Are you keeping up with Microsoft updates? The Microsoft Mondays: Microsoft Service Updates series from Total Solutions is here for your needs, and remember that Total Solutions also provides tailored, expert guidance during our consulting process. We are highlighting a few of the Microsoft announced upcoming updates from July:
- Microsoft Teams: Front Row AI (artificial intelligence) enhancements for Teams Rooms on Windows
- Deploy new Microsoft Teams with Microsoft 365 apps
- Org Explorer in Outlook On the Web
- Meet App on Microsoft Teams (Updated)
- Twitter web part retirement
Keep an eye out for Microsoft Mondays for your Microsoft updates or speak with our technical team for your Microsoft needs.
*Updates posted here originally posted by Microsoft in the Microsoft 365 Message Center
Microsoft Teams: Front Row AI (artificial intelligence) enhancements for Teams Rooms on Windows
[MC660071 · Published Jul 24, 2023]: The latest version of Teams Rooms on Windows app 4.18 update includes Front Row AI enhancements including:
- Front row gallery improvement – video segmentation with a unified background
- Spatial audio on the front row
This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap IDs 95267 and 122554
When this will happen:
We will begin rolling out in mid-August and expect to complete rollout by late September.
How this will affect your organization:
Front Row gallery improvement – video segmentation with a unified background: Using Microsoft AI, the front row layout removes individual backgrounds, adjusts video participant’s size, and applies a unified background for remote participants to make them appear as if they are in the same room. This removes distractions and provides in-room meeting participants with better connection to remote participants in Teams meetings.
This feature is turned ON by default for the Teams Rooms on Windows devices with 4 cores or higher CPUs. Devices with lower processing capability will optimize for audio and video quality and will not enable this feature. Room admins can turn this feature ON or OFF via XML and end user control is also provided in the layout switcher during a Teams meeting. Please find more details on the Microsoft Learn documentation that will be included in the release notes for Teams Rooms on Windows 4.18.
Spatial audio in the Front Row experience:
Spatial Audio in Teams Rooms on Windows brings next-generation audio to the Front Row experience when connected to stereo speakers. This intelligent audio technology delivers a more natural and inclusive experience for in-room participants by playing audio from channel closer to physical location of remote participants on Front row layout, making it feel like remote people are in the room with them and reducing meeting fatigue.
You can achieve the best spatial audio experience with Teams-certified stereo speakers and by following guidance on designing a Signature Teams Room. The list of certified speakers will be documented, and the release notes will include the link to relevant documentation.
The feature is turned OFF by default. To enable the feature, use the following XML:
<SkypeSettings> ;
<IsSpatialAudioEnabled>true</IsSpatialAudioEnabled>;
</SkypeSettings> ; Once the feature is enabled, you can also turn it ON or OFF using the audio setting under … (More) menu during a meeting. This toggle affects every meeting joining from the device.
What you need to do to prepare: Please notify your users about this new experience and update your training and documentation as appropriate.
Deploy new Microsoft Teams with Microsoft 365 apps
[MC661241 · Published Jul 27, 2023Starting in September 2023, we will begin including new Microsoft Teams as part of the new and existing installations of Microsoft 365 apps for Windows depending on the schedule provided in this post. Currently, users can install the new Teams by using the Try the new Teams toggle switch in classic Teams or having administrators bulk deploy directly to the computers in their organization. Read MC533687 and MC617066 for details for earlier announcements for new Teams.
Administrators can exclude installing new Teams from their Microsoft 365 apps deployment if they don’t wish to have new Teams included in the installation.
This announcement includes details about the upcoming changes for rolling out the new Teams desktop app with Microsoft 365 apps and details on managing opt-outs. This change is beginning currently for Microsoft 365 Apps for Windows.
- We will begin by including the new Teams app as part of new and existing Microsoft 365 app installations on Windows depending on your office update channel and license Type. You will continue to have the classic Teams app included in the installation as well.
- Administrators will be able to manage opt-out from this deployment if they do not wish to have new Teams included in the installation. More details in the section below.
How this will affect your organization:
Depending on which update channel you’re using and our deployment schedule below, the new Teams application will start installing with Microsoft 365 apps. The following shows the schedule.
The planned rollout for deploying new Teams with Microsoft 365 apps and showing the toggle will be:
- Business plans (for example, Business Basic, Business Standard, Business Premium, and Teams Essentials (AAD), etc.): September 2023.
- Enterprise plans (for example, E3, E5, F3, etc.): reference this article.
How to opt-out from this change:
Note: The control to opt-out will be available in early August 2023. We will update this Message center post to notify you once it is available.
