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Flash Flood Warning! You Just Setup MCAS One comment
Drowning in Microsoft Cloud App Security email alerts

Flash Flood Warning! You Just Setup MCAS

Microsoft MVP Amy Babinchak reveals how Office365 administrators can turn Microsoft Cloud App Security (MCAS) into a manageable and indispensable tool for organizations. This is achieved with several simple, tried and true methods that will reduce the amount of information alerts while highlighting severe, actionable alerts which are detailed in this article.

April 6, 2021
Using Viva Topics to Highlight Knowledge in Microsoft 365 Apps 4 Comments

Using Viva Topics to Highlight Knowledge in Microsoft 365 Apps

In the second part of a two-part series, after going through the work to generate Viva Topics, it's time to expose the topic cards to apps. In this article, we explore how apps use topic cards, including the Office online apps and Microsoft 365 apps for enterprise. We also consider the experience of users within a tenant who don't have a license for Viva Topics. Finally, we ask the big question if Viva Topics is worth the $5/month fee per user asked for by Microsoft.

April 1, 2021
Building a Knowledge Network with Viva Topics

Building a Knowledge Network with Viva Topics

Viva Topics is the foundation of Microsoft's knowledge network. Substantial effort is needed to build the set of topics found in SharePoint Online content before apps can surface topic cards to users. This article is the first of a two-part series. In it, we chronicle the process of how the AI used by Viva Topics suggests topics and how knowledge managers refine and publish the topics to make them available to end users.

March 31, 2021
SharePoint Hits 20: Memories and Reflections

SharePoint Hits 20: Memories and Reflections

Twenty years after the release of SharePoint Portal Server 2001, SharePoint now powers document management in Microsoft 365. The event will be commemorated at a 20th anniversary SharePoint Saturday on March 27, 2021. All are welcome to celebrate this notable achievement for a fine product and a great user community.

March 26, 2021
Microsoft Delivers Live Transcription with Speaker Attribution for Teams (Finally) One comment

Microsoft Delivers Live Transcription with Speaker Attribution for Teams (Finally)

Teams offers meeting organizers the ability to create an automatic transcript of conversations in meetings. For now, the feature is limited to the Teams desktop client and only for US English. The AI-based processing works well if people speak clearly and have good microphones, but even if a few bloopers exist in a transcript, it can be downloaded and fixed up in Word to create a permanent record. Overall, this is a very interesting and worthwhile feature to add to Teams meetings.

March 24, 2021
The Practical 365 Update: S2, Ep 14 – Azure AD, Viva Connections, Teams News and special guest Brian Desmond

The Practical 365 Update: S2, Ep 14 – Azure AD, Viva Connections, Teams News and special guest Brian Desmond

On the show this week, we're talking about the Azure AD outage, new Exchange patches (yes, again!) and tools, how to get ready for Viva Connections, talking UserVoice and the biggest Roadmap and Message center news. And - Brian Desmond joins us to talk in a more positive way about the Azure AD Premium (and free) features you absolutely need to switch on.

March 19, 2021
Azure Active Directory Premium – Where to Start One comment

Azure Active Directory Premium – Where to Start

For many organizations it is not possible to implement and manage Office 365 to the level of security necessary without Azure AD Premium. It is also not possible to effectively deploy and consume the capabilities of Azure AD Premium all at once. Recommending a phased deployment approach, Brian Desmond walks you through implementation of the four most important features you should start with.

March 18, 2021
How to Create a Subscription Tracker with Microsoft Lists and Power Automate 3 Comments

How to Create a Subscription Tracker with Microsoft Lists and Power Automate

Follow Luise Freese's step-by-step guide as she takes a deep dive into tracking Microsoft 365 service subscriptions and shows how to build powerful lists in Microsoft Lists, extending what’s available in SharePoint Online with Power Automate. She covers specific features, such as adding a new service for each subscription plan bought; specifying the billing term, pricing, and expiration date; automatically counting down the days until renewal; reviewing billing history and total amount paid; as well as sending renewal reminders in mobile notifications.

March 17, 2021