Back in December 2022, Microsoft announced a preview of Teams Premium, its new and more expensive Teams SKU aimed at businesses that want more functionality during webinars and large online gatherings. Later, we also found out that Microsoft is actually stripping some existing features from Teams and integrating them exclusively into Teams Premium. Today, Teams Premium is usually available with advanced webinars.
One of the key selling points Microsoft is highlighting in advanced webinars is the “dynamic and rich” experiences before and during the meeting. Depending on the setup, both Teams Premium and existing webinars in Office 365/Microsoft 365 now allow for adding event details, co-hosts, presenter bios, brand theming, and custom questions. Registration can be managed for up to 1,000 attendees and you can also view their attendance status.
Custom registration start and end times for webinars can be configured along with waiting lists and approval queues. Organizers will also be able to send automated reminder emails from March 2023 to encourage attendees for upcoming webinars. Additionally, these are enhancements to the original webinar itself:
On the day of the webinar, presenters are able to join each other and the host in a virtual green room to ensure that preparation goes smoothly. With a virtual green room, presenters have a separate, dedicated space from attendees where they can connect and chat with real-time, on-stage content, quick briefings, and test runs without disturbing attendees. As attendees attend and wait for the event to begin, they are greeted with a welcome screen to inform them that the event will begin soon and to engage in chat and Q&A. Through presenters and can engage with each other.
However, this is not all. Webinar organizers can easily manage what they want the audience to see and integrate various external media feeds into the webinar using Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP-in).
An exclusive feature coming to Teams Premium also supports Microsoft eCDN in Teams Live Events. This will reduce the load on the enterprise network without the need to install anything on the endpoints.
Finally, we have some integrations. The first connects teams to MetaWorkplace Live, and we already know it’s being planned for March. The second is a new plugin for integration within the Elgato Stream deck, and is planned for general availability this month.
Although Thames Premium Website Microsoft claims that our side still does not show that the product is generally available. Blog post That is, so hopefully the details on the website will change soon. According to the FAQs, the license cost is expected to be $10/month/user.
