On this week’s Practical 365 podcast, Paul and I dive into some interesting developments in the Microsoft 365 world. We’ve got a mix of new features, rebranding efforts, and AI advancements to discuss.
Microsoft Places Enters Opt-In Preview
First up, we’ve got Microsoft Places entering an opt-in limited preview. For those unfamiliar, Places is Microsoft’s offering for managing hybrid work environments. Paul and I had a bit of a debate about whether it’s too late for Places to make an impact.
Paul’s more optimistic, believing there’s still room for Places to carve out its niche. I’m a bit more skeptical – the hybrid work landscape has evolved rapidly, and many organizations have already invested in other solutions. That said, I’m curious to see how Places develops and what unique features it might bring to the table.
If you’re interested in giving Places a spin, you can opt into the public preview program. Microsoft has also released a deployment guide, which is worth a look if you’re considering implementing Places in your organization.
Read more on the preview opt-in and documentation.
Outlook Gets a Classic Rebrand
In a move that’s equal parts practical and nostalgic, Microsoft is renaming the current version of Outlook to “Outlook Classic”. This is clearly paving the way for the new web-based Outlook to simply become “Outlook” in the future.
Paul and I had mixed views on this. I’m still adamant that I want to keep Outlook, as after all, it’s a classic for a reason! But jokes aside, this rebranding effort makes sense from Microsoft’s perspective. It’ll make the transition to the new Outlook smoother, at least in terms of naming conventions.
Teams Rooms Gets an AI Boost
Microsoft is expanding its AI-powered speaker recognition technology to all Teams Rooms on Windows devices, regardless of the microphone type. Previously, this was only available with intelligent speaker equipment, but now any Teams Room on Windows will be able to leverage this technology.
This upgrade brings several benefits:
- Precise speaker attribution in meeting transcripts
- Enhanced noise suppression using voice isolation
- Improved Intelligent Recap and Copilot functionality
Roadmap Roundup
As always, we’ve got some interesting items from the Microsoft 365 roadmap:
- Teams will soon be able to automatically set your work location to “In the office” when you plug into peripherals at a bookable desk. This should be generally available by August 2024.
- Teams Rooms on Windows will support up to four single-stream cameras, giving remote attendees more viewing options. This is also slated for August 2024.
- Copilot Lab is getting trending and recommended prompts, powered by Microsoft Graph. Look for this in September 2024.
- Word users will be able to customize Copilot responses with personalization profiles, coming in July 2024.
- And finally, scheduled prompts for Copilot chat will enter preview in August 2024, with general availability expected in December.
That’s all for this week’s show. I will be joined by Rich Dean on the next episode with more Microsoft 365 news and a special guest, joining us to fill us in on what they’ll be talking about at TEC. Until and don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify or iTunes.
