Microsoft Teams: Support for Bluetooth headsets and phones will be improved

There are now many peripheral devices designed specifically for Microsoft Teams, Microsoft even has its own certification program for Teams hardware. While Microsoft and its partners are of course only too happy to sell this hardware, the standard accessories are still clearly in the majority.

Fortunately, the developers are trying to better support these devices as well. An update for teams on Windows is planned for July, with which the standardized Hands Free Protocol (HFP) will be better supported. A corresponding update for the Mac is also in the works, but it should not be released until spring 2023.

With HFP support, a team call can be accepted and ended with the corresponding standard button on a Bluetooth headset. Muting is also supported in this way. Telephones with corresponding hands-free functions also benefit from this.

Anyone who thinks “this is already working with my Bluetooth headset” is either using the preview version of Teams under Windows 10, because the new function is already active there, or a headset with its own USB dongle, there is one Corresponding “translation” of the function integrated into the hardware.

However, there is one limitation: If several audio devices are connected to the PC, the HFP support in teams does not work. A corresponding Windows update is being worked on, but it is still unclear when this will be available.

(Note: The announcement is not public, so the link to the source is missing. Microsoft 365 admins can find the message with ID MC387038 in the Microsoft 365 admin center)