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:
- Now in public preview: Avatars for Microsoft Teams
- #SharePoint-Create-Pages-and-News-from-the-SharePoint-app-bar
- Offline meetings in Microsoft Teams
- March skilling snacks: Bite-sized learning for IT pros
- Microsoft Teams: Speaker View in Teams Meetings
- Reminder Emails for Webinars
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
Now in public preview: Avatars for Microsoft Teams
[MC533652 · Published Mar 27, 2023]: Avatars for Microsoft Teams gives you that much-needed camera break, while still allowing you to collaborate effectively. You can add a new layer of choice to your meetings and represent yourself the way you want with customizable avatars and reactions.
Represent yourself the way you want with customizable avatars and reactions. Save up to three avatars for different meeting types, such as casual, professional, and day to day. Note that Avatars for Microsoft Teams is designed for users 18+.
This release is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID: 107969
When this will happen:
- Targeted Release (Public Preview): We expect to begin rolling out late March and expect to be complete by early-April.
- Standard Release: We are working hard to begin rolling this out in May and will communicate any changes via Message Center
How this affects your organization:
You can create your avatar for Microsoft Teams from the Avatars app and select your avatar from the pre-join and in-meeting scenarios.
Create your avatar: You can create your avatar for Microsoft Teams through the Avatars app. To access the Avatars app, you can search and install from the Teams App store, through the pre-join screen by clicking the button ‘Create your avatar’ and in-meeting through the More menu under Effects and avatars.
Select from hundreds of combinations to customize an avatar that represents your physical attributes, wardrobe, accessories, and more. Save up to three avatars for different meeting types.
Before joining a Teams meeting, you can access Avatars from the quick tray when your camera is disabled.
After joining a meeting, you will be able to apply your avatar from selecting Effects and avatars on the side pane under the More menu. Additional settings are provided to express yourself through avatar reactions, update your background, change your camera position and more!
ADMINS – What you can do to prepare:
Since Avatars are based on apps in Teams, you can manage these apps just as you would any others. See this page to learn more about how to manage apps in the Microsoft Teams admin center. Find out more at Manage your apps in the Microsoft Teams admin center – Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Learn
Got feedback on features in the public preview or other areas of Teams? Let us know straight from Teams via Help > Give feedback. This is on the bottom left of your client.
SharePoint: Create Pages and News from the SharePoint app bar
[MC535266 · Published Mar 30, 2023]: With this update, users will soon be able to start creating pages and news as an action from the SharePoint app bar. This means that no matter where users are in SharePoint, they can jump right into the creation process and stay in the flow of work.
This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 98143
When this will happen:
Targeted Release: We will begin rolling out in early April and expect rollout to be complete by mid-April.
Standard Release: We will begin rolling out in late-April and expect rollout to be complete by mid-May.
How this will affect your organization:
This new feature allows users to create pages and news from the SharePoint app bar. Users will be able to select the Create command on the app and then select an option from SharePoint News post or SharePoint page, in addition to the SharePoint sites, Microsoft Lists or the Office files (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OneNote) that are currently available.
As a user creates pages and news posts from the panel, they will be prompted to select a destination where they want to create the page or news post.
- Current site: If users are on a SharePoint site when launching the Create command from the app bar, the service will verify that the user has permission to edit before displaying the site.
- Recent sites: Users can select Recent Sites to see sites where they have edit permissions to create a page or news post.
- Search for a site: Users can search for a site to create a page or news post. If no sites were found matching the query where the user has edit permissions, they’ll be guided to explore sites on the start page.
ADMINS – What you need to do to prepare:
You do not need to do anything to prepare. The SharePoint app bar cannot be customized. If you haven’t already enabled and customized global navigation in the SharePoint app bar, it’s highly recommended that you do so to take advantage of the best navigational experience for end users.
Visit this page to learn more on the SharePoint app bar.
Offline meetings in Microsoft Teams
[MC535261 · Published Mar 30, 2023] For events such as personal appointments, lunch break slots on calendar, and in-person meetings, you can now create a true appointment in Teams calendar by turning off the online toggle for a meeting.
What to expect: By default, all meetings created from teams will be teams online meeting. The toggle is currently available only for private meetings and appointments. Offline events will not create chat thread and other teams meeting artifacts that are tightly coupled with teams’ online meetings.
This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 122483
When this will happen:
Standard Release: We will begin rolling out in late May.
