Remote working and teleconferencing companies are vying to become the top dog in a post-COVID-19 world, and Microsoft is no different. To help its odds against the competition, Microsoft is planning to raise Microsoft Teams' meeting cap to 1,000.

What We Know About the Microsoft Teams Update

You can see the proof for yourself over on the Microsoft 365 Roadmap. The roadmap is Microsoft's way of updating users on what the company has planned for its services.

Every so often, a particularly interesting update arrives on the roadmap. For instance, Feature ID 65951 shows the following:

Microsoft Teams - Large meeting support. Hold interactive meetings with more attendees—up to 1,000.

The roadmap entry doesn't go into much more detail, but it tells us that Microsoft aims to get this update out the door come December 2020.

While the release date is news to us, this feature has been announced before. Back when Microsoft announced its 20,000 meeting cap, it also noted that it would only handle 1,000 participants for an interactive meeting.

Is a 1,000 Participant Limit Really Necessary for Microsoft Teams?

You may struggle to imagine what an interactive meeting with 1,000 participants would look like. You may be unable even to name a company you've worked for that could fill out such a vast meeting.

However, Microsoft's strategy seems to be a pre-emptive one. While there are definitely companies out there with the workforce to fill 1,000 virtual seats to the brim, Microsoft's plans may be a little further ahead than that.

The business world has made a new home within the online space after the recent bouts of COVID-19. As things currently stand, meetings and events will likely have to be held digitally for the foreseeable future.

However, even if a miraculous vaccine for COVID-19 were to materialize soon, it doesn't necessarily mean that companies will immediately go back to physical meetings. There's a chance that companies instead prefer to keep their correspondence online.

If this happens, we may see online meetings and events become the new norm instead of a temporary solution to the COVID-19 pandemic. If this happens, remote working services need to be ready to accommodate the growing demand for online services.

As such, Microsoft's move to make interactive meetings hold 1,000 people may be a step toward fixing a future problem. If businesses shift wholly to online conferences, Microsoft wants to be there when 1,000-large digital meetings and events become the norm.

Aiming for a Digital Future With Microsoft Teams

While you may struggle to think why anyone would want a 1,000-big digital meeting, Microsoft may be preparing for a new world of business that takes place online. Only time will tell if digital meetings continue to flourish, or if physical meetings resume as soon as they possibly can.

If you're wondering how anyone can talk amongst 999 other people, Microsoft has the solution for that already. It recently released a spotlight feature that directs everyone's attention to a single attendee.

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