Separate pop-up window for new 'incoming' chats

Brass Contributor

Hello, I'm sorry if this has already been asked.  I've looked and haven't been able to easily locate it.  Feel free to point me to the conversation if it already exists.

 

So I understand that Teams now allows you to have a separate pop-out windows to chat with someone so you can continue working in teams with that chat open.  But my question is more related to incoming chats.  I tend to receive multiple chats from several people and chats get buried and missed for long period by simply having them bolded in 'Recent' chats.

 

Is there a way to have a separate chat window automatically pop-out when a new 'incoming' chat is received and have them highlighted as separate windows in the task bar?  This is functionality my company previously had in Skype for Business and it was helpful to make sure I get to all chats that are sent me.

 

Thank you for your help!

Chris

 

30 Replies

@cdublyoo So you want new incoming chats to open up in a separate window automatic when they arrives? That is not possible. The only notification you can get is the notification you get when the message arrives but it will not automatic open in a separate window. 

 

I usually when I get a couple of minutes just check the recent chats and answer the chats or mark a message as unread so I can come back to it when I have more time to answer the message.

@Linus Cansby Thanks for responding!  It just seems a little clunky.  I may have answered a chat to one person but when another chat comes in from a different person, then the Teams app flashes in the task bar with the name of the person I previously chatted with and not the new person.  

 

Like I said, with the above workflow things soon get lost or ignored unless I periodically remind myself to go back and make sure there aren't other chats buried.  It would be a nice future enhancement to have a setting to allow a new chat to pop a new window for users that manage their work that way.

 

Thanks again for responding Linus.

Chris

@cdublyoo 

This feature is my dream "Teams" feature right now. 

 

We recently went from Skype to Teams, and I now miss every chat instigation.  We are a huge organization with the "Activity" section always ticking up its little red counter.  Not all work is desk work, so I miss 100% of my chats and just had a machine down overnight because my only notification came through Teams and that little 3 second popup isn't enough when my back is turned and I am soldering test boards. 

 

Of course the notification number ticked up on the Teams window icon in the taskbar, but that is always growing due to the "Activity" section.

 

Ultimately, my problem is that the only real indicator of someone trying to reach me through teams is the same indicator as people talking in a group that I am also a part of.  And our organization has huge groups for systems we work with.  There are always conversations being had in the HR, AzureDevops,  IT maintenance notifications, or Oracle groups that include the entire company.

 

I know we could use email or phone calls, but we were trained to use Skype for this function and it was wonderful for that.  Making new chats open in a new window (or having that option in settings) would fix this.  The user can turn to their screen, and there is a chat window popped up, right there, in front of everything.  Pertinent. User friendly. Immediate communication.  Perfect.

Good lord, yes. The lack of this feature drive me bonkers. Skype did this, now my company goes to Teams, which does not do this. I'm always missing conversations for this reason (yes, all notifications are turned on). Microsoft REEEALLLYYY needs to understand, 'If it's not broken, don't fix it'!!!!!! They always change things, and not for a good reason. Moving the search bar in Outlook, after alllll these years, is another example of that. It's like they get bored with the look of something, and change it 'just because'. STOP IT!

This should be the default. I have some teams which send a lot of announcement notifications so looking for the teams notification icon is unhelpful because it's always red, even if there's nothing that needs my attention. Also, muting a team or channel literally changes nothing, as in it actually doesn't do anything. Chat messages already have a 'pop-out' option, so implementing this should be trivial, and would be extremely helpful to those of us who use Teams 10% as much as e-mail.

@cdublyoo I totally agree with you.

Whether the default ability out-of-the-box, or the ability to set the behaviour would be an enabler.

Unfortunately, since Microsoft joined the »App-bandwagon« focusing on "mobile" and "browsers", changing from developing real applications and instead rapidly deploying changes, the "bring value" has been disregarded and replaced with disablers rather than enablers.

We see this especially (but unfortunately not only - e.g. Outlook search bar moved to some of the Office 365 applications top window frame - an enabler or disabler for users? your call) with Microsoft Teams.

The rapid deployment is (sometimes) (only) followed with publication of videos of "wow check out this cool new feature", rather than a documentation fo changes which can be chosen (by those who wants to) rather than enforced.

On many points Microsoft Teams has never left the beta stage.

@Anthony_Frantz  yes this is a big deal. Inevitably, what everyone in my organization does is send a chat by Teams and then after not hearing back for a minute, sends  a Skype message. This is a really poor way for Microsoft to gain adoption for their new products (everyone goes back to the old one because it's better?). Auto popout chats is a must!

Anyone from Microsoft viewing this - you can add my name to the list of people who really want this feature. Managing chats in Teams is a real bother compared to Skype for Business.

Ditto for me... this is driving me crazy and I am missing notificaitons. @AmitaiIrron 

I can't understand why Teams is missing such basic feature which is standards in all other chat software!!! Teams is really lacking so many basic features, it's so often counter-intuitive and counter-productive. No wonder why there are articles that, despite Microsoft Office monopolistic position, Teams is expected to eventually fail compared to other solutions...

...and until then I'm obliged to use it at work :cry:

@Pernille-Eskebo - the implementation in Teams that "I'm in a Teams meeting, and cannot see notifications that someone is trying to reach me because Teams doesn't allow for automatic pop-out of new incoming messages" is critically flawed. While it's nice to "keep the user focused on the meeting, IMs that come in when the user is obviously in a meeting (nice feature that shows that to the originator of the message) are likely urgent enough that they should be displayed, rather than hidden behind the meeting. :(

@Gauthier_BE  I couldn't agree more. We need this feature! Went from Skype to Teams and now I am missing IMs like crazy. Teams is a great idea but I am finding it clunky and making work harder, not easier. And like you - I have no choice! Hoping this gets better with time..........

@Linus Cansby - Sorry for the late "what the?!?" response, but c'mon. Skype for Business, which is another Microsoft property (that Teams is being positioned as a direct replacement for) has this functionality. It's objectively, demonstrably possible. Let's get this implemented now, shall we, please?

@cdublyoo I wish this feature would come out already. I get so many IM's that I miss because the window doesn't pop out when a new message comes in. 

@cdublyoo In addition to everyone that wants this feature, I just wanted to add that I'd really like this to bring the new window to the front. I work in the art department and I'm constantly working on orders that take multiple hours and use 3 monitors. So unless I catch that little notification that only comes up on one monitor for the few seconds it does, I always miss it. I'm far too hyper-focused to even THINK about checking my messages every 30 minutes or whatnot. So I'd really love a new message to just reveal itself instead of hiding behind my artwork, references, order information, and palettes which I'm actively using while I work. 

@Ditto for me.  I miss chats all of the time since switching from Skype to Teams.

 

We just recently started using Teams and already this is a problem. It's way too easy for messages to be overlooked. If I've stepped away from my computer for a few minutes and a new message arrives, I want it to be waiting on my screen when I return.

@Pam_Spencer Seems maybe they moved it? This one looks like the best alternative, but it only has 50 or so upvotes. Surely there are more?

 

https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback/idea/10497837-282e-ec11-b6e6-00224827bbc2?q=auto+pop+o...