On Microsoft Teams' third anniversary, Microsoft announces several upcoming features

What you need to know

• Microsoft announced several new features that are on the way for Microsoft Teams
• All of the newly announced features should arrive later this year.
• This week is the third anniversary of Microsoft Teams.

Microsoft Teams turns three years old this week, and to celebrate, Microsoft announced several upcoming features for the service. Many of the features focus on reducing distraction and enabling more direct communication. All of the newly announced features are set to arrive later this year, though a few will be available sooner.

Here's a quick list of the new features on the way for Microsoft Teams:

• Real-time noise suppression that can minimize background noise
• A raise hand feature that sends a visual signal that a person has something to say
• Integration with RealWear head-mounted devices for hands-free communication
• Support for the Bookings app in Teams
• The ability to pop out chats into separate windows
• Offline and low-bandwidth support
• Support for the Yealink VC210
• Support for the Bose Noise Cancelling headphone 700UC

The new features come as Microsoft announced a new milestone for its number of daily users today. Microsoft Teams now stands at 44 million daily uesrs, which is up from 20 million in November 2019. A large reason for that surge is due to Teams adoption among people and companies now working remotely because of the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Microsoft says it went from 32 million daily users on March 11 to 44 million by March 18.

Microsoft Teams has gained a significant market share over its first three years and appears to stack well against Slack in terms of usage numbers. During the coronavirus outbreak, Microsoft made the premium version of Microsoft Teams free.