Microsoft Teams is adding everyone's least favorite part of a meeting

Microsoft Teams on an iPhone
(Image credit: Shutterstock - Natee Meepian)

Your Microsoft Teams calls could soon get a lot more interactive, whether you like it or not, thanks to a new addition to the service.

The company has revealed it is working on adding Question and Answer capabilities (otherwise known as a Q&A) to Teams webinars and meetings for its video conferencing platform.

The addition would bring a whole new level of interactivity and collaboration to Microsoft Teams calls, whether its a company-wide meeting, a university lecture, or just joking around with some friends.

A bit of Q&A

The feature is still in development, according to its entry in the official Microsoft 365 roadmap, which lists an expected general availability date of July 2022, meaning we may not have too long to wait.

"By enabling Q&A...Meeting Organizers will be able to create either moderated or unmoderated Q&A experience," the entry notes. It adds that Q&A will be available across Microsoft Teams meetings and webinars, but will need to be enabled by the meeting organizer.

When launched, the feature will be available to all Microsoft Teams users worldwide, across web, desktop, mobile, Android and iOS.

The news is the latest in a long line of features and upgrades added to Microsoft Teams in order to make the platform smarter and more interactive for users around the world.

This includes the addition of several generations of avatars to represent you on a call using Microsoft Teams Together Mode, which displays a live avatar for each participant. 

The company has also outlined plans to introduce 3D avatars soon alongside more immersive Microsoft Teams meetings within the so-called "metaverse" later in 2022.

The company also recently revealed it would be adding a number of basic games to Microsoft Teams to help users pass the time whilst waiting for a call to begin.

Several titles from the company's Casual Games platform are set to be part of the move, aimed at helping kill a few minutes, for example if you're waiting for someone to join the call with a quick game of Connect 4.

Mike Moore
Deputy Editor, TechRadar Pro

Mike Moore is Deputy Editor at TechRadar Pro. He has worked as a B2B and B2C tech journalist for nearly a decade, including at one of the UK's leading national newspapers and fellow Future title ITProPortal, and when he's not keeping track of all the latest enterprise and workplace trends, can most likely be found watching, following or taking part in some kind of sport.