Injecting a little more personality and feeling into your Microsoft Teams chats and calls could soon be a lot easier thanks to a new update.
The video conferencing service has announced it is working on a new tool that will group emojis, GIFs and stickers into a single location, making it simpler to find and share the reaction you desire.
The company hopes the addition will give users the chance to make their Microsoft Teams chats a bit more fun, simplifying the experience for customers everywhere with a "combined picker".
Microsoft Teams "fun"
In its post on the official Microsoft 365 roadmap, the new "unified fun picker" is described as bringing together emojis, GIFs and stickers in one place for Windows and Mac users alike.
"Browse and discover all the fun stuff you need, all in one hub of content," the company notes. Although listed as still being "in development" at the moment of writing, Microsoft has scheduled a rollout start date of August 2023, so users shouldn't have too long to wait.
Analysis - Fun fun fun?
Emojis have been a popular part of tools such as Microsoft Teams for some time, with the company expanding its library of options several times in past years. This includes the February 2022 release of its Fluent Emojis selection, which gives a whole new look to over 1,800 Microsoft Teams emojis, which the company says will bring "a modern and delightful new version of the emojis we use every day".
The platform has also been very keen to push its animated avatars, which again look to offer users a bit more personalization and individuality in what can often be a rather stuffy and business-focused service.
Animated avatars were released on Teams in May 2023, with the company saying they will animate based on vocal cues and emoji reactions, meaning that the feature will work even for those who only have a headset instead of a webcam.
Let's hope that bundling all these fun options in one place helps those of us plugging through our work chats and calls live a little more...
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