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 March:
- Microsoft Teams: Green screen feature in Teams Meetings
- New SharePoint site templates
- Microsoft Teams: New Files app in Teams
- Additional details on the evolution of Yammer to Viva Engage
- Authenticator number matching to be enabled for all Microsoft Authenticator users (Updated)
- Wiki retirement and the future of note taking in Teams Channels (Updated)
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: Green screen feature in Teams Meetings
[MC529415 · Published Mar 17, 2023]: We are introducing two new list templates with the Approvals app integration. With this change, Microsoft Lists templates, specifically Travel Requests with approvals and Content Scheduler with approvals, will begin to leverage integration with the Approvals app in Microsoft Teams.
Microsoft Teams will soon be releasing a new green screen feature for users. The virtual background with a green screen will provide an enhanced virtual background effect.
This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 117941
When this will happen:
Public Preview: We will complete rollout by late March.
Standard and GCC: We will begin rolling out in mid-April and expect to complete rollout by late April.
GCC-H: We will begin rolling out in early May and expect to complete rollout by mid-May.
DoD: We will begin rolling out in early June and expect to complete rollout by late June.
How this will affect your organization:
Green screen improves the sharpness and definition of the virtual background effect around your face, head, ears, and hair. It also allows you to show a prop or other object in your hand to be more visible to other participants in a call.
Supports the following:
- Desktop platforms: Windows and macOS with Intel chips, not supporting Mac M1/M2
- Device: Requires a solid color screen or clean background wall behind you
- User Experience: Users must apply a background effect in Teams meetings to enable the green screen effect and should select the correct backdrop color so that the effect is applied correctly and better quality is achieved
Known limitations:
- Green screen will automatically disable background blur and Together Mode while being compatible with Presenter modes like Standout, Side-by-Side and Reporter, PowerPoint Live Standout, and background replacement (JPEG/PNG).
- Transparent or translucent objects cannot produce a good green screen effect.
- If the object is too thin, it cannot be properly detected.
To enable:
Please make sure that you have applied a background effect in Teams meeting before enabling the green screen effect and chosen the correct backdrop color so that the effect is applied correctly. Please also ensure you have a solid color screen or clean background wall behind you.
- After you join a meeting, click the “More” icon in the meeting toolbar, go to “Video effects.”
- When the “Video effects” panel page is open, go to “Green Screen Settings” in Backgrounds section and click the link to turn on the Green screen toggle button under “Teams settings -> Devices -> Green screen.”
- Click the backdrop icon and move your mouse cursor into the Preview box to manually pick backdrop color.
Return to your meeting.
ADMINS – What you need to do to prepare: You may want to update your training materials indicating that this feature is available to users.
New SharePoint site templates
[MC529412 · Published Mar 17, 2023] We are introducing 3 new SharePoint site templates dedicated to helping you create sites for your portal home site, to provide guidance and assets for your brand, and a template powered by Microsoft Syntex for your Accounts payable team.
- Our new organization home site template you can quickly get started with a basic SharePoint portal destination for your organization.
- The new brand central template creates a destination for your organization to showcase and guide others through the use of your brand.
- With the Microsoft Syntex powered accounts payable template, you can learn more about how Syntex works and be able to get started right away. This template also comes with a prebuilt tutorial and some established models designed to help your team get started with Microsoft Syntex. (Syntex Roadmap ID 103607)
This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 117554
When this will happen:
Targeted Release: We will begin rolling out at the end of March.
Standard Release: We will begin rolling out in early April and complete in mid-April.
How this will affect your organization:
Users will be able to benefit from the ability to browse, preview, and apply site templates to a new or existing SharePoint site. Users can select a site template that meets organizational business objectives and best fits the site goal while ensuring a higher level of consistency throughout their organization. They can then review pre-populated content and customize the site to address their needs. This feature will be on by default with no admin control.
To apply a template to an existing site: Users can choose to browse site templates and can apply a template to an existing site at any time by accessing the template gallery from Settings and then select Apply a site template.
