Soon also in Microsoft Teams: customised emojis and slash commands
Other co-working apps have had them for a long time, and now they are set to make their way into Microsoft Teams: company emojis and slash commands.
At Microsoft Build 2024, Microsoft's developer conference, the company announced new features for the Teams communication platform. Soon, companies using Teams will be able to provide their own emojis. They will only be available within the company's own team and should enable users to express themselves more creatively and authentically.
Teams administrators determine which users have the right to upload or delete their own emojis. According to Microsoft, the new feature will be available in a public test version in June. The regular roll-out is expected in July.
In February, parts of the Microsoft workforce had already discovered the first indications of tests with customised emojis https://www.theverge.com/2024/2/2/24058980/microsoft-teams-custom-emoji-pepe-the-frog. The introduction of customised emojis is nevertheless late at Microsoft. The competition from Slack and Google Workspace have been implementing the function for years and it is commonplace on Discord.
Other innovations: Slash commands, AI-generated images and code tools
The next innovation for teams is also not a sensation. Slash commands have been available in other apps for some time. They are a way of quickly completing certain settings or tasks in Teams. By entering a slash in the chat, you open a window with text commands. You can write out or select the respective command. For example, Microsoft demonstrates the slash command /brb (be right back) to set the status to Away. According to Microsoft, the slash commands will be rolled out from June.
Tools for AI-generated images are very popular. One will be available directly in Teams in the summer. Microsoft is integrating its in-house AI image app "Designer". You can use it by tagging "Designer" with @ and then describing your desired image. Other people in the chat can see the generated image suggestions and collaborate on them.
If you work a lot with code, Teams should soon make your life a little easier. There will be a preview for linked code. You will also be able to post code blocks in Teams that you can share for others to edit. <p
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