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September 8, 2026

Microsoft Teams Enhancements

UWIT is excited to roll out three new enhancements to help faculty and staff get more out of Microsoft Teams. All three are available now. Learn more about these optional features below!

Teams Premium

Microsoft Teams Premium is an add-on license ($28 per user/year) that enhances the basic Teams experience by:

  • Automatically capturing meeting recordings and transcripts, making it easier to review discussions after the meeting.
  • Generating AI-powered notes and summaries that highlight key discussion points.
  • Suggesting follow-up tasks and action items to help teams track next steps.
  • Providing chapters, timeline markers, and speaker identification so users can quickly find important moments in a meeting.

Note: Teams Premium meeting recordings, transcripts, and AI-generated summary (Intelligent Recap) content are retained for 120 days, by default. For more information, refer to Microsoft Teams Retention Policy Change.

Teams Premium Questions

Teams Premium is available to all faculty, staff and affiliates at UW and UW Medicine, pending authorization from your budget approver.

Teams Premium is available to all faculty, staff and affiliates at UW and UW Medicine, pending authorization from your budget approver. Follow your unit’s usual process for requesting and obtaining budget approval.

Once approved, the add-on license will automatically be renewed each year.

For more information, refer to Microsoft Teams Premium.

New Button to Create Teams (UW Create)

The new UW Create button launches a portal where you can create Microsoft 365 workspaces and services. Currently, the portal allows you to create Teams directly from the Microsoft Teams interface. This button, which displays on the left pane, allows you to:

  • Choose a custom name for your Team
  • Set hidden membership, when appropriate
  • Enable email/Outlook integration

Additional capabilities will be added over time.

UW Create Questions

This enhancement is available to all faculty, staff, and affiliates at UW and UW Medicine.

For more information, refer to UW Create.

Teams Phone Recordings and Transcripts (Does Not Apply to UW Medicine)

If you use Microsoft Teams Phone and are part of UW Academy, you can now record and/or transcribe your phone calls:

  • Recordings and transcriptions can be accessed via the call history in the Phone app.
  • Calls that have been recorded and/or transcribed now include the following icons:An image of the icons associated with recordings and transcriptions in Teams Phone: recap, recorded, and transcription.

Note: Teams Phone recordings and transcripts are retained for 120 days, by default. For more information, refer to Microsoft Teams Retention Policy Change.

Teams Phone Questions

This enhancement is available to UW Academy faculty and staff. It is not available to UW Medicine employees.

For more information, refer to Teams Phone Additional Features.

Need Help?

Email help@uw.edu and include “Microsoft Teams” in the subject line.

Microsoft Teams Retention Policy Change

Starting October 6, 2026, new Microsoft Teams recordings, transcripts, and AI-generated meeting summaries (Intelligent Recap) will be automatically deleted after 120 days unless you choose to retain them longer. For more information, refer to Microsoft Teams Retention Policy Change.