In a bid to take on the rising popularity of video-conferencing platform Zoom, Microsoft Teams has introduced 24 hours long free video calls.

According to The Verge, desktop and web users will now be able to make 24-hour video calls in Microsoft Teams.

For this, the host will need a Microsoft account, after which he will be able to add up to 300 people to the call. If for some reason the host cannot speak, he can leave the meeting so that other people can continue talking for hours.

49 out of 300 people will appear on the screen and Microsoft expects that the feature called Together Mode will make people feel less lonely.

This is not the first attempt by Microsoft to gain public attention for any of its video chat apps during the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier, Microsoft's proprietary service Skype introduced a free login meeting feature in the early days of the pandemic.

But the new feature is even more important at present, especially during the second wave of the coronavirus, where video chat rates are rising again, as people in the United States and Europe try to communicate with each other over the Christmas holidays.

Earlier, Zoom also announced the temporary termination of a 40-minute free video call on Thanksgiving.