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 April:
- A new experience to search within chat and channels
- Microsoft Teams: Two-way lobby chat
- OneDrive: Sharing Experiences – Refreshed Manage Access
- Outlook – New Outlook for Windows and web – Reading Pane Background Image
- Live translated captions for meetings requires Teams Premium license
- Outlook on the web – Work Hours and Location
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
A new experience to search within chat and channels
[MC554158 · Published May 12, 2023]: Microsoft is excited to introduce a new and improved experience to search within chats and channels.
This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 122550
When this will happen:
- Standard: Microsoft will begin rolling this out in early June 2023 and expect to complete rollout by mid-June 2023
- GCC: Microsoft will begin rolling this out in late June 2023
- GCC-H: Microsoft will begin rolling this out in early July 2023
- DoD: Microsoft will begin rolling this out in late July 2023
How this will affect your organization:
A few key enhancements include:
- The new in-chat and in-channel Search experience will now be available in the right handrail, making it possible to see your chat/channel list and your new search results in one single view. The initiation can be done using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+F(win) or Cmd +F (Mac):
Chat:
Channel:
Note: Search capability on the new Channels experience is currently available on the main view, and Microsoft will extend it to the conversation view very soon.
2. In addition to the keyboard shortcut, a dedicated button ‘Find in Channel’, placed on the channel info pane can be used to initiate contextual search:
3. Microsoft has now introduced enhanced captioning and keyword highlighting to aid the discernment of results in chat and channel:
4. In-chat search will now also be available in pop-out chats.
ADMINS – What you need to do to prepare: No preparation needed. The new search experience is set up by default, but you may want to draw attention to these new capabilities in Teams.
Microsoft Teams: Two-way lobby chat
[MC554156 · Published May 12, 2023]: The Virtual Appointments app provides a central hub for all your virtual appointments needs in Microsoft Teams. The app enables a seamless end-to-end experience for business-to-customer engagements.
Queue view in Virtual Appointments app is a premium advanced virtual appointment feature that allows businesses to Empower employees to manage and service scheduled and on-demand virtual appointments in one location with advanced capabilities to track wait times, live status of a meeting, and more. Scheduling administrators and staff conducting virtual appointments can monitor incoming requests and process them appropriately.
Two-way lobby chat in queue view will provide a seamless client experience with an interactive waiting room that allows facilitators to send waiting room messages to customers prior to the meeting. For example, a client in the waiting room can receive messages from the facilitator or other staff schedulers such as, “Last appointment is running long. Be with you in 5 mins.” The client can respond directly in chat so they can stay connected and ask any questions as needed.
This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 122395
When this will happen:
Standard Release: Microsoft will begin rolling in May 2023 and complete by June 2023.
How this will affect your organization:
With Teams premium license, users can use queue view to manage their appointments and communicate with customers prior to the meeting.
ADMINS – What you need to do to prepare:
- Add virtual appointments app to Teams left rail so users can access the app with ease.
- Communicate to users how to utilize queue view to efficiently manage their scheduled and On-demand appointments from a single location. Learn more about Queue view in Virtual appointments app
- Learn more about Teams Premium
OneDrive: Sharing Experiences – Refreshed Manage Access
[MC554155 · Published May 12, 2023]: Microsoft is completely revamping the Manage Access experience to be more people-centric and more usable. You can now view the extensive list of all the people who have gained access to your files, search for an individual or a group and manage their access with even more control. You can also drill down into the group or link information for more details.
This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 83726
When this will happen:
Targeted Release: Microsoft will begin rolling out in late May (previously mid-May) and expect to complete rollout by mid-June (previously early June).
Standard Release: Microsoft will begin rolling out in mid-June (previously early June) and expect to complete rollout by mid-July (previously late June).
How this will affect your organization:
Users who interact with the OneDrive/SharePoint will be able to see this new Manage Access experience.
Note: Some users may see this feature before others in your organization.
