Microsoft Teams Opens up Crucial APIs to Let Developers Create More Plug-ins for Hybrid Work

Microsoft has announced that the company is opening up its video conferencing platform Microsoft Teams to more developers to let them create tools for its growing user base. Announced at the Microsoft Build 2021 event, the new changes will essentially aim to help 145 million users using Teams every day. First up is the ‘collaborative tool’ for developers that would let them build apps that can plug into the Teams meeting canvas. Microsoft says that it also wants to simplify this experience for developers to allow their apps for Teams to work across platforms such as Windows, macOS, Web, iOS, Android, and Linux. The Teams’ Together Mode that uses AI to segment place speakers and co-workers in a virtual space is also being opened up. It would allow developers to create more Together mode backgrounds and scenes to make meetings “more engaging and personalised.”

Microsoft is also opening up Teams media APIs with resource-specific consent this summer to let developers build scenarios like transcription, translation, note-taking, insights gathering, and more. These APIs will have resource-specific consent enabled, so IT admins can view these permissions from the Teams Admin Center and validate that such apps have access to just the meetings they have been added to. Another feature coming to the platform is Fluid components to allow end-users to “send a message with a table, action items, or a list that can be co-authored and edited by everyone in line” and that is shareable across Office applications like Outlook. It would essentially let users convey more in a single message with multi-media add ons. Microsoft said that Team’s ‘message extensions’ are coming to Outlook on the web soon. The company says it will bring a unified across platforms. To support tools for hybrid work, the software giant is “investing” in tools and resources for developers. It is planning to bring an improved Teams Toolkit meant for Visual Studio Code. Microsoft says that the new Toolkit will use frameworks that developers are already familiar with.

Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Coronavirus News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Telegram.