Control Updates to Microsoft Teams Fix a Frustrating Problem (Sort of)

Teams Update

​If you’re like lots of other business leaders, you conduct a fair amount of business over video call. Whether it’s an internal all-hands, a marketing webinar, or a 1:1 sales call, all of us spend time in apps like Microsoft Teams and Zoom.

If you’re a frequent Teams user, then chances are you’ve run into a frustrating (and sometimes embarrassing) problem more than once: accidentally ditching your meeting.

You’re not alone there because, if you ask us, Microsoft put one pretty massive design flaw into the app’s user interface: the placement of the “Leave call” button.

Now that’s changing — finally.

The Problem: Questionable Menu Button Layout

When you’re in a Teams meeting, you have access to a number of functions at the bottom of the app window. (This is true on mobile and on desktop, but we’re focusing on the desktop experience here.)

Right in the middle is an unlabeled icon of a phone. Click it, and bam — you’re no longer in a Teams meeting.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with this, but the problem is the placement. Right between the Mute and Share buttons, which just so happen to be the most likely two buttons you’ll reach for during the call.

That means that if you misclick by just a few pixels, you’re ditching the call instead of sharing your screen.

The mobile version has a similar problem, where the “hang up” button is kind of where you’d expect it to be for a phone call. That works just fine when you’re on a real phone call, holding the phone up to your face. But if you’re holding your phone normally for a video call, the edge of your hand is awfully close to that “hang up” button by default.

The Solution: Relocate the Quit Button

Microsoft’s solution is admittedly a very simple one: they are moving the Quit button so that it isn’t in the same cluster of controls.

Now, instead of being right next to other controls very much not about leaving the meeting, Quit will be on its own where you’re far less likely to mistakenly click it.

This update is already live for desktop users, and another one is just around the corner. A future update will allow you to turn the meeting bar invisible so it isn’t in the way, distracting you from the content of the call.

Now, the bar will come back up when you move your cursor over it, so this change won’t really solve the misclick issue completely. But it’s still a nice change to see.

Another Option Is Already Hiding in Settings

One of the best ways to fix accidental meeting departures was already available, but hidden away in the app’s settings menu.

For this one, open Teams, then Settings, then General. You should see a checkbox option for adding a confirmation message before leaving a meeting.

Toggle this on, and now whenever you click to leave a meeting (intentionally or accidentally), you’ll get a pop-up button that asks if you’re sure you want to leave.

If you do a lot of sales calls or high-value presentations, we recommend toggling this on immediately. It’s a very small amount of friction when you do mean to leave, and it can save tons of distraction and embarrassment when you don’t.

Even Better: Managed IT Can Handle It For You

The truth is, there are hundreds of little changes like that hidden Teams setting that can improve quality of life for your team. But who has time to go through every app’s settings menu and inspect it all?

Answer: we do.

When you work with a managed IT partner like Blue Ridge Technology, we can pre-configure your team’s devices to improve quality of life across your entire tech stack, giving your team members a consistent, secure, safe IT experience and freeing you up to focus on growing your business, not managing IT.

If this sounds good to you, we should talk. Reach out to our team now to schedule a consultation. Book your call

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