ADMINS – What you need to do to prepare:
There is no action required from you at this time. Microsoft recommends making your users aware of this upcoming update. Please find additional information in this documentation.
Outlook – New Outlook for Windows and web – Reading Pane Background Image
[MC554153 · Published May 12, 2023] To offer more personalization to end users, Outlook on the web and the new Outlook for Windows will offer the ability to display a background image in the reading pane whenever emails are not selected.
This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 126221
When this will happen:
Standard Release: Microsoft will begin rolling out early June and expect to complete by late June.
How this will affect your organization:
This feature will be turned off by default. Users will be able to turn on a background image by going to Settings >> General>> Appearance from Outlook on the web or the new Outlook for Windows.
If you do not want your users to have the ability to use the newest Outlook theme, you can disable access to all themes that are not your organizational theme in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center.
ADMINS – What you need to do to prepare:
If you want your users to have access to our new background image, there is nothing you need to do! If you want to prevent your uses from accessing this theme, make sure that you have the OwaMailboxPolicy, ThemeSelectionEnabled, set to $false.
Live translated captions for meetings requires Teams Premium license
[MC553275 · Published May 10, 2023] Earlier this year Microsoft announced the grace period for several Microsoft Teams Premium features that were in preview, including live translated captions for meetings. Starting April 2023, a Teams Premium license is required to use this feature.
License enforcement will be enabled in July 2023. Once licensing enforcement is enabled, the only users who will be able to access live translated captions for meetings are:
- Individual users that are licensed with a Teams Premium license
- Meeting attendees who attend a meeting where the meeting organizer is licensed with a Teams Premium license (feature available for that single meeting)
When will this happen:
- April 2023 – Teams Premium license required per product terms.
- July 2023 – License enforcement enabled.
How will this affect your organization:
Starting April 2023, product terms require that live translated captions for meetings be licensed with Teams Premium.
While license enforcement won’t be enabled until July 1, 2023, we recommend that proper licenses be acquired for any user that you intend to benefit from live translated captions for meetings. To review the terms and conditions governing the use of Microsoft products and Professional Services acquired through Microsoft Licensing programs, see the Product Terms.
ADMINS – What you need to do to prepare:
We recommend that Teams Premium licenses are acquired for users that you intend to benefit from live translated captions for meetings. Starting July 2023, live translated captions for meetings will not be accessible for those who either are not licensed with Teams Premium, or are attending a meeting where the organizer is not licensed for Teams Premium. Live captions (without translations) for meetings are unaffected by this change and continue to be available for all Microsoft Teams users.
Outlook on the web – Work Hours and Location
[MC553273 · Published May 10, 2023] To help organizations manage hybrid work, users can set up their work hours and location (WHL) in Outlook on the web, specifying when they’ll be remote or in the office. They can also setup different working hours per day, or multiple work slots in a day. Additionally, if your organization uses Teams and a user sets up WHL, their location will also be shown in their Teams profile card.
The new WHL also impacts how “suggested times” work when creating a meeting event in Outlook on the web. Suggested times will take into account the WHL of the attendees before suggesting times when people are available.
This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 88822
When this will happen:
Targeted Release: Microsoft will begin rolling out in mid-May 2023 and expect to complete rollout by late May 2023.
Standard Release: Microsoft will begin rolling out in late May 2023 and expect to complete rollout by early June 2023.
How this will affect your organization:
If users set up WHL, people in their organization will be able to see whether they are working in the office or remote when using the Scheduling Assistant in Outlook on the web or in the Teams profile card.
If users don’t set up WHL, nothing will change.
ADMINS – What you need to do to prepare:
There is nothing you need to do to prepare for this change, but you may want to communicate to your users on this feature which could make hybrid work and meetings a better experience.
For more info on the feature, please read this blog.
Check out previous Microsoft Updates that Total Solutions has posted here -> Microsoft Updates Archives – Total Solutions Inc.