To apply a template to a new site: If a site owner is visiting their new site for the first time, they may see a message asking if they want to use a template that will then take them to the template gallery.
Choose desired template.
Communication site templates:
Organization home – serves as the home page for your organization and provides visitors with news, conversations, videos, and updates centered around your organization, along with easy access to popular links and important resources.
Brand central – is the central hub where employees can access the latest brand assets and guidelines for your organization, understand brand principles and values, see examples of brand expression in action, and get help with brand related questions.
Team site templates:
Accounts payable – where employees can manage, process, and track purchase orders, extract key information from invoices using a prebuilt invoice model, then use the preconfigured document libraries provided to store everything.
ADMINS – What you need to do to prepare:
Share this template guide with end-users: Learn how to apply and customize SharePoint site templates.
Microsoft Teams: New Files app in Teams
[MC528955 · Published Mar 16, 2023] Securely store, organize, and collaborate on all your files anytime, from anywhere and across all of your devices with the new files app experience in Teams. The new files app brings a modern experience to all of your content from your chats, channels or meetings including any location from OneDrive or SharePoint.
This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 97677
When this will happen:
Preview: We will complete rollout by late March.
Standard Release: We will begin rolling out in early April and expect to complete rollout by mid-April.
GCC, GCC-H: We will begin rolling out in early May and expect to complete rollout by late May.
DoD: We will begin rolling out in early June and expect to complete rollout by late June.
How this will affect your organization:
Users can easily discover and locate files that are relevant right within the Teams app. This makes it possible to locate, share and collaborate with OneDrive files without leaving the Teams app and switching between various apps. An updated menu bar will help you navigate to your content quickly.
- Home: Get back to your recently accessed files
- My files: Access your personal OneDrive files
- Shared: Find files shared with you and files you have shared across M365
- Downloads: Locate files downloaded from Teams on your computer
- Quick Access: Pin document libraries or channels files tab to access them quickly
The existing Files app that is enabled by default will automatically be updated with new files app experience.
ADMINS – What you need to do to prepare: There is nothing you need to do to prepare.
Additional details on the evolution of Yammer to Viva Engage
[MC529416 · Published Mar 17, 2023] As announced last month in the MC514981, Yammer will be rebranding to Viva Engage this year to provide a consistent and delightful experience to our customers. We want to provide an update around dates and the in-product changes you can expect. As a reminder, the Yammer Communities app for Teams has already been rebranded to Viva Engage. We are now turning our attention to the mobile app (iOS & Android) and the Communities app for Outlook rebrand including their app icons and name.
We will continue sending message center alerts and provide details and resources to help your organization understand, prepare, and communicate these changes. We are excited to make available a rebranding kit that includes templates, logos and more that can help you communicate the change. These assets can be download – here
Yammer mobile apps (iOS/Android)
To help inform end users about this rebrand we have started rolling out an in-app banner messaging the upcoming change. The banner is simple, with no additional links provided in this banner. No banner on the web surface will be displayed talking about this change.
The mobile app rebrand will start to rollout on April 3rd; all Yammer references in the app will be updated to Viva Engage. We will update the installed apps to the “Viva Engage” name and icon, updates may be automatic depending on your mobile phone settings.
The app name in the Google Play and App Store will be updated to “Viva Engage (Yammer)” and the icon will be updated to the Viva Engage icon. Search by “Yammer” will continue to display the app as the top result.
Once users see the mobile rebranded experience and launch the Viva Engage app, they will be greeted by an in-app pop up informing them of the brand change as well as the banner described above.
Email notifications from Yammer and the Yammer Office 365 Connector will not be rebranded in this moment.
Yammer web, SharePoint integration and embed
Between the end of June and the beginning of July, the rebranding of the remaining Yammer surfaces will take place. We will be sending out additional communication regarding the final date and in-product announcements for the web rebranding soon. We understand the importance of giving our customers ample time to plan their communication campaigns around this change and our priority is to make the transition as seamless as possible while keeping our customers’ needs at the forefront.
