417158 – Microsoft Teams: Private moderator replies to individual attendees

Product:

Teams

Platform:

Android, iOS, Mac, Windows Desktop, World tenant

Status:

In development

Change type:

Links:

Details:

Allows moderators to answer questions from specific attendees without displaying the reply to the other participants. This capability can be helpful for sensitive questions, personal inquiries, or follow-up discussions that are not intended to be broadcast to the entire audience.

Change Category:
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Scope:
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Release Phase:
General Availability

Created:
2024-10-01

updated:
2024-10-04

Docu to Check

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MS workload name

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summary for non-techies**

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Direct effects for Operations**

User Confusion
Without proper preparation, users may be confused about the new private reply feature, leading to misunderstandings about who can see their questions and responses.
   - roles: Moderators, Attendees
   - references: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-teams-blog/what-s-new-in-microsoft-teams-august-2023/ba-p/3671230

Increased Support Requests
The introduction of private replies may lead to an increase in support requests from users who are unsure how to use the feature or are experiencing issues, impacting IT support resources.
   - roles: IT Support Staff, Moderators
   - references: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/roadmap?filters=Microsoft%20Teams

Configutation Options**

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explanation for non-techies**

Imagine you're in a large meeting room filled with people. During the Q&A session, someone raises their hand to ask a question. Instead of answering the question over the loudspeaker for everyone to hear, you walk over to that person and have a quiet conversation with them. This way, the discussion remains private, and the rest of the audience isn't distracted or involved in that particular exchange.

This is essentially what the new feature in Microsoft Teams allows moderators to do. Moderators can now respond to questions from individual attendees without the replies being visible to everyone else in the meeting. This is particularly useful for addressing sensitive questions, personal inquiries, or follow-up discussions that don't need to be shared with the entire group.

Whether you're using Teams on a desktop, Mac, iOS, or Android device, this feature ensures that private conversations remain just that—private. It’s like having a sidebar conversation in a physical meeting room, but in a virtual setting. This can be especially beneficial in large meetings or webinars where not all information needs to be shared with the entire audience.