June 18, 2021: -On Thursday, Microsoft announced enhancements to its Whiteboard app that will make it easy for multiple people to doodle, leave sticky notes and paste images on a virtual canvas.

It strengthens a component of Office software of Microsoft that has faced mounting competition in the coronavirus pandemic. Most corporate workers were made to work from home as the virus spread, which prevents people from brainstorming with physical whiteboards and blackboards in the office.

The demand for Whiteboard accelerates since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. This led Microsoft to add features quickly, said Nicole Herskowitz, general manager of the Microsoft Teams communication app. Microsoft introduced Whiteboard in the year 2017 and offered a way for people to use it from inside Teams in the year 2019.

New cursors in Whiteboard clearly show what different participants are doing, and people can leave feedback on specific objects by adding thumbs-up, heart, and star stickers.

A laser pointer lets presenters highlight components in the meetings. Users can also bring to Whiteboard their data stored in blocks known as Fluid Components, which can also be accessed within other Office applications. New templates for kanban boards and competitive analysis are available to help people accomplish more in the app.

People can use the updated version of Microsoft Whiteboard while holding Microsoft Teams video calls.

The pandemic made software whiteboards more critical. Okta, which sells software that companies use to provide access to many corporate applications, said in February that amid November 2019 and October 2020, start-up Miro’s whiteboard program was the second-fastest-growing app among its customers, behind only Amazon Business. Miro says to have 20 million users on its website, and its software allows multiple users simultaneously.

The third growing app was San Francisco-based Figma, which people use to collaborate on updates to app designs. In April, Figma introduced FIGJAM, a whiteboarding tool that’s integrated with its main app.