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Microsoft 365 Insights

Updates from the
Simply Office 365 lab

Office 365 Insights - Apr 2020

3/4/2020

 
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Microsoft is rolling out some great new features this month. But before we give you our thoughts on some of the most useful, it's important to note their announcements on temporarily reducing services during this period of exceptional demand and usage.


Reduced features due to excess demand during this period

MC207439

Category
Administration


Please be aware of the following announcement from Microsoft as it affects all Office 365 users (although some features are running normally for Education customers).

"As a part of our commitment to customers and Microsoft cloud services continuity during these unprecedented times, we're making temporary adjustments to select capabilities within Microsoft 365.

Last week, we shared details about adjustments in Microsoft Teams, such as how often we check for presence, the interval in which we show when the other party is typing, and reduced video resolution.

We are sharing a few other temporary changes you can expect.

OneNote:
  • OneNote in Teams will be read-only for commercial tenants, excluding EDU. Users can go to OneNote for the web for editing.
  • Download size and sync frequency of file attachments has been changed.
  • You can find details on these and other OneNote related updates at:
    http://aka.ms/notesupdates.

SharePoint:
  • We are rescheduling specific backend operations to regional evening and weekend business hours. Impacted capabilities include migration, DLP and delays in file management after uploading a new file, video or image.
  • Reduced video resolution for playback videos.

Stream:
  • People timeline has been disabled for newly uploaded videos. Pre-existing videos will not be impacted.
  • Meeting recording video resolution adjusted to 720p

We will continue to monitor our Microsoft 365 services on an ongoing basis and share any further updates here."




Greater integration between Teams and Skype Consumer rolling out now

MC205801

Category
Teams


What is this all about?

Microsoft is providing greater integration between Microsoft Teams and consumer or personal Skype users.

How does this affect me?

Post this change, Teams users in your company can chat with and call Skype users by using their email address and vice versa.

  • Teams users can search for and start a one-on-one text-only conversation or an audio/video call with a Skype user.
  • Skype users can search for and start a one-on-one text-only conversation or an audio/video call with a Teams user.

There are some restrictions when comparing a Teams to Teams call as follows:

  • Conversations are text-only. This means that there's no rich formatting, @mentions, emojis, or other any of the other chat features that are available in a native Teams chat experience.
  • Conversations are one-on-one only. Group chats aren't supported.
  • Teams users and Skype users can't see each other's presence.
  • Searching for Skype users by using their Skype ID or phone number isn't supported.

What do I need to do to prepare for this change?
​

This change will be disabled by default and therefore your Administrators will need to turn this feature on if this is something you want your company to benefit from.

The change will be gradually rolled out towards the end of March 2020 and the rollout will be completed by the end of April.


More from Microsoft

https://docs.microsoft.com/microsoftteams/teams-skype-interop




View and manage OneDrive document versions from File explorer

MC205517

What is this all about?

Unknown to most users who only access OneDrive through File Explorer, OneDrive does version control all files and therefore it is possible, through the OneDrive browser interface, to view version history and, if necessary, to restore a previous version. This change will enable users to view and manage version history through File Explorer on both Windows and Mac devices.

How does this affect me?

You will see a new entry in the context menu in Mac Finder, Windows File Explorer, and OneDrive Activity Feed. Version history will allow you to download previous versions of a file as well as restore or delete previous versions without needing to access this feature via the browser.
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What do I need to do to prepare for this change?
​

Nothing. Simply look for this new feature to be available when it starts to roll out in April 2020.




Outlook Mobile updates the Search experience

MC208100

Category
Office Products


What is this all about?

As well as the enhanced corporate security controls that Outlook on your mobile provides over the standard iOS or Android mail apps, Microsoft is now rolling out more of the familiar browser and desktop Outlook features to its Mobile App making it more efficient to find information and to respond to contacts, email and events.

How does this affect me?

If you spend a lot of time managing emails or your diary on a mobile, then the following new features might just make your life easier.

1. The keyword search experience in Outlook now includes information from the deleted folder, so if you have accidentally deleted that email and need to find it, use search.

2. Hands free search using voice and natural language:

  • To further enable hands free activities, Outlook for iOS and Android will support Microsoft Search with natural language processing. Use manual keyboard entry or the new microphone icon in the Search bar to speak the query using everyday language.
 
  • Should you not type a keyword correctly or the search query is not pulling up relevant results, Outlook may ask if you intended to search for a different keyword. In the background Outlook will fetch results based on assumed intent and will correct spelling or typing errors in the suggested alternative keyword.

3. Actionable cards when searching for contact information.

  • When you search for a person and include a specific intention (such as “John’s address” or “Megan’s phone number”), results will include an actionable response such as providing a tappable email address or phone number, thus eliminating the need to seek out full contact details (contact card).
 
  • Similarly, if users search for a specific calendar event, the results will include quick actions, such as RSVP, Edit RSVP, or Join an online meeting.
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Option to search based on suggested spelling for a misspelled keyword.

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Actionable search answers for contact information in Outlook for iOS.

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Actionable search answers for calendar events in Outlook for Android.

In addition, Outlook mobile will feature the top three curated keyword search results at the top of the search results screen, which is how Microsoft Search works in Outlook for Windows and Outlook on the web
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This Week for You and To Do new sections in the proactive Search home screen in Outlook for iOS.

4. More integration to Microsoft To-do and greater personal insights.

Initially rolling out to iOS only, the home page will include two new sections.


  • To Do features the top three tasks from the user default tasks list. This includes tasks created in Outlook for Windows and Mac. It provides quick access if a user wants to do more than mark a task as complete.
 