To prevent the automatic installation of the new Teams app, sign into the Microsoft 365 apps admin center (https://config.office.com) with an admin account. Then, go to Customization > Device Configuration > Modern Apps Settings. Select Microsoft Teams (work or school) and then clear the Enable automatic installation of new Microsoft Teams check box. However, we would recommend leaving the setting as is for the best Teams experience. More details can be found in our technical documentation.
Org Explorer in Outlook On the Web
[MC661824 · Published Jul 28, 2023]: Org Explorer helps you visualize and explore your company’s internal structure, work teams, and individual roles. This experience, available in Outlook for Desktop, is now coming to Outlook on the web. Org Explorer is a part of the People in Viva service plan, which is a part of the Microsoft Viva Suite subscription.
When this will happen:
Targeted Release: We will begin rolling this out in early August 2023 and expect to complete rollout by mid-August 2023.
Standard Release: We will begin rolling out in early September 2023 and expect to complete rollout by late September 2023.
How this will affect your organization: Users with the “Microsoft Viva Suite” or “Microsoft Viva Suite with Glint” licenses will be able to access Org Explorer on the left side of the folder pane in Outlook on the web.
What you need to do to prepare:
You may want to notify your users about this change and update your training and documentation as appropriate. For additional information, please visit this documentation.
Meet App on Microsoft Teams (Updated)
[MC660610 · Published Jul 25, 2023 · Last updated Jul 28, 2023] Updated July 28, 2023: We have updated the rollout timeline below. Thank you for your patience.
Microsoft Teams users will soon have a dedicated space to manage their meetings – “Meet”. The Meet app is a centralized hub for all meeting activity and content.
The feature is rolling out exclusively on the new Microsoft Teams across Desktop and Web, and will serve as the destination for pre, during and after meeting insights, content, and action items. With the Meet app, users can prepare for upcoming meetings, catch on something they missed, and find meeting content, agenda, notes, chats, and recaps – all in one place.
When this will happen:
Standard Release: We will begin rolling out in mid-October 2023 (previously mid-August) and expect to complete by mid-November 2023 (previously mid-September).
How this will affect your organization:
The Meet app is pre-installed and will sit alongside other apps under “view more apps” in the new Microsoft Teams. To use the app, users can navigate to the left rail app overflow (…) “view more apps” and click Meet to activate the app.
Upon launching the app, the user will find two sections: Up next and Recent.
- Up next section shows upcoming meetings with related content and insights to ensure effective meetings. It offers features to help users prepare, find related content via AI- powered content suggestions, view meeting invitees, and alerts for issues such as no quorum or conflicts. The section also provides single-click actions to resolve meeting-related issues such as No RSVP, request recording or dropping a running late note via meeting chat.
The Recent section shows a list of past meetings scheduled within the last 30 days. Users can find information such as find invitees, locate shared/ presented/ attached files, recordings, and transcripts for each meeting. The section includes meeting labelling, quick filters, and a search box to make it easier to find past meetings. Users can also one-click to meeting chat or navigate to recap using the “view recap” button which will lead them to the Intelligent Meeting Recap experience for further consumption.
What you need to do to prepare:
You may want to notify your users about this new capability coming to Microsoft Teams and update your training and documentation as appropriate. Like other Teams apps, you also have the option to pin Meet for users of your tenant who may benefit from it.
Teams Premium users can view additional AI-powered meeting insights such as “missed” meetings, “mentions” of you & “suggested tasks” for the meeting on the Meet app. Users without a Teams Premium license will continue to have access to core experience listed in the section above. For more information on the license, how to sign up for the 30-day trial license and a list of features that are available as part of Teams Premium license see Microsoft Teams Premium licensing – Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Learn.
Twitter web part retirement
[MC662249 · Published Jul 28, 2023] If your organization is not using the Twitter web part or has disabled it via PowerShell (Use the Twitter web part) in SharePoint in Microsoft 365 this notification may be safely disregarded.
Due to a change in Twitter’s terms of use for third-party access, the Twitter web part in SharePoint in Microsoft 365 will no longer be supported and will be removed from the web part toolbox, as well as from any Microsoft-produced site templates.
When will this happen:
This change will be rolling out mid-September.
How this will affect your organization:
The Twitter web part will no longer be available to select from the web part toolbox within SharePoint pages. Any pages that currently have the Twitter web part will be unaffected by this change, however due to a change in Twitter’s terms of use for third-party access, users may see an error message (originally communicated in MC630306 July 2023).
What you need to do to prepare:
SharePoint administrators should consider removing the Twitter web part from their SharePoint pages. This can be done manually via the page authoring experience.
Reference:
- Twitter web part display in SharePoint is empty – Microsoft Support
- Using web parts on SharePoint pages
Check out previous Microsoft Updates that Total Solutions has posted here -> Microsoft Updates Archives – Total Solutions Inc.
