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Sunday, September 4, 2022

Friends of Microsoft Teams - Week 35 - 2022 (August 29 - September 4)

Today I am taking over the weekly newsletter "Friends of Microsoft Teams". I will send out this letter once per week, covering news and articles about Microsoft Teams. Please send me an email if you would like to receive the letter going forward. (mattias.kressmark (at) microsoft.com) Below is a copy of my first edition.


Hello Friend of Microsoft Teams,

Find below a list of public posts and updates on Microsoft Teams (and Microsoft 365) that have been published in Week 35 of 2022, August 29 - September 4.

Feel free to share with your partners, customers, colleagues, and peers.

Announcement :

This is my first "Friends of Teams" message trying to continue this great initiative started by Dirk Gullentops. A huge "Thank you!!!" Dirk for all the information and support you have given the community over the years! I will try to continue this weekly letter in the same style as Dirk. Please send me feedback or ideas and feel free to follow me on LinkedIn MattiasKressmark

 

What's New in Microsoft Teams (and Microsoft 365) :

 

Field Advisories :

 
Community:

 

M365 Message Center :

 

  • Teams :

Automatically view up to 49 videos (7x7) in Teams meeting MC424898 · Published Sep 2, 2022

Microsoft Teams Meetings currently supports a maximum of 9 videos (3x3) on the screen by default (in Gallery view). For seeing more than 9 videos, user needs to manually select the ‘Large Gallery’ view. With this update, users will be able to automatically see up to 49 videos (7x7) on their screen by default without an explicit action. However, Large Gallery view will still continue to exist as an option.

The actual number of videos seen by a user in Gallery will depend on:

  • hardware/device capabilities
  • internet bandwidth
  • whether content is popped out in a separate window or not.

Please note: This enhancement will be supported on devices that meet hardware requirements (CPU, memory etc.). Detailed information regarding hardware requirements will be shared by Sep 22, 2022 (before GA release).

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 86435.

 

(Updated) Transcription in 1:1 VOIP Calls MC298824 · Published Nov 18, 2021 · Last updated Sep 2, 2022

Updated September 2, 2022: We have updated the rollout timeline below. Thank you for your patience.

Transcription in 1:1 VOIP Calls will soon be available.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 68774.

 

(Updated) Enable Q&A in Teams Meetings via Meeting Options MC399074 · Published Jul 9, 2022 · Last updated Sep 2, 2022

Updated September 2, 2022: Availability for the web has been delayed and will be rolling out in November. Thank you for your patience.

Teams meetings organizers can soon set up Q&A in their meetings via Meeting Options. Q&A is perfect for large or structured meetings – such as trainings, town hall, all hands and more.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 97020

 

(Updated) Microsoft Teams: Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows store application 4.14 update MC420056 · Published Aug 26, 2022 · Last updated Sep 2, 2022

Updated September 2, 2022: We have updated the content below with additional details. Thank you for your patience.

Teams Rooms on Windows application version 4.14 includes key new features and improvements to existing functionality as follows:

•            Front row experience update

•            Pin and hide the room video

•            Turn off split gallery with XML setting

•            18 videos support for dual display Teams rooms

This change is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID: 95258

 

(Updated) Show As now available in Teams Meetings MC364307 · Published Apr 25, 2022 · Last updated Sep 2, 2022

Updated September 2, 2022: We have updated the rollout timeline below. Thank you for your patience.

Microsoft Teams users will soon be able to set individual "Show As" statuses to meetings. Currently the default "Show As" value for all the meetings an organizer creates is "Busy".

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 93145.

 

(Updated) Adding a restore option to the Manage Tags Tab MC346913 · Published Mar 25, 2022 · Last updated Sep 1, 2022

Updated September 1, 2022: Based on learnings from our early rings, we have made the decision to make additional changes before we proceed with the rollout. We will deliver a new Message center post once we re-start the rollout. Thank you for your patience.

In the near future, we will be adding a restore option on the Manage Tags tab (Manage Team > Manage Tags). This update will make it so that when tags are deleted, they will be kept in a deleted section in the Tags tab and can be restored for up to 30 days from the date of deletion.

Note: This is similar to the lifecycle management for Teams Channels.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 88318.

(Updated) New Fluent Emoji style coming to Teams emojis and reactions MC333941 · Published Feb 17, 2022 · Last updated Sep 1, 2022
Updated September 1, 2022: We have updated the rollout timeline below. Thank you for your patience.

This update will have Teams joining Microsoft 365 and Windows in updating all emojis and reactions to the new Microsoft Fluent emoji style, bringing users a more vibrant and expressive emoji experience.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 88277

 

(Updated) Microsoft Teams: Start a Teams Chat with Distribution Groups, Mail-Enabled Security Groups, and O365 Groups : MC408435 · Published 1 Aug 2022 · Last updated 29 Aug 2022

Updated August 29, 2022: We have updated the rollout timeline below. Thank you for your patience.


