Raise your hand feature starts rolling out in Microsoft Teams

Microsoft has started rolling the new “Raise your hand” feature for Microsoft Teams meetings, which allows participants to notify the meeting organizer and other attendees that you would like to speak or add to the ongoing conversation. Microsoft confirmed that the feature is now live for Mac, Windows as well as the Web clients:

We are happy to announce that this feature has started rolling out to the general public. We plan to complete the rollout by end of this week. This feature is available for Windows, Mac and Web clients. Mobile (iOS/Android) will be coming soon.

As soon as you raise your hand, an icon will appear next to your name beside the mute icon. The meeting organizer can then address your question at their convenience. It is worth noting that Microsoft Teams allows both the presenter or the attendee to lower individual hands in the meeting.

The functionality is pretty much useful for educational institutions and large companies that deal with hundreds of participants in a single meeting. Due to the nature of remote classes or webinars, teachers and hosts have to mute the meeting participants to concentrate without being distracted by the background noises. Previously, there was no way for the meeting attendees to notify their hosts about a question without interrupting the whole session for everyone else. The ‘Raise hand’ feature now offers a seamless way to raise your doubts or questions during Microsoft Teams meetings.

Do you think that the new Raise hand feature will make it easier for everyone to keep up with the discussion without getting disturbed? Sound off in the comments section below.