Being shocked out of a productive streak by jarring Microsoft Teams notifications could soon be a thing of the past - or about to get a lot worse, thanks to a new update.
A new feature for the video conferencing platform will soon allow users to change the sound of their Microsoft Teams notifications to whatever they like.
In its entry on the official Microsoft 365 roadmap, the company says the change will, "help you stay focused, prioritize quickly and avoid distractions."
No more Microsoft Teams alerts
In theory, this could be a great boost for anyone who does find their working day constantly interrupted by that one specific sound, but there might be a slightly unfortunate edge to the feature which could prove even more triggering.
That's because Microsoft's feature will apparently have no limit on what sound users can change their notification tone too, meaning you could instead be plagued with any kind of noise - maybe a TV character catchphrase, wacky sound effect, or even a retro "You've Got Mail" throwback.
Users will also be able to make urgent notifications or alerts from primary contacts "more prominent" - which sounds particularly worrying, especially as Microsoft doesn't go into any specific details on exactly what this will entail.
The good news is that users will be able to mute notification sounds (whatever they may be) if you are in a meeting, or need to get your head down for an important deadline.
The change is listed as being "in development" at the time of writing, with an expected rollout date of July 2024, so users won't have too long to wait. Upon release, it will be available to users across all tiers across the world - but will only be open to desktop users for the time being.
The news is the latest bid by Microsoft to build closer compatibility for its users, following recent news of a move to bring together "every type of Teams account" into a single desktop app.
Going forward, no matter whether you are on a work, school or personal Microsoft Teams account, users will now all access the same app, doing away with the current requirement for multiple versions for different use cases.