How this will affect your organization
There will be no impact to the existing profile, posts, bookmarks, etc. All rebranding updates don’t require additional actions; changes will be automatic. Outside of branding changes, there are no changes to the features, capabilities, and investments for Microsoft 365 customers. You will continue to experience and benefit from all the powerful features of Viva Engage just as you did with Yammer.
Authenticator number matching to be enabled for all Microsoft Authenticator users (Updated)
[MC468492 · Published Nov 18, 2022 · Last updated Mar 16, 2023] Viva Goals Administrators (and Global Administrators) will now have a new admin page from which they can manage the existing Viva Goals policy settings for the tenant. In addition, now they will also be able to view and manage all the organizations on Viva Goals by updating the organization owner or admin privileges.
Updated March 16, 2023: We have updated the timing of this change, below. Thank you for your patience.
Microsoft Authenticator app’s number matching feature has been Generally Available since Nov 2022! If you have not already leveraged the rollout controls (via Azure Portal Admin UX and MSGraph APIs) to smoothly deploy number matching for users of Microsoft Authenticator push notifications, we highly encourage you to do so. We had previously announced that we will remove the admin controls and enforce the number match experience tenant-wide for all users of Microsoft Authenticator push notifications starting February 27, 2023. After listening to customers, we will extend the availability of the rollout controls for a few more weeks. Organizations can continue to use the existing rollout controls until May 8, 2023, to deploy number matching in their organizations. Microsoft services will start enforcing the number matching experience for all users of Microsoft Authenticator push notifications after May 8th, 2023. We will also remove the rollout controls for number matching after that date.
Please note that we have changed the expected behavior for NPS extension to be even more admin friendly. NPS versions 1.2.2216.1+ will be released once Microsoft starts to enable number matching for all Authenticator users. These NPS versions will automatically prefer OTP based sign-ins over traditional push notifications with the Authenticator app. An admin can choose to disable this behavior and fallback to traditional push notifications with Approve/Deny by setting the registry key OVERRIDE_NUMBER_MATCHING_WITH_OTP Value = FALSE. Previous NPS extension versions will not automatically switch Authenticator push notification authentications to OTP based authentications. Please refer to the NPS extension section of the number match documentation for further information.
When this will happen:
Beginning in May 2023.
How this affects your organization:
To prevent accidental approvals, admins can require users to enter a number displayed on the sign-in screen when approving an MFA request in the Microsoft Authenticator app. This feature is critical to protecting against MFA fatigue attacks which are on the rise.
Another way to reduce accidental approvals is to show users additional context in Authenticator notifications. Admins can now selectively choose to enable the following:
- Application context: Show users which application they are signing into.
Geographic location context: Show users their sign-in location based on the IP address of the device they are signing into.
Number match behavior in different scenarios after May 2023:
- Authentication flows will require users to do number match when using the Microsoft Authenticator app. If the user is using a version of the Authenticator app that doesn’t support number match, their authentication will fail. Please make sure upgrade to the latest version of Microsoft Authenticator (App Store and Google Play Store) to use it for sign-in.
- Self Service Password Reset (SSPR) and combined registration flows will also require number match when users are using the Microsoft Authenticator app.
- ADFS adapter will require number matching on versions of Windows Server that support number matching. On earlier versions, users will continue to see the “Approve/Deny” experience and won’t see number matching till you upgrade.
- NPS extension versions beginning 1.2.2131.2 will require users to do number matching after May 2023. Because the NPS extension can’t show a number, the user will be asked to enter a One-Time Passcode (OTP). The user must have an OTP authentication method (e.g. Microsoft Authenticator app, software tokens etc.) registered to see this behavior. If the user doesn’t have an OTP method registered, they’ll continue to get the Approve/Deny experience. You can create a registry key that overrides this behavior and prompts users with Approve/Deny. More information can be found in the number matching documentation.
