Microsoft on Friday introduced new Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered capabilities in Microsoft 365 that will allow people in an organisation create live and on-demand events.
Events can now be viewed in real-time or on-demand, with high-definition video and interactive discussion, the company said in a statement.
Launched one year back, the adoption of Microsoft 365 has grown by more than 100 per cent -- building on over 135 million commercial monthly Office 365 users, 200 million Windows 10 commercial devices in use, and over 65 million seats of Enterprise Mobility + Security.
"Today, we are introducing new ways Microsoft 365 connects people across their organisation and improves collaboration habits, including new AI-infused capabilities," said Ron Markezich, Corporate Vice President for Microsoft.
AI-powered services will include speech-to-text transcription, timecoding, transcript search and closed captions to make the event more accessible to all.
Microsoft rolled out the preview of a new Workplace Analytics solution, which uses collaboration insights from the Microsoft Graph, to help teams run efficient meetings, create time for focused work, and respect work/life boundaries.
"Organisations can use aggregate data in Workplace Analytics to identify opportunities for improving collaboration, then share insights and suggest habits to specific teams using MyAnalytics," Markezich said.
Microsoft Whiteboard is now generally available for Windows 10, coming soon to iOS, and preview on the web, the company announced.
"The new Whiteboard application enables people to ideate, iterate, and work together both in person and remotely, across multiple devices," Microsoft said.
Microsoft has also made available its direct competition to Slack, ‘Teams’ in 40 languages worldwide for free.
Currently, more than 200,000 businesses across 181 markets globally use Teams -- a hub for chatting, sharing documents, video and voice calling in Microsoft 365 -- to collaborate and get work done.
"Whether you're a freelancer, a small business owner, or part of a team inside a large organisation, you can start using Teams today," Ron Markezich, Corporate Vice President for Microsoft, said in a statement on Friday.
The free version, that can be used in a organisation with up to 300 employees, will provide unlimited chat messages and search, built-in audio and video calling for individuals, groups, and full team meetups, 10GB of team file storage plus additional 2 GB per person for personal storage.
It will also provide integrated, real-time content creation with Office Online apps, including built-in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote.
The free version will give unlimited app integrations with over 140 business apps to choose from -- including Adobe, Evernote, and Trello.
"This new offering provides a powerful introduction to Microsoft 365. Teams in Microsoft 365 includes everything in the free version plus additional storage, enterprise security, and compliance, and it can be used for your whole organisation, regardless of size," Markezich said.