Each month, our M365 PACE experts take a look at what’s on the cards for Microsoft 365 users. In this blog, we’re sharing our highlights from the new features coming to the Microsoft 365 Roadmap in October.
Microsoft Teams Premium: Town halls
(Microsoft Roadmap ID 173182)
Microsoft Teams Premium users will soon be able to set up and host large-scale events across their organisation, straight from Teams. Advanced capabilities in Teams Premium include increased capacity for up to 20,000 attendees, first-party eCDN support, additional language support for live translated captions and email customisation. Organisers can also view real-time event analytics for instant insights.
Caption: Screenshot of a town hall meeting hosted in Microsoft Teams. Credit: Microsoft.
Town hall meetings will be enabled by default once you have an active Teams Premium subscription. However, it can be disabled if required by admin policy.
On-demand Teams webinar recordings
(Microsoft Roadmap ID 123052)
Teams webinar organisers are now able to publish recordings. What’s more, you can automatically send an email to attendees containing a link to watch the recording hosted on an event page.
Microsoft Teams video clip messages
(Microsoft Roadmap ID 97158)
Users have already been able to record and send video messages to leave in individual and group chats – now Microsoft is allowing you to make enhancements to your video messages. You can blur your background, record your screen and record audio-only clips.
Caption: Screenshot of a video messages recording a shared screen and with blurred background. Credit: Microsoft.
Microsoft Teams approved apps installation
(Microsoft Roadmap ID 164494)
Microsoft is enabling auto-installation of approved apps in Microsoft Teams. It uses intelligent signals from users to install and surface apps that admins have approved for the tenant.
Caption: Screenshot of a list of apps approved for automatic installation in Microsoft Teams. Credit: Microsoft.
This can help users naturally discover and use apps that are most relevant to them and their use of Microsoft Teams.
Microsoft 365: Bing Chat Enterprise
(Microsoft Roadmap ID 151035)
Microsoft has launched Bing Chat Enterprise, a protected version of the AI large-language model (LLM), to Microsoft 365 E3 and E5 licence holders for free. It gives your organisation access to an AI-powered chat for work with commercial data protection – your user and business data are protected.
Caption: Bing Chat Enterprise is available for free for Microsoft 365 E3 and E5 licence holders. Credit: Microsoft.
With Bing Chat Enterprise, your organisation’s chat history is not saved, Microsoft doesn’t have eyes-on access to it and it’s not used to train models. You can access Bing Chat Enterprise from the Microsoft Edge sidebar.
Usability improvements in the Teams Shifts app
(Microsoft Roadmap ID 146855)
The Microsoft Teams Shifts app for frontline workers will soon allow you to view people count and full names in calendar view. The most recent filter settings will be saved automatically. Managers will be able to add inline notes in the day view, and notes can also be added using the Graph API.
Frontline managers can now make more informed staffing decisions with the introduction of the people count display on the Shifts calendar (team level and schedule group level). This feature provides a clear view of staffing levels, ensuring that the right workforce is scheduled for the day, week or month.
Find out more about M365 PACE
Are you finding it challenging for your organisation to keep up with change in Microsoft 365? Our M365 PACE service provides you with tailored insights and expert guidance to help you focus on what’s most valuable in the roadmap of updates and new features. Get in touch to find out more about staying ahead of change in Microsoft 365.
