appear next to their name in the roster view as well as their profile picture or video on the main meeting stage. Both the attendee who raised their hand and any presenter can lower individual hands in the meeting. Raise hands will be available for both PC, Mac, and web-based clients to start, with mobile applications quickly following. We will continue to iterate and enhance this new feature in the coming weeks”, Microsoft 365 Roadmap reads.

Notably, the feature will be available within a few weeks’ time. Indeed, the custom background tool and the ability to raise hands would be a useful addition to Microsoft Teams as we move through an unprecedented era. As a reminder, the service has seen a spike in its userbase, which double to over 40 million daily active users during the coronavirus outbreak.