Skip to content
MarketScale
‹ Back to IndustriesProfessional AV

Remote Work Made Microsoft Teams a Household Name. It Also Forced the Software to Adapt.

Commentary: The pandemic’s mass shift of office work to remote and hybrid workflows was the perfect storm for remote collaboration tools to find new user bases, engage already active users, and test new features that would define the future of work. Unsurprisingly, Microsoft Teams, with its Office integrations and free-to-use chat features, absorbed a…

This story was produced through MarketScale. See how Professional AV teams put it to work with Customer Stories & Case Studies.

Share
Remote Work Made Microsoft Teams a Household Name. It Also Forced the Software to Adapt.

Get featured

Want to get featured in MarketScale Professional AV?

Create a free MarketScale workspace and get your company's expertise featured across our Professional AV coverage. No credit card, no demo required.

Start free

Commentary:

The pandemic’s mass shift of office work to remote and hybrid workflows was the perfect storm for remote collaboration tools to find new user bases, engage already active users, and test new features that would define the future of work. Unsurprisingly, Microsoft Teams, with its Office integrations and free-to-use chat features, absorbed a lot of this market growth.

In July, the company boasted a new milestone of 250 million active users, and most recently during its FY22 Q1 announcement, found large organizations were all-in on Teams use; more than 3000 organizations have more than 10,000 users, and among that group, integration of Teams with other third-party business apps rose 82% year-over-year.

How has this validation of virtual & cloud collaboration impacted Microsoft Teams’ products and approach to bringing solutions to market? The MarketScale team had the pleasure of sourcing Mehryn Corrigan, an Incubation Sales Executive for Microsoft Teams Rooms, at InfoComm 2021; we picked her brain on the biggest updates to Teams over the last year, and how she sees the larger ecosystem of technologies at InfoComm supporting Teams and the future of work.

Abridged Thoughts:

We’ve got all kinds of research and studies, but it’s all about the future of work. I mean, there’s so much really that people don’t know yet. Like of what’s going to happen in the next couple of years.

And that’s OK. I think it’s giving yourself the flexibility and the tools to figure that out along the way. So I think, you know, hybrid is obviously the word that people are throwing around a lot.

You know, having equity of experience no matter where you are. So it used to be most people were in the office and one person would be maybe remote and you’d be staring into that black little box on the table and just, you know, you couldn’t even see their face half the time. They couldn’t see what you guys were working on in the room, right?

And now it’s kind of a flip like the person on the opposite end that’s from home has access to their tools right there. They’re not anonymized. They’ve got their own screen they can share.

They can do everything that they need to do from home. So it’s been a huge shift, like you had said of paradigms.

Can AI Take the Artificial Out of the Office Experience?

Where Does Female Participation in AV Stand After the Past Year?

Your experts belong here

Every story in MarketScale Professional AV starts with a company putting its integrators, design engineers, and product specialists on the record. Buyers are already reading this topic. The only question is whose experts they find.

When a spec writer or facilities lead searches this category, your integrators are what they find instead of a competitor.

Get your team featuredSee how it works15 minutes, straight to a calendar.

Follow Professional AV Insights

Get new expert content in your inbox.

Professional AV: are you visible to AI?

Before they reach out, Professional AV buyers ask AI engines which vendors to trust. Explore how your experts, customers, and partners can become useful content for buyers and AI search.

Free plan

You just read one Professional AV expert. Your company is full of them.

This article was produced through MarketScale. The same platform turns your integrators, design engineers, and product specialists into the articles, video, and social content Professional AV buyers are searching for. Create a free workspace and see it with your own people. No credit card, no demo required.

NPS +73 · 1,000+ creators · 38+ countries

What you get, free

Your own MarketScale workspace, up to 10 people
One professional video edit a month for qualifying companies
Media requests to your crowd, remote recording, AI writing tools
$0, no credit card, nothing that expires

More Professional AV Insights

End users made up 37% of InfoComm 2026's 28,132 attendees

End users made up 37% of InfoComm 2026's 28,132 attendees

AVIXA reports InfoComm 2026 drew 28,132 verified attendees from 94 countries to Las Vegas, with end users making up 37%. Microsoft and Cisco keynotes centered on AI agents for the meeting room. For enterprise workplace and IT teams, the June attendance mix and cross-platform AI pitches are timely as fall buying decisions approach.

  • 01A 37% end-user share at a pro AV trade show is a usable benchmark: more than one in three badges belonged to organizations that deploy the equipment, suggesting exhibitors may be demoing more directly to customers.
  • 02A sharper question to put to a collaboration vendor before the demo is which platform an AI meeting feature actually runs on. According to AVIXA, Cisco framed intelligent systems and open collaboration ecosystems as working across platforms including Microsoft Teams, Google Meet and Zoom, while Microsoft tied its voice agents to Teams Phone and Teams Rooms.
  • 03The 170-meter Cat5e reach BZBGEAR's Matt Richards cited to CE Pro for the XTREME-PRO, part of the XLink-ONE family that took Best of Show at InfoComm 2026 from AV Technology, is a manufacturer spec, not an independent test; for facilities with runs past 100 meters it is worth a bench check before fiber is designed out.

Sep 18, 2026

Sponsors, not subscriptions, will fund free streaming across all 7 Smyrna Baseball League fields

Sponsors, not subscriptions, will fund free streaming across all 7 Smyrna Baseball League fields

Smyrna Baseball League in Tennessee is launching free live streaming across all seven of its fields through Hometown Live, with sponsors rather than subscription fees covering the six-figure project cost. Nevco Media Group is funding the initiative by matching the league with national and local advertisers, while the platform integrates scoring data, statistics, and video in a unified experience.

  • 01Nevco Media Group is funding a six-figure streaming project for Smyrna Baseball League by matching sponsors to cover technology costs instead of charging families subscription fees.
  • 02Each of seven fields receives a Nevco ONE scoring controller, Scorebird NeST device, and auto-switching cameras, with real-time scores and statistics integrated directly alongside video.
  • 03The partnership structure expands with the league's construction plans: new fields added by SBL trigger new technology installations, preventing the system from becoming outdated.

Sep 17, 2026

College of Idaho adds 10mm video display and scoreboard at Simplot Stadium

College of Idaho adds 10mm video display and scoreboard at Simplot Stadium

The College of Idaho installed a new 10mm Nevco video display and custom scoreboard system at Simplot Stadium to support the football program's rapid rise in the NAIA rankings. The venue upgrade is part of a broader athletics facilities investment aligned with the team's on-field success, including 11-2 record last season and number 4 national ranking.

  • 01The College of Idaho has installed a 10mm video display and scoreboard at Simplot Stadium.
  • 02The improvements are part of efforts to meet the demands of a growing football program.
  • 03Simplot Stadium hosted its first night game in 2024 following the installation of new lights in 2020.

Sep 17, 2026

Explore More Professional AV Insights

Read more expert perspectives from across Professional AV.

Browse Professional AV Hub

For B2B teams

Your experts could be publishing here

Stories like this one run on content MarketScale captures from real practitioners. See how your team's expertise becomes coverage in Professional AV and beyond.

Book a 15-minute demo

Or call us. No forms required. We pick up. 214-945-2512