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 September:
- Changes to the registration campaign feature in Microsoft Entra (previously Azure Active Directory) (Updated)
- Stream Classic webpart retirement and new Stream (on SharePoint) webpart availability (Updated)
- Microsoft Teams: Choose Which Users to Notify When Publishing a Task List
- Animated Backgrounds in Teams Meetings (Updated)
- Expanding our AI capabilities to meet the everyday needs of people and business
- Microsoft Teams: Explicit Recording Consent for Teams Meetings (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
Changes to the registration campaign feature in Microsoft Entra (previously Azure Active Directory) (Updated)
[MC650420 · Published Jul 20, 2023 · Last updated Sep 19, 2023]: Updated September 18, 2023: Deployment will begin September 25th and will run to October 20th. These dates replace the dates mentioned in the email “We’re enabling a stronger form of multifactor authentication beginning September 15, 2023” that you might have received. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Publicly switched telephone networks (PSTN) such as SMS and voice authentication are the weakest forms of MFA. To help your users move away from these less secure MFA methods we are introducing changes to the Microsoft managed state of the registration campaign (aka Nudge) feature in Microsoft Entra (previously Azure Active Directory).
When this will happen:
Starting late September 2023 and expect to complete by late October 2023.
How this affects your organization:
Users in your organization who are relying on PSTN (SMS and/or voice) for MFA will be prompted to use the Microsoft Authenticator app. Users can skip this prompt for a maximum of 3 times, after which registration of the app will be required by default. Note: admins can decide it they want to opt out of the “limited” 3 snooze configuration or give their end users the ability to snooze indefinitely.
What you can do to prepare:
We urge you to motivate your users to immediately stop using SMS and voice for MFA. You can take advantage of several new admin levers to achieve this such as system-preferred MFA and Microsoft Authenticator Lite, in addition to registration campaign. However, if some of your users require more time you can exempt them for now. Sign in as Global Administrator or Authentication Policy Administrator and go to Microsoft Entra > Identity > Protection > Authentication methods > Registration campaign and exclude these user groups.
Stay alert, stay secure! Microsoft Identity & Network access (IDNA) product group
Stream Classic webpart retirement and new Stream (on SharePoint) webpart availability (Updated)
[MC561187 · Published May 26, 2023 · Last updated Sep 19, 2023] Updated September 19, 2023: We have updated the timeline below. Thank you for your patience.
This is an important message for customers who use the Stream (Classic) webpart to add videos to SharePoint Pages and news posts. Microsoft will retire the Stream (Classic) webpart on Aug 15, 2023 and it will no longer be available for use after this date. The Stream (Classic) webpart will be replaced by the new Stream (on SharePoint) webpart.
This change is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap: 124800
When this will happen:
The Stream (Classic) webpart will be retired on August 15, 2023.
The Stream (on SharePoint) webpart will begin its general availability roll out in mid-August (previously mid-June), and we expect the rollout to complete by mid-October 2023 (previously mid-September).
How this will affect your organization:
- Your organization will not be able to use Stream (Classic) webpart after August 15, 2023.
- All SharePoint pages and news posts that were built using Stream (Classic) webpart with single video as a source will continue to play your videos until February 2025.
- After your organization migrates video content to Stream (on SharePoint), single videos configured on the Stream Classic webpart continues to play inline while channels configured on the webpart is replaced by a button that redirects to the migrated folder location.
- If you would like to publish videos from Stream (on SharePoint) on SharePoint Pages, you can currently use video eligible webparts such as “File and Media”, “Hero”, “Highlighted content” and “List” webparts. Additionally, you will be able to use the new Stream (on SharePoint) webpart when it becomes available.
- For re-publishing Stream Classic webpart videos post-migration, users will have to manually do so using the share URL via above mentioned webparts.
What you can do to prepare:
Please follow this documentation for detailed timelines and video publishing guidance on the new Stream: Stream (Classic) web part transition plan & new Stream Webpart
Microsoft Teams: Choose Which Users to Notify When Publishing a Task List
[MC676300 · Published Sep 21, 2023]: The task publishing experience in Microsoft Teams will soon allow you to choose which users to notify when you publish or unpublish a task list. You’ll soon have the ability to choose which members of teams receiving the tasks should get a notification in their Teams activity feed: all owners and members, owners only, or no one. Similarly, you will be able to choose who to notify when unpublishing a task list.
This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 144248
When this will happen:
Rollout will begin in late September 2023 and is expected to be complete by late October 2023.
How this will affect your organization: If you are using the task publishing feature, you will see the additional notification options in the confirmation screen when you publish or unpublish a list.
What you need to do to prepare:
You do not need to take any additional steps to prepare.
Animated Backgrounds in Teams Meetings (Updated)
[MC578280 · Published Jun 9, 2023] Updated September 21, 2023: We have updated the timeline below. Thank you for your patience.
