Summary
- Microsoft Teams will automatically identify the user’s location when connecting to corporate Wi-Fi, updating the status to indicate whether they are in the office.
- The feature aims to improve communication in hybrid teams, but raises concerns about employee privacy and monitoring.
- The launch is scheduled for December 2025, and Microsoft did not detail how the function will be implemented or the associated privacy policies.
Microsoft Teams is about to get a controversial update that promises to make attendance control easier, but which could also cause discomfort among workers. The company revealed that the platform will automatically identify when the user is in the office, updating the location status as soon as the device connects to corporate Wi-Fi.
The new feature aims to reduce confusion about where each employee is – remote or in-person –, but it also raises concerns about privacy and monitoring. The feature can highlight those who prefer a calmer workday at the office or those who switch between environments without informing the team.
How the new Teams feature works
According to the official announcement, the feature will be integrated into Teams itself and will be activated whenever the application identifies access to the company’s network, displaying the corresponding workplace. It will “reflect the building they are working in,” according to Microsoft.
For now, the company has not detailed how the function will be implemented, whether there will be manual control over the visibility of this information or which privacy policies will accompany the feature. The launch is scheduled for December 2025, and the tool is still in the development phase.
Useful or invasive feature?
The proposal to automate location status in Teams aims to improve communication between hybrid teams, making it easier to know who is available in person. However, the measure may cause discomfort among employees who see automation as an additional step in corporate monitoring.
The update is part of a series of recent improvements from Microsoft to increase productivity within Teams. In recent months, the platform has received customizable keyboard shortcuts, the function to save specific messages in conversations and new annotation modes in Chat Notes.
Source: https://tecnoblog.net/noticias/funcao-do-microsoft-teams-vai-contar-ao-seu-chefe-se-voce-esta-no-escritorio/
