Microsoft has finally rolled out a three-by-three grid for Microsoft Teams video calls, and users can now see the video feed of up to 9 participants at a time. In addition, Microsoft reiterates its commitment to increase this limit further, especially as one of its main competitors, Zoom, currently supports 49 on a meeting stage:
We are excited to announce the 3×3 video view has been rolled out 100% to for Windows and Mac Clients. If you aren’t seeing 3×3 yet, please logout and log back in to the client. We realize 3×3 is a start, but not good enough… as mentioned, we are continuing to work to include more videos during a meeting, as well as enabling support for mobile devices. Hence, the “partially done” status.
In a support article, Microsoft says that if there are more than nine participants in a meeting, Microsoft Teams will prioritize the video streams of people who have their video turned on, as well as the attendees who are currently speaking. However, the app will show the profile pic instead or initials of people who have not turned on their video. To turn your video on or off before or during the meeting, follow the steps mentioned below:
- To turn on your video before a meeting, just select Turn camera on option right before you join.
- You may want to turn your video on or off over the course of a meeting—if you’d prefer people only see you while you’re talking, for example. Go to the meeting controls anytime during the meeting and tap Turn camera on option.
Besides this new 3×3 grid view in Teams meetings, Microsoft has also released a new “Raise your hand” feature which allows participants to notify the meeting organizer and coworkers that they would like to speak.
