Have you ever been embarrassed by a message pop-up during a video meeting?
I think we’ve all been in a zillion virtual meetings by this point. And we’ve all seen random notifications pop up from the presenter. No big deal, we are all bombarded with notifications all day long.
Sometimes those notifications are…a bit confidential though. It might be something like a reminder for a doctor’s appointment or an email from a competing company. It might get worse. I’ve heard horror stories of marriages falling apart right there in front of everybody, live and in real time.
While that last one is a bit extreme, those stories exist because they happen. Even if it’s a minor thing, you don’t want your audience to see that you have an appointment to get a wart removed or that your Brazilian wax appointment is coming up. That’s just embarrassing!
The good news is, Microsoft is working on alleviating you of awkward moments like those. The website WindowsReport caught wind of a patent Microsoft filed that allows for hiding applications while performing other tasks…like screen sharing in a Teams meeting. While not quite here yet, that solution would give you granular power over specific apps and pop-up notifications.
The Solution We’ve Been Waiting For
Imagine having the control to completely hide specific apps during a Teams call. No more hoping to not get a notification or trying to hack a solution by minimizing all your apps to the taskbar. Microsoft is giving granular control over what notifications you will receive, if any, during your Teams meetings. So no more getting caught with your pants down – that’s a camera issue that we’ll have to write about in another article 😝
More Than Just Avoiding Embarrassment
This feature offers more than just a professional shield. It could also enhance your device’s performance. By keeping those apps hidden in the background, you’ll free up critical computing power and resources.
I know I’ve been guilty of scrambling to close apps and browser tabs to free up resources for a meeting I’m joining – so most likely a lot of you are too. So, a side benefit for keeping apps in the background could have a major impact on general performance. That’s not just for “tech specs” kind of performance either. It will allow you to not need to worry about it, so you can concentrate on the meeting at hand. That’s added productivity without even trying.
Stay Informed
While we’re eagerly anticipating this new feature, we’ll have to wait and see if it becomes available. We’ll keep a close watch on the official Microsoft 365 roadmap for any updates and keep you posted.
In the meantime, if you need assistance in making your business’s video calls run more smoothly, feel free to reach out to us.