Video Conferencing - how to know if my video is one of the 4 visible

Copper Contributor

I have tried researching this question online but haven't had any luck. I have noticed that the update to the 4 visible video screens is sometimes delayed, so we often have folks who don't realize they are one of the 4 visible to everyone. We have had some individuals start talking but not be visible to others for at least 15 seconds. I'm trying to figure out if there's some sort of flag or notification within Teams that tells users they are one of the 4 'automatically visible' folks on a video conference call. I am aware of the ability to pin specific users (up to 4), which is helpful when trying to see a specific person, but it doesn't answer the core question. Any guidance would be appreciated!

13 Replies

Hi @eprucci 

 

The Most Active Speakers Video is displayed on the Microsoft Teams Meeting Window. For Example the person talking for more than 20 seconds becomes the most active person and that persons video is displayed on the Teams Meeting along with the past 3 Active Speakers.

 

In addition to the above details Microsoft is also coming up with 3x3 Feature wherein we would be able to view the Most Active 9 participants in the Microsoft Teams Meeting.

 

With Regards,

Satish U  

Hi. Thought I'd chime in here rather than start a new conversation; my question relates to the maximum number of visible video screens on a video call. Is it 4? I'm assuming that's the case from the question above. We tried a video call with my team last week; out of 6 participating, only 4 were visible. Is there a way to have a video call with more than 4 screens visible (i.e. my entire team of 8 people)? Thanks in advance for your time today.

Hi @bakkerd 

 

No issues you can always add-on wherever you see any issues related to each other. The answer to your query is already answered in my previous response.

 

Currently Microsoft Teams Is supporting only 2x2 Layout. Microsoft is working on releasing the 3X3 Layout which was already announced by Microsoft. Using this we would be able to see 9 participants maximum in the Microsoft Teams Meeting. 

 

Here is the reference article for the same

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-teams-blog/what-s-new-in-microsoft-teams-3rd-annive...

 

With Regards,

Satish U

@RealTime_M365 I appreciate this feedback, but it leads me to assume that the real answer to my question is that Teams doesn't identify the 'active speakers' in any way? What we've noticed is that sometimes people become part of the 4 active speakers because of ruffling papers or something, but they are unaware of becoming visible to everyone. We have other people who start talking, don't realize they're on mute, but they don't realize that people can't see them.

 

My question was if Teams has a way of identifying to users when they are an 'active speaker' and one of the 4 visible people? I've wondered this too as I've started speaking, know that people can then see me, but I don't see myself as one of the 4...I still see 4 other speakers on my screen. Am I supposed to see myself appear as one of the 4 screens when I speak? Is there a way to make that happen?

@eprucci The 4 speakers isn't a simple static definition, for example if you are speaking then you don't see yourself, or if someone pins a video of someone not speaking then they are seen. It's good to train people to stay muted when not talking, then they won't bubble to the top, but it really doesn't matter as there's generally only one person that is speaking at once and they are pretty likely to be one of the 4.

@RealTime_M365 Thank yo uso much. Very helpful indeed; we'll find another way to have our unit meetings. Is there a roll-out date for this? The article you sent me doesn't mention the 9x9 feature.

Kind regards,

Deborah

@Steven Collier  If a participant inadvertently turns on their video camera, and all other participants in the meeting have their camera off, does the participant with the active video camera automatically come up to the active video panel to all participants? I just want to clarify if turning your camera on (when everyone else's cameras are off) bring you into active view of everyone--or do you have to actually speak (whether your camera is on or off) in order to become active? Thanks for clarifying.

Hi,

It still works on the same concept of Active Speaker. If you have more than 10people on the call it should always work on the Active Speaker who is speaking in the call.

With Regards,
Satish U

@RealTime_M365 While that's correct now, it's not when 3x3 becomes available over the next couple of weeks. It prioritises the users sharing video over people just talking.

@Steven Collier And here is a quote from Message center (to further explain that).

 

"We are increasing the number of participants shown on the stage to 9 and making it video optimized. For more than 9 participants, we will prioritize those with video on and show them on the stage. Participants with audio will be shown below the meeting stage. To provide a high audio and video quality experience, the layout logic will consider user bandwidth and alter the number of videos shown to provide the best meeting experience."

 

@bakkerd "We'll begin rolling this out in late April and expect to be complete by early May."

 

@eprucciI have the same question.  Putting it simply - How do I know if I am on screen when I am on a call.  The responses are helpful but do I take it that there is currently no way of knowing what the other participants are seeing?  Thanks

This is one of the things I find frustrating with Teams video.  Sometimes I want to indicate something visual to the speaker, a nod of the head or a smile of agreement, but there is no way to know if they can even see me.       I also use Zoom and Jitsi which both do this well - I can always see that I am seen by others. 

 

It would be nice if Teams also provided a way to let us know @RHappy25