Teams will soon support quoting messages and signing documents

Next month could be a big one in terms of new features for Microsoft Teams.

What you need to know

• Microsoft Teams will soon support quoting messages within chats.
• Teams will also expand its emoji options in the near future.
• You'll soon be able to use third-party services to sign documents within Teams.

Microsoft is always working on adding new features to Microsoft Teams and improving the service. Next month, we could see the arrival of some welcome additions to the app; the ability to quote messages, expanded emoji support, and the ability to sign documents using third-party services. A report by Dr Windows highlights several features outlined on the Microsoft 365 roadmap.

The Microsoft 365 roadmap is always subject to change, so we might not see these features next month, but when they do arrive, they'll add quite a bit to Teams.

First up is the ability to quote messages. Here is the description from the roadmap:

When chatting in Teams, you will be able to reply a specific message. The original message will be quoted in the reply text box, helping everyone in the chat to more easily understand the message's context. Quoted replies will be available in 1:1, Group and Meeting chats.

Next up is the expansion of emoji support. Right now you can only use 85 emojis in Teams, but that will skyrocket up to over 800 soon.

The expanded emoji update offers people more fun and expressiveness in Teams. It also introduces a wider range of diversity and representation. The emoji set has expanded from 85 to over 800 emojis, with a category selector, skin tone selector and short code picker.

You'll also be able to use third-party services to sign documents soon. This is an incredibly useful feature as it will let you use Adobe Sign, DocuSign, and other services to sign documents.

There may be times when you need something approved and recorded with more formal attestation, and adding signatures to the approval process is necessary. We're working closely with key partners to allow you to create an electronic signature approval using Adobe Sign, DocuSign, and other 3rd party providers natively within the Approval app. Simply choose your electronic signature provider and add the details. Once submitted, signers are notified with an email and can easily review and sign. Approvals will keep track of the entire workflow right in context within Teams.

All of these features are currently in development. It's normal to see features added to Teams, but these would add quite a bit of functionality and help Teams compete with other services.

Microsoft Teams

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Microsoft Teams allows you to collaborate with colleagues, upload files, send messages, and chat through video. It integrates with Office 365 and several other cloud services.