  • This week for you features meetings that are coming up this week along with meeting Insights that provides quick access to the email conversations and files you’ll need to be prepared.
What do I need to do to prepare for this change?
​

As these features roll out during the coming months, they will appear in your mobile App, so keep an eye out for them such as the microphone icon appearing in the Outlook search bar.  If you want to discover more features of Outlook mobile then click the link we have provided.

More from Microsoft

https://products.office.com/en-gb/outlook-mobile-for-android-and-ios




Self-collapsing headers in SharePoint sites

MC207968

Category
SharePoint


What is this all about?

With this change, modern SharePoint site and hub site headers will shrink when a user scrolls down in a browser, both desktop and mobile versions. When the user scrolls back up, the site headers will return to full size.

How does this affect me?

It will benefit you by being able to view a larger set of data on your screen when scrolling through SharePoint. The behaviour will be the same on all devices, so especially beneficial on tablets and mobiles.

What do I need to do to prepare for this change?
​

This change is being automatically rolled out by the end of April so there is nothing you need to do.




Pop-out Chat window in Microsoft Teams

MC207218

Category
Teams


What is this all about?

How many times have you been working on a document in Teams and a chat message pops up from a colleague? You switch to the chat message which takes you out of you document and then, having replied to the chat message, you switch back to your document only to receive another chat post from your colleague - so you repeat the process. Given that one of the objectives of Teams is to reduce switching between applications, this somewhat defeats the objective. This new feature will enable you to pop out the chat message as a separate Window in Teams so you can easily multi-task without leaving your document.

How does this affect me?

There are several ways you can pop-out conversations:

  • Double-click on a conversation in the chat list.
  • Click “Pop out chat” from the context menu for a chat in the chat list.
  • Click the ‘pop out’ button in the top-right corner of the chat header.
  • Use the slash command in the search base "/pop name".
  • Double-click on an avatar picture
  • Hover over a chat in the chat list and click on the 'pop out' button
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What do I need to do to prepare for this change?
​

Multi-Window Chat will be enabled by default and there is nothing you need to do to prepare for this change. Microsoft will begin to roll-out the change to all customers starting in early April and expect to complete the roll-out by the end of May.




Audience targeting in SharePoint site, footer and hub navigation

MC206671

Category
SharePoint


What is this all about?

To simplify navigation in SharePoint you will join your sites together using Hub sites or just the top SharePoint navigation bar. However, you may have the situation whereby some users do not have access to some of the sites, such as Finance, and this can be both annoying and a poor experience if users click on a link only to be presented with a message asking them to "request access".

This enhancement will enable you to "target audience" those navigation links, so that only users with access to those restricted sites will see the link.


How does this affect me?

If you are a site owner, you will soon see the toggle setting to enable audience targeting when editing the site, hub, or footer navigation. Once turned on, site owners and editors can target the specific navigation links to be filtered to specific audiences.

Audience targeting benefits:


  • Enables site owners to create more engaging experiences.
  • Accelerates productivity by bringing targeted, high value resources into focus.
  • Simplifies the viewing experience for users by removing distractions from content they don't need.

Only site owners can turn audience targeting on and off. Once turned on, any site editor can target menu links to specific audiences using Office 365 Groups or security groups.
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Learn more:

•   Customise the navigation on your SharePoint site
•   Overview of audience targeting in modern SharePoint sites
•   Target navigation items, files, news and pages

What do I need to do to prepare for this change?
​

Once this feature is available in your Office 365 environment, you should review your sites and decide if audience targetting should be turned on and then who the audience should be. This feature is rolling out now and should be completed by the end of May.




Edit metadata from within the SharePoint Document Library and List View web parts

MC206010

Category
SharePoint


What is this all about?

SharePoint pages enable you to embed a view of a list or library as a "Web part".  However, the ability to change any of the columns of data or "metadata" associated with the list item or the document has required you to leave the page and to navigate directly to the underlying list or library view. This enhancement will let you modify metadata directly from within the web part.

How does this affect me?

You will now have the ability to open and edit file or list item properties directly from the document or list view web parts on a SharePoint page and therefore no longer need to navigate to the List or Document Library to update the metadata.

To edit the metadata directly from the webpart, either click on the:
Picture
or click “More” under item properties.
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More from Microsoft

•   Customise permissions for a SharePoint list or library
•   Use the Document Library web part
•   Use the List web part





Add a survey or response "Poll" to your Outlook emails

MC205124

Category
Outlook


What is this all about?

You will soon be able to embed a quick poll or survey in an Outlook email and sent it to your intended recipients. This takes the existing ability to add response buttons to a whole new level. Perhaps you need to survey staff about an upcoming event and want to provide 4 options for them to choose from, or you want to provide a client with a choice of options relating to a project. Easy, just insert a Poll.

How does this affect me?

Regardless of whether you use Outlook for Mac, Outlook for Windows or Outlook on the web you will soon be able to create a poll within Outlook without needing to find-and-install an add-in.

Simply create a new email and then click the "Poll" icon, add your questions and send. Depending on the Outlook app, the Poll icon will appear in different places, see below.

User access to the Poll add-in

Outlook for Mac

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Outlook on the web
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Outlook for Windows
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What do I need to do to prepare for this change?
​

Unless you are a Mac user there is nothing you need to do.  This enhancement is rolling out now and should be completed by the end of April.

If you are a Mac users and have previously downloaded the old Quick Poll add-in, you will need to uninstall it at https://outlook.office365.com/ecp/ in order to use the new pre-installed Poll add-in.


More from Microsoft

https://support.office.com/article/create-a-poll-in-outlook-46893563-ab12-4bd0-aff7-26f5a488fea0

Author: SO365 Insights

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