For years, Microsoft Mesh for Teams has promised companies an opportunity to create richer, more immersive collaborative experiences. Back in 2021, Microsoft announced a slew of plans for “Mesh,” saying the solution would build on existing Teams features, like “Together Mode,” designed to connect in-office, remote, and hybrid workers on a deeper level.
Since then, however, access to Microsoft Mesh for Teams has remained relatively limited until now. At Microsoft Ignite 2023, Microsoft announced that “Mesh for Teams” would begin rolling out to various Microsoft account holders in January 2024.
Now, anyone with a suitable license can access Microsoft Mesh for Teams to create and use immersive spaces, elevate user engagement, and unlock new levels of productivity in the metaverse.
Here’s your guide to using Microsoft Mesh for Teams.
What is Microsoft Mesh for Teams?
Microsoft Mesh is a powerful platform designed to help companies host and manage immersive, shared experiences across various devices. It combines Azure cloud technologies with Microsoft Graph, Microsoft 365 apps (like Teams), and tools from Unity, the popular XR engine millions of developers use worldwide.
According to Microsoft, Mesh was designed to give companies the tools to host and manage unique events in immersive spaces tailored to their needs. Microsoft Mesh for Teams simply brings the power of the Mesh ecosystem to your existing Teams environment.
It allows users to leverage familiar devices, from PCs to Meta Quest headsets, to collaborate in virtual environments. The solution includes:
- 3D digital environments: Pre-built or custom virtual environments, complete with co-presence, spatial interactions, spatial audio, and bespoke digital avatars.
- Meeting controls: Access all your standard Teams meeting controls, seat assignments, and unique experiences for different users.
- Interactive elements: Built-in interactive games for team building and live reactions, such as hearts and “thumbs up” emojis, to express yourself in meetings.
- Support for multiple devices: Support for PCS, VR headsets, or both.
- Content and animations: Access to customizable content that can be managed and shared throughout virtual events.
- Enterprise-grade security and privacy: All of the security and privacy features you’d already expect from Microsoft Teams and Microsoft 365 apps.
- Rich tools: A comprehensive solutions toolkit for building, iterating, and optimizing immersive spaces, including visual scripting features with Unity.
How to Use Microsoft Mesh for Teams: Pricing
As of January 2024, standard Mesh features (such as Immersive Spaces for Teams) are free to all users on a Microsoft Teams business plan. However, if you want to create a customized experience, you’ll also need a Microsoft Premium license. This is an add-on for your standard Microsoft 365 app subscription model.
To help users explore the benefits of Mesh for Teams, Microsoft is offering a 6-month trial for “custom Mesh experiences” for all users with existing business plans. This comes with support for larger immersive spaces, the Mesh no-code editor, and the Mesh toolkit.
After this trial ends, you’ll need a Microsoft Teams plan (ranging from $4 to $57 per user) and the Teams Premium plan to continue using the service. Users will need a PC or a Quest VR headset to access Mesh immersive spaces. Microsoft has yet to reveal support for any other VR headsets.
PC devices also need a minimum 4-core CPU and 8GB of RAM. Plus, it’s worth noting that Microsoft Mesh for Teams only works with the classic Teams version, not Teams 2.0.
Getting Started with Microsoft Mesh for Teams
To enable access to Microsoft Mesh for Teams, administrators must ensure users have an approved Teams license, Teams Premium (for customization), and access to the Mesh app for PC or Meta (Available from the Microsoft and Meta app stores).
Once the proper licenses are available, here are the steps you’ll take to experiment with Mesh.
Step 1: Creating Mesh Immersive Spaces
The core features of Microsoft Mesh for Teams currently fall into two categories: custom avatars and Immersive Spaces for Teams. Immersive spaces are the digital environments powered by Mesh for Teams, which can be customized to suit various use cases.
When launching Microsoft Mesh for Teams, you can choose between a range of “immersive space” options. You can either use a pre-built environment from Microsoft or:
- Customize a space template: Use the no-code mesh editor to customize immersive experiences. You can add images and audio, screen share in a 3D canvas, and even showcase videos in virtual environments. Custom spaces can be saved as templates for future use.
- Build a custom environment: Access Unity and the Mesh toolkit together to create custom immersive experiences. You can leverage live data connections (to link your existing apps), build virtual 3D interactions, and deploy the space to Mesh with Microsoft’s existing security and privacy measures in place.
