On the show this week, Justin Morris (who you might remember from The UC Architects Podcast) – former MVP and now Microsoft Teams Meeting Rooms specialist joins us to share what he’s seeing with customers today as they adopt Hybrid working. We’ve heard the theory – what are the execs asking for as they begin to use board rooms again?
And Paul and I deep-dive into Teams V2.0 – Angular vs React, what is Webview 2.0 – we go deep – you’ll find out a lot of useful information on what’s under the hood here.
Plus of course Exchange Updates, news on Windows 11 since the last show, and new Microsoft 365 features dropping into your tenant soon that you’ll need to know about..
Exchange June 2021 Quarterly Updates arrive – with a new Exchange feature!
In what feels like the first time in a long time, Microsoft release a CU that includes new features for Exchange. The new functionality is Exchange Server AMSI Integration – the Antimalware Scan Interface. This allows software that can interface with and intercept HTTP requests to Exchange to scan and detect malware. We discuss this on the show – and as you’ll expect, the latest security updates released for Exchange, released out-of-band between the last CU and this one are included. You know the drill – don’t delay and patch today (or soon!)
Released: June 2021 Quarterly Exchange Updates – Microsoft Tech Community
What does Teams “version 2.0” even mean? We examine the evidence!
In the last episode I briefly touched on this, and we’ve had a couple of weeks to reflect and I used the opportunity today to quiz Paul on some of the underlying changes and what they’ll actually mean. What is Angular? What is ReactJS? Where does Teams use them and why does it matter that they have moved from one to the other? Why does WebView 2.0 matter – and what is it, exactly, and where else is it being used in Microsoft 365 products today?
In a bit of a lengthy chat we break down these technologies bit by bit, explore and explain how they are used.. and also think about the question of Teams “versions” and what a “version 2.0” actually is, given that there are lots of ever-changing pieces to the product. Paul explains this as components that can be taken out and replaced and the product, for a layperson, looks exactly the same. My explanation that Teams is a bit like Trigger’s Well Maintained Broom falls entirely flat on US-native Paul’s ears though. But if you get it, you get it..
We also touch upon Tom Morgan’s blog from a Teams’ developer’s point of view. However, we do hope Microsoft don’t wait until WebView 2.0 arrives on every platform.
Windows 11 planning guidance and processor clarifications
We briefly covered Windows 11 in the last episode – and over the coming weeks and months there is going to be much more to discuss and write about on the site, as the Practical 365 team get under the hood of the latest version. Paul discusses the improvements in security, what that meant when Windows 10 arrived and how the advance (or raising of the bar, as Microsoft say) matters. On the show today though, we wanted to call out two useful resources from Microsoft worth reading:
Update on Windows 11 minimum system requirements | Windows Insider Blog
Planning for Windows 11: best practices for organizations – Microsoft Tech Community
Justin Morris from Microsoft joins us to provide expert advice on Microsoft Teams Rooms, Hybrid working and what he is seeing at the coal-face of meeting room deployments
If you’ve followed Lync, Skype or Teams Unified Communications over the years then you’ll probably know Justin Morris. Justin was a long-time Microsoft MVP and UC specialist, has worked on the adoption and business change side, and recently joined Microsoft to specialise in Teams Meetings and Meeting Rooms. On the show, we drill into some of the interesting details that take us beyond purely envisaging what Hybrid working is, right down into what CEOs, executives, CIOs and enterprise IT teams are doing right now and what real-life implementation of Microsoft Teams Rooms set up properly for hybrid working look like and need.
- Microsoft unveiled their vision for the future of hybrid meetings recently. What are hybrid meetings?
- We saw several new concepts at Ignite 2021 that looked quite futuristic. How far off in the future do you think this vision is?
- Most recently, Front Row view (and other new video layouts) were announced along with Intelligent Speakers becoming GA. What difference will these make to meeting experiences?
- What are you hearing right now from customers who are asking Microsoft what they should do to prepare for a part-return to the office?
- Why is the way a meeting room video conferencing system set up, and the features offered, more important now than it was several years ago?
- When we talk about equity in meetings, or people having an equal experience, what does this mean and what is in it for the business or employees?
Roadmap and Rolling out
Teams new features appear on the roadmap for video & calling
Music Mode is on it’s way – and I rejoice. If I had it now, I’d have probably sung a song – so be thankful that it takes a few weeks for features to actually arrive in the client.. But we expect it this July and this means that music lessons online, yoga lessons with music and more will benefit if they are using Teams. We are putting two and two together and assuming this relies upon Microsoft’s Satin codec with some client setting to enable high-quality music or voice transmission – and that this will mean doing things like this podcast are possible over Teams. I mention that you’ll hear the difference in audio quality when Justin joined us, versus using a dedicated professional podcast studio platform for the normal show with myself and Paul. We hope that Teams “Music Mode” will bring Teams audio quality to the level it can be used for a professionally recorded show.
If you read my article on Teams live streaming using NDI+OBS a few weeks ago, and thought “that’s too much hassle” or “I don’t have a good enough PC” but want to stream your Teams Meeting to YouTube, LinkedIn Live or similar then good news is coming your way. RTMP streaming (the protocol you use to get the video feed from Teams or OBS to your live streaming platform) is coming into the Teams client itself. We don’t know exactly how this will manifest itself, or if it provides additional layouts or capabilities – but it might open up some interesting options with Standout mode and other Teams presenter views. Stay tuned – we’ll be testing this when it arrives.
Exchange Online has a new outbound relay pool
Microsoft are making changes that will affect you if your relay emails from on-premises, through Exchange Online and on to recipients and are sending email from domains that are not custom domains/accepted domains in your tenant. This is going to ensure that these messages don’t affect the reliability of delivery for messages from your Microsoft 365 tenant custom domains, so this is an excellent change – but one you need to note and check. See MC266466 in your tenant’s Message Center for the full details.
And finally – check your message center today – Your teams upgrade may be complete…
As we discussed in a previous episode, Microsoft started scheduling automatic upgrades for you stragglers who are still using Skype for Business Online and didn’t upgrade. Practical 365 writer Stale Hansen (and hey – another former UC Architect podcast co-host) published an article on the site last month to help you understand what do if you are in this situation and you are worried about what’s happening behind the scenes in your tenant as the end of July fast approaches..