The animated background feature in Teams Meetings allows users to replace their existing background with a dynamic animation for a more immersive virtual environment. It offers various options to enhance meeting experience with creativity and personalization according to users’ preferences. Currently, only pre-defined backgrounds from Microsoft are supported. Animated backgrounds are identified by the small video icon in the bottom-left corner of the preview picture.
This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 122513
When this will happen:
Targeted Release: We will begin rolling out in mid-June and expect to complete rollout by late June.
Public Preview: We will begin rolling out in mid-June and expect to complete rollout by late June.
Standard Release and GCC: We will begin rolling out in early July and expect to complete rollout by mid-September 2023 (previously late July).
GCC-High and DoD: We will begin rolling out in late September and expect to complete rollout by late October.
How this will affect your organization: Users can go to the pre-join screen before the meeting start > Effects and Avatars > Video effects and select a new animated background. Animated backgrounds can be identified by the little video symbol in the bottom left corner of the preview picture.
Users can also change animated backgrounds when they start a meeting and go to More in meeting toolbar > Effects and Avatars > Select an animated background.
- Animated backgrounds are not available on low-end devices and require at least 8 GB RAM, CPU with 4 logical processors.
- Only pre-defined backgrounds from Microsoft are currently supported.
- Using more video filters might slow down background animation, in case of high machine workload.
What you need to do to prepare: No preparation is needed. You may want to update your training materials indicating that animated backgrounds are now supported Teams meetings.
Expanding our AI capabilities to meet the everyday needs of people and business
[MC676237 · Published Sep 21, 2023] We are bringing Copilot and new Microsoft AI experiences to the Windows PC. Today, Microsoft took the first step to unify our AI capabilities as Microsoft Copilot, providing a consistent look and feel across our products. Available as a side pane in Microsoft applications like Microsoft 365 and Edge, and on your Windows taskbar, the Copilot icon will be a consistent experience and entry point.
When will this happen:
The new Copilot experience will start to show up in the coming weeks and months, and we will add more connections and capabilities over time. New AI experiences in Windows will roll out gradually, beginning with the preview of Copilot in Windows in the September 26th optional preview update for Windows 11, version 22H2.
What you need to do to prepare:
If you would like your end users to have access to new Windows 11, version 22H2 features as soon as possible, you can use the newly-announced policy to enable optional updates for managed devices.
Additional information:
For more information on specific features and capabilities, see Ushering in a new era of AI with Copilot from Microsoft designed to empower people across work and life.
Microsoft Teams: Explicit Recording Consent for Teams Meetings (Updated)
[MC523053 · Published Mar 3, 2023 · Last updated Sep 19, 2023] Updated September 19, 2023: We have updated the rollout timeline below. Thank you for your patience.
Microsoft Teams is going to support an Explicit Recording Consent meeting policy. When the policy is applied, the Teams meeting window will request explicit consent of all participants to be recorded. Before a user gives consent, the user’s audio, video, and screenshare/consent-share won’t be captured in the meeting recording.
This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 107781
When this will happen:
Standard and GCC: We will begin rolling out in late March and expect to complete rollout by mid-April. – Complete
GCC-High: We will begin rolling out in late May (previously late April) and expect to complete rollout by mid-June (previously early May). – Complete
DoD: We will begin rolling out in mid-October 2023 (previously mid-September) and expect to complete rollout by late October 2023 (previously late September).
How this will affect your organization:
Explicit Recording Consent is OFF by default and is an IT admin policy-controlled feature. Admins can choose to enable the feature either for the entire tenant or for specific individuals based on their business needs. When the policy is applied, Teams meetings set up by these individuals will request explicit consent from all participants to be recorded.
Before a user gives consent, their audio, video, and screenshare/content-share will be disabled during the meeting. This will prevent their audio, video, and screenshare/content-share from being recorded.
Participants’ consent is logged and can be accessed as part of the Attendance Report.
What you need to do to prepare:
You may want to update your training materials indicating that this policy is now supported.
Admins can use PowerShell to enable or disable this feature using the following examples, and the Teams Admin Center will soon support the policy setting as well.
- Set CsTeamsMeetingPolicy -Identity Global -ExplicitRecordingConsent “Enabled”
- Set CsTeamsMeetingPolicy -Identity Global -ExplicitRecordingConsent “Disabled”
Please keep in mind of the following dependencies and limits when deciding to enable the feature:
- The feature relies on Attendance Report; for customers who have disabled the Attendance Report, end users will not be able to enable their mic, camera, or screensharing/content-sharing when a recording is started. If you are unable to enable Attendance Report, we recommend waiting for a future update.
- To avoid disruptions for end-users, they should be using the most recent version of Teams.
- In meetings requiring explicit consent, users joining from unsupported endpoints, such as older client versions and CarPlay, will not be able to enable their mic, camera, or screenshare/content-sharing during recording.
- Teams meeting rooms user and PSTN users can still get recording notifications as of today, but they cannot provide explicit recording consent, and their consent data will be logged as “not applicable” or “auto consent”.
Check out previous Microsoft Updates that Total Solutions has posted here -> Microsoft Updates Archives – Total Solutions Inc.