Step 2: Design and use Microsoft Mesh Avatars
Microsoft Mesh for Teams users will be able to choose and customize their own avatar for immersive collaboration. You can choose between using an avatar you’ve built for standard 2D Teams meetings or creating a new avatar from scratch.
With advanced tracking capabilities and improved rendering, Microsoft is investing in making these 3D avatars more lifelike in the coming months. It’s worth updating your avatar over time as new features and capabilities emerge in Microsoft Teams.
Step 3: Create and manage events in the Mesh Portal
With Mesh on the web, business users can create and manage events for Teams, create templates to reuse in the future and manage various uploaded environments. When hosting an event with Microsoft Mesh for Teams, organizers can schedule an event with an existing template or create something new with the Mesh toolkit.
When the environment is ready, users can also make any changes necessary to the environment before the event data. Additionally, attendees can find Mesh events listed in their Outlook and Teams calendars for easy access when they’re ready to join.
Step 4: Joining Spaces in Microsoft Mesh for Teams
From Teams, users can join an immersive space in Mesh in a few different ways. As mentioned above, you can participate from a scheduled meeting on Teams or Outlook. Alternatively, you can join a meeting from a channel or start a new one with the “Meet Now” button.
Notably, only 16 participants are allowed in an immersive space simultaneously. To access a meeting, simply click on the “Join” button for the meeting, then select the “View” button to choose the “Immersive Space” option. This will take you to the “pre-join” screen, where you can see other participants and customize your avatar, audio device, and other settings.
Step 4 Alternative: Join a Meeting from a Quest Device
Besides joining a Mesh for Microsoft Teams meeting through Teams, you can also join directly from a Quest device. You’ll need to download the Microsoft Mesh app from Meta’s app lab and install it on your Quest devices.
Users will need to sign in with their Meta ID on the Meta store and then log into their Microsoft account through the Meta browser. Once Mesh is up and running on your Quest device, you can select “Teams” from the left-hand Mesh dashboard menu and choose “Start meeting” or “Join meeting” to access an immersive space.
Step 5: Using Microsoft Mesh for Teams
Once in an “Immersive Space,” users can move around and interact with colleagues in various ways. If you’re using VR, you can move around naturally using the controls in your Quest headset. Alternatively, you can use the WASD keys to move around on a computer keyboard.
During a meeting, all standard Teams features will be available either above the Immersive space window on a desktop or in your Mesh app bar on a Quest device. These controls will allow you to share content, chat, access information about attendees, and mute/unmute your microphone.
You can also give Microsoft feedback about the Mesh for Teams experience by selecting the system menu at the bottom of the screen and clicking the “feedback” button.
The Benefits of Using Microsoft Mesh for Teams
Microsoft Mesh for Teams and Immersive Spaces represent giant steps forward in Microsoft’s plan to democratize access to immersive collaboration. Before releasing Mesh for Teams, Microsoft said its Work Trend Index report found that 43% of leaders struggle to maintain and build employee relationships in the hybrid and remote work age.
Mesh for Teams aims to tackle this issue by:
- Delivering Inspiring meeting spaces: Truly immersive and customizable meeting spaces to suit any business need. Companies can create environments to facilitate collaborative work, training sessions, amazing events, and even team bonding exercises.
- Improving collaboration: Immersive meetings with Mesh give everyone a sense of presence in a meeting that’s difficult to replicate with video calls. Thanks to spatial audio zones, people can express themselves through avatars, share content, and even engage in simultaneous conversations without worrying about distractions.
- Enhancing productivity: Mixed reality adds another dimension to the collaboration experience. With meetings in Mesh, users can immerse themselves in unique environments, share content, and experiment with blueprints in an infinitely flexible world.
- Boosting inclusivity: In Immersive Meetings within Microsoft Mesh, users get various customization options for avatars to ensure they feel represented. Teams can also join spaces using an extended reality device or a standard PC.
- Optimizing engagement: With Microsoft Mesh for Teams, companies can unlock new levels of engagement. A fully customizable virtual world eliminates the risk of outside distractions harming team focus levels and experiences.
Using Microsoft Mesh for Teams
Microsoft Mesh for Teams represents an incredible opportunity for businesses to rethink how employees share knowledge and collaborate. Today, it’s more important than ever for companies to find ways of connecting their teams, strengthening bonds, and boosting productivity.
The immersive experience in Teams will offer brands a new way to foster genuine human connections and unlock productivity. As Microsoft says, Mesh isn’t just another innovation in their collaborative roadmap. It’s a solution designed to transform distributed workforces like never before, bridging the gaps between the real and digital worlds.