You will now be able to start a Teams Chat with Distribution Groups, Mail-enabled Security Groups, and O365 Groups. This feature will respect the limits on members in a group chat, currently set to 250 members.


Organizations rely on Distribution Lists (DLs) as a tool to create groups of users that mirror organizational knowledge and workflows. Bringing this awareness to target audiences for specific content will enhance the core Teams experience. Allowing our customers to leverage DLs can increase workflow efficiency and bridge the gap between legacy knowledge of organization structure and a new Teams structure. 


This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 62354


We will begin rollout in late September (previously mid-August) and expect to complete rollout by late October (previously late August).

 

Deploying Teams at Scale (preview) : MC422163 · Published 29 Aug 2022

Your organization may have a lot of teams that you use to drive communication and collaboration among your frontline workforce, who are spread across different stores, locations, and roles. Currently, there isn't an easy solution to deploy, set up, and manage these teams and users at scale.

We're building a solution to enable admins to deploy and manage teams at scale.

Here's an overview of the capabilities available today for creating and managing large numbers of teams at a time and what we're planning for the near future.

    Create up to 500 teams using pre-built templates or your own custom templates via Teams PowerShell cmdlet.
Add up to 25 users to teams as owners or members. Manage teams at scale by adding or removing users from existing teams. Stay notified through email, including completion, status, and errors (if any). You can choose to notify up to five people about the status of each batch of teams you deploy. Team owners and members are automatically notified when they're added to a team. 

We will begin rolling this preview in late August and expect to complete by mid-September.

 

 

  • Microsoft 365/Viva :

 

(Updated) Shared focus plan in Viva Insights MC313659 · Published Jan 12, 2022 · Last updated Aug 30, 2022

Updated August 30, 2022: We have updated the rollout timeline below. Thank you for your patience.

Viva insights is releasing new capabilities to help teams protect time for focused work. The shared focus plan will enable managers and team leads with a Microsoft Viva Insights license to foster mutual productivity norms and drive a positive team culture by inviting teams to coordinate focus time for uninterrupted work.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 88839.

 

For the latest information/updates you can always check these resources :

 

Disclaimer :

If others are interested to receive these “Friends of” messages directly from me, they can always share their contact details with me.

Or if you/they no longer want to receive these “Friends of” emails, just reply per email and I will remove you from this “Friends of” DL

 

Kind Regards/Vriendelijke groeten/Med vänlig hälsning/Salutations,


Mattias Kressmark

Cloud Solution Architect

Converged Communications

 


Collaborating remotely powered by Microsoft Teams.


Disclaimer :

The content of this communication and its attachments (if any) is for general information purposes only and does not under any circumstance constitute a binding offer or acceptance of Microsoft Ireland Operations Limited, Microsoft NV/SA or any other Microsoft Group affiliate, unless this is expressly stated in a separate document executed by a person with sufficient powers to do so. The content shall not be considered to supplement or amend the terms of any existing agreement with Microsoft Ireland Operations Limited, Microsoft NV/SA or any other Microsoft Group affiliate. Furthermore you are reminded that the content is solely based on the limited information provided to us at the time of this communication and it will be subject to possible changes occurring hereafter.

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Wednesday, July 20, 2022

Microsoft Inspire 2022

At Inspire 2022 Microsoft announced the following features for Microsoft Teams. 


See this article for more information on all these new features:

Microsoft Inspire 2022: Innovations coming to Teams


Other exiting news from Inspire includes:

From enabling hybrid work to creating collaborative experiences—here’s what’s new in Microsoft 365

Microsoft Cloud for Sovereignty: The most flexible and comprehensive solution for digital sovereignty

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Tuesday, November 9, 2021

Ignite 2021 - BRK205 - Prepare for the future of calling with Microsoft Teams Phone

Presented by: Scott Van Vliet and Daniela Chocron

Session summary: Out of necessity, most organizations have made investments in their virtual meetings solutions over the past 18 months, yet many still need to modernize their calling solutions. At the same time, the telephony space is experiencing tectonic shifts, including a move to IP-based calling. Come learn how Teams Phone provides both a modern calling experience for users, and an easy-to-manage solution that Admins can equip their organizations with.


My Notes:

A "phone" has many forms - desk phone, computer, Teams display and mobile phone, but the main concept is the same quick, spontaneous and straight forward connections. Some 80 million people are currently using Teams to make phone calls. Since VoIP calls between organizations are increasing it is apparent that you need a system featuring federation to make calls, chat or use video or screen sharing in calls.


Announcing a first-party voice channel for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service.

