Microsoft to accelerate Teams telephony and backtrack on log-in

Microsoft has announced changes for Teams that may require IT administrators to take action. The Teams app for the Windows desktop will get a new process responsible for telephony. Microsoft is also testing a log-in for private users with Apple and Google accounts in Teams Web, which could be displayed to corporate customers – the company is now pausing this.

Microsoft writes in the Microsoft 365 Message Center that the Teams version for the Windows desktop will receive a new process: ms-teams_modulehost.exe. This is intended to process call functions in Teams separately, which, according to Microsoft, leads to better performance and shorter startup times. "The new child process named ms-teams_modulehost.exe processes calls separately from the main application ms-teams.exe. This change optimizes resource usage and improves the meeting experience," Microsoft explains.

For administrators in organizations, this may mean rework. The process ms-teams_modulehost.exe, which newly appears in the Task Manager under the Teams process ms-teams.exe, might require inclusion in the whitelist of endpoint and security software so that it can start and run. Information for the helpdesk on this would be useful to avoid possible "confusion" during troubleshooting. The changes are expected to take effect from January, at which point Microsoft will start distributing the new software versions.

Teams Web with new log-in functions

As early as Monday this week, Microsoft an article on log-in options for Teams Web was updated. According to this, Microsoft is testing that private users can log in to Microsoft with Apple and Google accounts. This should not affect enterprise users. Nevertheless, Microsoft has now stopped the test without providing details about the reasons. Since Microsoft states that some users may receive a prompt asking whether they are using a private or a work or school account, this may have caused disruptions in some companies.

At the end of October, it became known that Teams will record users' office presence from December can.

(dmk)