GCC, GCCHigh, DoD: We will begin rolling out in early July.
How this will affect your organization:
No impact.
ADMINS – What you need to do to prepare:
There is no action needed to prepare for this change. You may want to notify your users about this change and update any relevant documentation as appropriate.
March skilling snacks: Bite-sized learning for IT pros
[MC535231 · Published Mar 30, 2023] Our special learning series continues to build a wider topics library for the continued professional development of IT pros. These weekly selections of public resources are packaged in a way that is easy to consume in under two hours. Topics are meant for all skill levels: those who are new to IT, and seasoned vets looking for refresher or mentoring materials. This month, review Windows Autopilot, cloud virtualization spaces, application compatibility, and Windows monthly updates.
When will this happen:
This series is already available. New learning content will be posted every week.
What you need to do to prepare:
Bookmark the series index to catch up on the topics that are of most interest to you and at a time that’s most convenient for you: Windows skilling snacks: bite-sized learning for IT pros.
Additional information:
Take advantage of the following topics published in the month of March:
- Skilling snack: Windows Autopilot
- Skilling snack: Windows 365 or Azure Virtual Desktop
- Skilling snack: Windows app compatibility
- Skilling snack: Windows monthly updates
- Bookmark the series index to catch future topics: Windows skilling snacks: bite-sized learning for IT pros
Microsoft Teams: Speaker View in Teams Meetings
[MC534743 · Published Mar 29, 2023] Microsoft Teams is introducing a new feature: Speaker View. This option can be selected from the view switcher within meetings, allowing users to effortlessly track the current active speaker. Speaker View is particularly effective in scenarios with a limited number of key speakers and a large audience, such as town halls, trainings, or lectures – especially from the student’s perspective.
This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 116009
When this will happen:
Targeted Release (Public Preview): We will begin rolling out in early April and expect to complete rollout by mid-April.
Standard Release: We will begin rolling out in early May and expect to complete rollout by mid-May.
GCC-High & DoD: We will begin rolling out in late May and expect to complete rollout by mid-June.
How this will affect your organization:
The Speaker View offers several enhancements, including:
- Easy tracking of the active speaker: The view includes a primary area on the stage to focus on key participants in the meeting.
- The active speaker’s video will be rendered at a higher resolution, providing better visual clarity.
- Equal representation for audio and video participants: All attendees will be equally represented in the meeting, regardless of whether their video is enabled or disabled.
- Inclusive by default: Speaker View utilizes 16:9 tiles, providing ample space to fully display hand gestures and body language.
- Predictable experience: The use of 16:9 tiles and consistent placement of audio and video participants on the same stage ensures a fluid experience. Users toggling their videos on or off will not cause the entire stage to be re-rendered. The main area designated for the active speaker is also utilized for shared content, enabling seamless transitions during presentations.
In addition to the new view option, the button to disable incoming videos will be relocated from its current position in the “More” overflow menu to the same view switcher where Speaker View is located. Users will be able to select a new view from the view switcher. This view will not be set as a default view.
ADMINS – What you need to do to prepare: No explicit user action is needed to enable or use this feature. You may want to update your user documentation to inform users of this update.
Reminder Emails for Webinars
[MC533814 · Published Mar 27, 2023]: To build excitement and drive attendance as the webinar draws near, you can leverage timely, automated reminder emails to ensure the event remains top of mind. These emails will be sent to every confirmed registrant at a configured date and time you set ahead of the event and will include a custom-branded header, webinar details, and a link to join the event.
This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 122505
Standard Release: We have started rolling out this out and will complete in mid-April.
How this will affect your organization:
Every Teams webinar set up after the feature is available in your tenant would have reminder emails sent one hour before event start. There is no admin policy to govern this as this is critical to every webinar to remind registrants to join.
In E* the reminder emails will be delivered to all confirmed registrants 1hr before the event. This would be available in March.
The time to send reminder can be configured by the event organizers, however this is reserved for Teams Premium licensed organizers. This would be available by May.
The content of the emails (i.e. all webinar related attendee emails) can be edited by the event organizers, however this is reserved for Teams Premium licensed organizers. This feature would be available by end of April.
ADMINS – What you need to do to prepare:
No action needed. the email is an out of box email and would be sent out for every Teams webinar.
Check out previous Microsoft Updates that Total Solutions has posted here -> Microsoft Updates Archives – Total Solutions Inc.
