Upcoming Enhancements to Microsoft Teams Meeting Chat Controls

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There are many kinds of meetings, and Teams is a great tool to have virtual meetings in. As an example, it is possible to get to the chat of the meeting and start the discussion up front or continue the discussions or ask follow up questions after the meeting is over.  But sometimes, there are scenarios where organizer would want to keep the chat closed for comments outside of the meeting timeframe. And here is a new feature coming our way, to control exactly that behavior. The Teams admin center will soon allow setting up policies that will enhance your control over meeting chats. These new options are designed to give administrators more flexibility in managing how and when participants can interact via chat during meetings. These options will be available across all platforms, including Teams for Windows and Mac desktops, Teams on the web, and Teams for iOS/Android. This update is part of the Microsoft 365 Roadmap   If you are an admin, here is where you can find and control the set

The new Teams and an update on avatars

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The new Teams is rolling out in GA, and all users will start to see the "New Teams" toggle soon, if it's not already there. For now, users can choose to switch back and forth between the clients, but admins can control how this toggle behaves. With the "Teams Update Policy" it is possible to choose what the default mode should be, let Microsoft control when it shifts or disable the new client all together. I am guessing the old client will be disabled in the end, but here is the guide on how to control things for now.

Here is a heads-up on changes to Avatars in Teams. First of all, there will be a new license introduced to eligible users (MESH_AVATARS_FOR_TEAMS). This will be added to users with one of the following licenses: Teams Essentials, Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Microsoft 365 Business Standard, Microsoft 365 Business Premium, Microsoft 365 E3/E5, and Office 365 E1/E3/E5.
Also, please note that avatars will not be available to users not meeting the minimum hardware requirement of a CPU with 2 cores and 6GB ram. This is done to ensure the right experience.