Bring joy to your Teams meetings with Snapchat Lenses

Apr 11, 2023

Apps, Microsoft

Microsoft has announced that users will now have access to Snapchat Lenses during Teams meetings.

Teams users have been given access to 26 Snapchat Lenses that they can use during meetings. The feature will be available for Teams for Work customers only. Users will be able to transform them into cartoon characters or add fun backgrounds to their videos. Users don't have to download anything as the feature is implemented into the Teams app.

"Starting this week, a collection of 20+ of the most popular Snapchat Lenses are available to Teams customers globally, giving you more ways to express yourself, build relationships, and let your meetings shine. Ahem, cue the Sunglasses Lens. Or better yet, check out Bear in Love, Cat on Head, or the Sunset Lenses. And did you know video calls make up 78% of positive memories in meetings?" says Microsoft.

This will be the second time that Microsoft is using Snapchat's Camera Kit. Recently, it was used to bring Snap AR to Flip.

How to use Snapchat Lenses in Teams meetings?

You can enable Snapchat Lenses before and during your meetings. If you want to set it up prior to your meeting, follow the steps below:

Click “Video Effects”
Click “More Video Effects”
Scroll down in the right pane and select “Snapchat” under the “Filters” category
Scroll down to view all and select your favorite Lens
Click “Join now”

If you have already joined the meeting without selecting a Snapchat Lens beforehand, you can still choose one during your meetings. Here is how:

Click “More…” at the top of your meeting screen
Click “Video Effects”
Scroll down in the right pane and select "Snapchat” under the “Filters” category
Scroll down to view all and select your favorite Lens
Click “Preview” to see your selected Lens without others viewing yet or “Apply” to turn on your favorite Lens

Microsoft has been rolling out new features for Teams, mainly targeting the entertainment aspect of meetings. The company has already announced a couple of filter and camera effect features before. Besides, people will also be able to use the power of GPT-4 in the upcoming months, thanks to Microsoft 365 Copilot.

On the other hand, Snapchat recently shut down its camera app for desktops. The application helped people use filters during video calls, but the company wanted to "focus more on expanding Camera Kit access for the web."