Microsoft Teams is getting a new set of admin options that should make it easier for organizers to manage attendee audio permissions in meetings. According to the Microsoft 365 roadmap, these updates are rolling out globally to all Microsoft Teams desktop and web clients, as well as mobile apps.

Previously, the presenters and organizers had to mute audio from all participants in order to prevent an individual attendee from unmuting during Microsoft Teams meetings. With this update, meeting hosts can now disable and enable the audio feed of a single attendee. To do so, select the “More options” (. . .) button next to the name of the person in the participant list and choose the "Don't allow to unmute" option.

In addition, the app now provides an option to the organizers to allow any attendee to turn on the mic even if their hand isn’t raised. This is a major change than before, where the meeting hosts could only unmute those participants who raised their hand to request to speak in the meeting.

Microsoft has detailed a couple of limitations with this update as well. Currently, the ability to manage attendee audio isn’t available for organizers and presenters joining from Teams meeting room or mobile devices. Moreover, they can’t prevent specific people from unmuting who joined the meeting using the phone number provided in the meeting details. The company is working on this functionality and plans to deliver it in a future update.

The new admin controls should be a convenient feature for education and business customers, and it should help to reduce potential disruptions. In case you missed it, Microsoft Teams will soon let organizers disable and enable the video stream of an individual or all attendees within a meeting. This feature is currently under development, and it’s coming in May 2021.

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