- Apple Watch – Apple Watch will remain unsupported for number matching. We recommend you uninstall the Microsoft Authenticator Apple Watch app because you have to approve notifications on your phone.
ADMINS – What you can do to prepare:
If customers don’t enable number match for all Microsoft Authenticator push notifications prior to May 8, 2023, users may experience inconsistent sign-ins while the services are rolling out this change. To ensure consistent behavior for all users, we highly recommend you enable number match for Microsoft Authenticator push notifications in advance.
Learn more at:
- Number match documentation
- Defend your users from MFA fatigue attacks – Microsoft Community Hub
- Advanced Microsoft Authenticator security features are now generally available! – Microsoft Community Hub
Wiki retirement and the future of note taking in Teams Channels (Updated)
[MC496248 · Published Jan 11, 2023 · Last updated Mar 17, 2023]: Updated March 17, 2023: We have updated the timing of this change, below. Thank you for your patience.
We are announcing that Wiki’s will be retired from Teams. We are offering note taking capabilities through Teams Channels powered by OneNote.
When this will happen:
The following change will be rolled out starting late March (previously early March).
How this affects your organization:
With this release, users have an option to export their wiki content to OneNote notebooks in Teams standard channel. After exporting users can go to the Notes tab to collaborate using OneNote in channels.
Note: With this change users can continue to access and edit existing wikis but can’t create new wikis in Teams channels.
OneNote provides an enhanced note taking experience.
- Easy collaboration across the team
- View all channel notes in a team in one place organized within a single notebook
- Rich editing with typing, ink annotations, highlighting, file attachments, etc.
- Easy recall & search for channel notes within OneNote on any platform
Upcoming plans
Soon Notes tabs powered by OneNote will be added by default when users create new channels. For now, users can create OneNote tabs manually using the add tab experience (via +).
We will share out the details of Wiki retirement in advance to help our customers prepare for this change.
What you can do to prepare:
We urge users to export their channel wikis to OneNote once it is available.
If your organization has not enabled OneNote you can review this documentation:
FAQs:
Why is Teams retiring wiki?
- Our users’ needs for note taking are evolving every day and the current capabilities & infrastructure of Wiki will not be able to cater to those needs in future. We understand that moving away from wiki is a difficult change and we want to help our users throughout the changes.
How can I take notes in channels after this change?
- New channels will now come with a OneNote notebook (M365 brand for note taking). OneNote brings goodness of richer formatting, better organization, search within OneNote app and keeps the experience consistent across M365.
When & how are we retiring Wiki?
- Stage 1 – (Timeline – early March 2023) Users won’t be able to create new wikis, but they can continue to access (read/write) their existing wiki. Users also have the option to export their content to OneNote. Once users export their content to OneNote, the Wiki is available as read only.
- After exporting, each wiki in a channel appears as separate section in OneNote and each Wiki page will be a separate page in OneNote.
- Stage 2 – (Timeline – Mid CY23) Wiki tab in channel will not be supported; users will be easily able access (read/write) content in Wiki app. Users can also export their content to OneNote.
- Stage 3 – (Timeline – Jan 2024) Wikis tab and wiki App wouldn’t be able to accessible in Teams and users wouldn’t be able to export. Users can download their wiki files from SharePoint.
What happens to my existing data?
- Your data is accessible from SharePoint as per retention policy even after Wiki is deprecated. You can download wiki content from SharePoint.
Does end user need to export wiki one by one or in bulk?
- End users will have to export wikis one by one per Wiki tab. If there are more than wiki tabs in a channel, then users will have to export them separately. Users can export their wiki by visiting Wiki tab.
Who can export Wiki to Notes?
- Any team member who has access to add/remove tab in a channel can export their Wiki.
Is there a bulk export option available at tenant level?
- No, users can export their wikis as per their convenience.
Known limitation:
- OneNote notes only work in Default (Light) and High contrast mode.
Check out previous Microsoft Updates that Total Solutions has posted here -> Microsoft Updates Archives – Total Solutions Inc.
