Microsoft Teams has always been at the forefront of enhancing the collaborative experience, continuously adding new features to enrich its platform. The latest announcement from the Microsoft Teams Public Preview team will undoubtedly increase productivity and improve the engagement of participants during virtual meetings.
As of today, Public Preview users have the ability to enable a second video stream in Teams to support both their Personal Video and the Teams Content simultaneously.
Dual Video Streams: Increasing Engagement
The addition of a second video stream in Teams allows presenters to engage with their audiences on a more personal level. By showing their Personal Video while sharing important content through the Teams Content Camera, presenters can stay connected with the call attendees and foster a more immersive interaction.
The new feature is applicable for both Windows and Mac desktop computers, and users must have two or more cameras connected to their system. This could include a built-in laptop camera alongside an external webcam.
How to Enable a Second Video Stream
- Turn on your Personal Video.
- Select ‘Share content’ > ‘Content from camera’ > ‘Video’.
- In the ‘Content from camera’ dialog box, ensure that the selected Content Camera is different than the one currently used for your Personal Video, and then select and set the options you want.
- Once set up, click the ‘Share’ button to start sharing your Content Camera with your meeting attendees.
Through this, a presenter’s camera feed can be shared during a Teams call, without disabling the presenter’s personal video stream.
Availability and Access to Teams Public Preview
To enable the Public Preview features in your Teams client, IT administrators will need to set an update policy that activates ‘Show preview features’. To understand how to do this, users can refer to the ‘Public preview in Microsoft Teams’ guide.
There are various options for accessing Teams Public Preview features:
- If the ‘Follow Office Preview’ option is selected, Teams Public Preview features are automatically enabled for any user enrolled in the Office Current Channel (Preview) without further action required by the end user.
- If the ‘Enabled’ option is selected, end users must opt in to the Teams public preview in their Teams app to access the Public Preview features.
- If the ‘Forced’ option is selected, Teams Public Preview is automatically enabled for the end user, with no additional actions required.
Feedback and User Experience
Microsoft is keen to hear user feedback on this new feature. Users can provide feedback by clicking on ‘Help’ > ‘Give feedback’ located in the bottom-left corner of the Teams client.