More on this in the session BRK234: Introducing Voice Channel for Dynamics 365 Customer Service


There are already 8 Contact Center solutions certified with Microsoft Teams and another 12 in the works, and two of them are also "made in Sweden"! 

Music on hold will soon be available for VoIP calls both during consult and transfer scenarios, and Location based bandwidth controls is also soon to be released.

Channels are a place in Teams where work gets done, and that is why Voice enabled channels makes a lot of sense, like a natural "group call pickup" group.


New Teams Displays form factors such as Yealink deskVision AIO24 with a 24-inch screen are coming.


The SIP Gateway that will allow you to use older legacy SIP phones is due in November 2021.

In addition to Direct Routing and Calling Plans, Operator Connect was released in September.



Finally we can stop misplacing dongles everywhere.
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Sunday, November 7, 2021

Ignite 2021 - BRK201 - Office: The universal interactive canvas for all creators

Presented by: Wangui McKelvey

Session summary: Creators of every kind want to create and collaborate easily and in real time. Microsoft Loop brings boundary-less creation and collaboration to life. Microsoft Editor is business-aware, helping you find, create, and share ideas and content more seamlessly than ever before. Clipchamp empowers everyone to create beautiful, professional-looking videos. Come see how we are reimagining Office and bringing together the best of human creation, collaboration, and cloud-powered AI.


My Notes:

Office is more than just Word, Execl, PowerPoint - Teams is part of Office as well. The times are changing and Office as well to become more collaborative. A great summary of the presentation by Wangui can be found here: Microsoft Office—Transforming for the hybrid world


Seven new features and also the agenda of this session


New in Office


PowerPoint Live have changed how we present in Teams. Microsoft’s Cameo feature in PowerPoint will allow you to integrate your Teams camera feed into your presentation. Speaker coach in Microsoft Teams will be available in early 2022, but you can use speaker coach in PowerPoint already today.


The three elements of Loop: 

  • Loop Components - Atomic units of productivity
  • Loop Pages - Brings components, links, task and collaborates together
  • Loop Workspaces - Bring everything important to your project in a shared space

Loop will eventually be available in many Office clients but coming first to Teams and Outlook. Demos of the loop components Voting table and Status tracker were in the session.

In the loop.


Context IQ takes AI-based suggestions for writing in Microsoft 365 to the next level. It will predict your words and suggest documents and email addresses of collaborators in real-time as you write.

Clipchamp - a new member of this Office family - helps you create videos with confidence.

A new experience in Office.com will help you find content in Office Online easier.


A nice demo of the Recording studio in PowerPoint.
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Thursday, November 4, 2021

Ignite 2021 - OD108 - Microsoft Viva Learning is now available: What you need to know

Presented by: John Mighell and Saurabh Gaur

Session summary: Viva Learning brings learning into the flow of work. But what does that mean? Join us for a breakdown of key Viva Learning features, integrations, capabilities, and future roadmap as we celebrate the public availability of this highly anticipated new Viva product.


My Notes:

Viva Learning Overview

Three main pillars of Viva Learning

General availability details

Viva Learning is already in your tenant

Integrations


LMS 

  • Cornerstone on Demand
  • SABA
  • SAP SuccessFactors (talked about the integration in this session)
  • + others coming soon


3rd party learning providers

  • Pluralsight
  • edX
  • Coursera
  • Udemy
  • Skillsoft (talked about learning in the flow of work)
  • and more...

    ...and coming soon...
  • Harward Business Publishing
  • edcast
  • Udacity
  • OpenSesame


Product demo

The Viva Learning app with the Personal progress section


  • Courses can be filtered by duration
  • See the status of courses recommended by you
  • Viva Learning as a message extension
  • The admin section in the app
  • How to add SharePoint content to Viva Learning

 

Future Roadmap

Lots of good things coming to Viva Learning


Links 

Announcement blog post: https://aka.ms/VivaLearningGA

Licensing and pricing: https://aka.ms/VivaLearning

Viva Learning Webinar: https://aka.ms/VivaLearningWebinar

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Ignite 2021 - OD103 - What's new in Microsoft Teams management and security

Presented by: Ronit Ben Sheffer and John Gruszczyk

Session summary: We will be sharing some of the latest updates across Teams management and security, including several new capabilities that can help you better manage and protect your Teams collaboration environment.

My Notes:

What's new in Teams Security in the last year


The features in black are already launched
and the ones in blue are being announced now at Ignite.


