Microsoft Groups launched a brand new “Communities” function on Android and iOS units, the corporate announced at present. Customers can now create and set up teams with their leisure sports activities membership, occasion planning committee, parent-teacher affiliation, or every other group of their neighborhood. The function provides customers entry to group calendars, occasion scheduling, conferences, doc/picture sharing, video calls and chat.
Communities in Groups embrace a “new occasions expertise” that enables customers so as to add occasions to their neighborhood calendar, in addition to invite friends, observe attendance, and chat with attendees by direct personal messenger, the corporate wrote in its official weblog. Plus, Microsoft Groups will launch SignUpGenius in 2023 to assist customers coordinate fundraisers, plan occasions, enlist volunteers and extra.
As of at present, Communities is now rolling out within the free model of Microsoft Groups. At launch, it’s obtainable on cellular solely, nevertheless, the corporate famous that it might arrive on desktop quickly.
The function will be discovered by the Residence tab inside the Groups cellular app. Customers choose “Create new neighborhood” after which “Create from scratch.” The consumer then chooses an emoji or an image for his or her neighborhood, in addition to a reputation, description and set of tips.
Customers will need to have a Microsoft account to affix, and members can invite others to the group by sending a hyperlink or exhibiting a QR code.
The launch of Communities signifies that Microsoft Groups could also be seeking to discover extra alternatives for progress behind being solely a office collaboration and productiveness device, to compete extra instantly with social apps, like Fb, Discord, Twitter and WhatsApp, in addition to with Slack, which additionally markets itself to customers.
The function additionally comes a yr after Microsoft tried to accumulate Discord for a reported $10 billion. Discord ended the talks with the corporate in April 2021, wrote The Wall Street Journal.
Microsoft has tried different methods to get extra customers to make use of the Groups app, comparable to a brand new social gaming performance, “Games for Work,” animated avatars and AI-powered recaps.