What's new in Teams manageability


Teams Admin Center UI

  • Interface improvements (the left navigation bar)
  • Teams admin center search
  • Home page customization
  • Export data

The external access settings recently changed


A search function is coming to the Admin center


App Management

  • Admin app discovery (categories in the store)
  • User requests for apps (a counter of how many users requested)
  • Setup policy enhancements (assign to group)

Many types of devices that need to be managed


Device Management

  • New device types support (Surface hub, SIP phones)
  • Monitor and manage device health
  • Workspace management (define "rooms" with multiple devices)
  • Scoped Teams device Administration role (Administrative Units scoped by locations)
  • Device managed services (https://aka.ms/MTRP)


Reporting and Analytics

  • Device analytics dashboard (health, utilization, and performance)
  • Device management alerts (send to channel or via webhook)
  • Realtime telemetry for meetings (demo in this session)
  • Priority accounts collaboration experience monitoring

The coming Device analytics dashboard
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Wednesday, November 3, 2021

Ignite 2021 - BRK202 - Microsoft Teams: Thrive with hybrid work

Presented by: Nicole Herskowitz

Session summary: Many organizations are wondering "What is our path forward?" as we enter the hybrid work era. A big part of that answer is Microsoft Teams. Join us for a session that explores the upcoming landscape for Microsoft Teams, as we outline why Microsoft Teams is the place to be for hybrid work.

 

My Notes: 

Nicole started with describing how she looks - to be inclusive. The agenda will revolve around three main concepts: Connect, Collaborate and Context.

 

Connect (on your terms)

Microsoft Teams is where 250 million people come to work, and currently some 80 million people are also Teams phone users. Post-pandemic 70% of workers want flexible remote work options to continue and 65% also want more in-person time with their teams. So, workers want flexibility of where and how they work, and that is where hybrid work enabled by Microsoft Teams comes in.

 

Microsoft recently added


Mesh for Microsoft Teams will enable 2D and 3D meeting experiences with personal avatars. Immersive spaces will resemble physical spaces such as conference rooms, design canters and networking lounges. These meeting spaces will work well with your existing laptop or phone but will also be open for virtual reality headsets. Mesh will enter preview in the first half of 2022. For more information: Mesh for Microsoft Teams aims to make collaboration in the ‘metaverse’ personal and fun

The 2D version of Mesh with an Avatar - or "foreground blur" as I call it.


Meeting improvements

  • Ordering of raised hands
  • Mute notifications
  • Hide your own video stream
  • Roles in the meeting invite
  • The menu in Teams mobile meetings improved

 

Conference Rooms / Microsoft Teams Rooms

Today only 8% of the 90 million conference rooms in the world are video enabled. Microsoft Teams Rooms are designed for the people NOT in the room, meetings should be inclusive.

Intelligent Speakers - Speakers that recognize who is talking.

Intelligent Cameras - Camera  that recognize people

  • AI powered speaker tracking
  • Multiple video streams
  • People recognition

Teams Rooms are now available on Surface Hub, and soon Surface Hubs will be manageable from the Teams Admin center. Hotdesking on Teams displays are coming soon to various hardware.

Intelligent cameras will know who is in the room and add them to the roster.

 

Collaborate (new Teams innovations that help you work better together)

85% of business decision makers regularly collaborate with customers, partners and vendors.

 

Teams connect features (coming in preview early 2022)

  • Shared channels for internal / external users and teams
  • Add people in Teams via phone number or personal email

 

Webinars

  • Green room - a virtual backstage
  • Bring presenter on screen (and off screen)
  • Co-organizer for webinars is now Generally Available
  • QnA for webinars now in preview
  • Integration with Dynamics 365
  • Integration of Cvent and Teams (November 2021)

 

Chat improvements

  • Reactions now have 800 new 3D emojis
  • Drafts on Teams mobile
  • Peoples time zone visible in contact cards
  • Delayed delivery of messages
  • Compact setting to see more messages
Delayed delivery

Teams phone

  • Dynamics 365 customer service is expanded into the Microsoft all-in-one contact center
  • Connected Contact Center Program - testing of Contact Centers on top of Teams phone
  • Operator Connect is now Generally Available - 22 global operator partners in >50 countries

 

Context (task switching is one of the most draining things we do nowadays)

  • Dynamics 365 + Teams integrations - chats and calls inside of Dynamics 365
  • Send a record as a Loop component
  • Teams + Azure Communication Services (APIs and SDKs) - create custom web portals connected to Teams (coming in December 2021)
  • Power Virtual Agents - build bots for common scenarios
  • Embed Teams chat in power apps
  • The Power BI app for Teams is now Generally Available

 

Demos of several Teams (Meeting) Apps

  • SAP
  • Atlassian - Jira
  • ServiceNow virtual agent
  • Custom built mobile app

For more info: Stay in the flow of workwith new collaborative apps for Microsoft Teams

An improved Teams app store with app categories is coming in November 2021, Admins can now purchase 3rd party App subscriptions via invoice billing.

 

Customer demos / testimonials of

  • Teams Rooms systems
  • Teams Realwear integration
  • Video from drones into Teams

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