Change is constant but does not need to be disruptive. In this on-demand webinar, our experts share strategies you can use to minimize end user disruption and get employees bought into technology changes.
If you are a user of Live Captions in a meeting, you can now set the toggle switch in your Settings under “Captions and transcripts” to not display profanity when you are running Live Captions during a meeting.
Now when you create a new standard channel in a team, a Notes tab is automatically added. This tab links to a dedicated OneNote notebook for the channel in the team. Team members will be able to add notes and more via Teams (or from the client application). It will also allow users to search across all OneNote files in the tenant that they have access to.
Now when you look at Files from the Teams navigation bar, you will see a consistent user experience with what you would see if you opened OneDrive. You now have the OneDrive navigation right in the Teams user interface. You should now see all the same navigation options you see in OneDrive. Whether you are in Teams 1.0, or you are trying out Teams 2.0, the experience is the same.
You should soon see an expanded profile card view in Teams. When you hover over a profile image, you will see more contact information including details like birthdays, their leader, their LinkedIn profile, and more. You can find the same information in Teams that you are used to seeing in Outlook and other Microsoft 365 applications.
Now you can use the Teams calendar to add time blocks for personal focus time or meetings that are not online. When you create a new meeting for your calendar inside of Teams, there is now a toggle switch in the Location line that lets you say it is not an online meeting. This finally brings us closer to feature parity with Outlook for scheduling meetings.
Users on VDI can now use breakout rooms in a Teams meeting. Meeting organizers can set up breakout rooms, and participants can now join them. More information for administrators on how to enable this is available here.
A new view that is available in meetings is the “Active Speaker” view. It will render the video of the person speaking during a meeting in a higher resolution – making it easier to see them. This view is not presented by default, and you have to select it from the View option during a meeting. Get more information on enabling this feature here.
When you need a break from being on camera in back-to-back meetings, create an avatar for yourself. Be sure to have an avatar created that you can switch to for a video break.
Users can now communicate via chat through the lobby with a Teams Premium account. This works great prior to a meeting beginning.
Teams Premium users now have a Recap tab for meetings that provides a new and engaging user experience. The Recap combines in one place the meeting recording, any files shared, notes, and transcripts. This makes it easy to find personalized timeline markers in the recording, as well as the speaker timeline. It also includes AI-generated notes and AI-generated tasks.
If you have any feedback on Teams features you want to give to Microsoft, you can do it right from Teams. Just click on the Help button in the lower left corner of your Teams client, select the Give feedback option, and you will be presented with a form to complete within Teams.
If you’re interested in learning more about how these features can improve your day-to-day work, contact us. Our Modern Work team will be happy to help you make the most of this impactful collaboration tool.
National High Five Day is celebrated on the third Thursday of April and is all about giving high fives and spreading good vibes. In honor of National High Five Day, the first Together Emoji was released by Microsoft. It demonstrates the true “high five.” A “Together Emoji” brings together two emojis to express a sentiment. In chat, two people can perform an actual high five! Just message someone in chat and send them the “high five” emoji. When they send you the “high five” emoji back, you will see the emojis meet up on your chat and perform an actual high five.
More Together Emoji sentiments will be coming in the future.
When you hover over a person’s profile picture, it expands and gives you information about them – including their LinkedIn profile. If your organization has this enabled, you will be able to view an external person’s public LinkedIn profile in the expanded view of the profile card in Teams without needing to switch apps.
Want to improve your speaking skills during a meeting? Give Speaker Coach a try. Similar to Rehearse with Coach in PowerPoint, Speaker Coach will monitor your presentation during a Teams meeting and give you feedback. The areas of feedback include:
The Speaker Coach lets you know how you rated in each of these areas at the end of your meeting (after you hit the Leave button).
Turn on the feature during a meeting from the More options under Language and speech.
You will receive a notification to look at your report when the meeting ends.
Click on the notification banner or on the Speaker coach tab in the meeting chat to access your report.
Clicking on any feedback button gives you information on how you did and what you can do to improve the next time you speak.
These insights are live and seen only by you and no one else. They are not saved in meeting transcripts or audio. Only the summary report is saved for you after the meeting.
Currently, the Speaker Coach only supports the English language, but additional languages are planned. It does not work in Channel meetings or meetings started with the Meet now option.
You can set the speaker coach to automatically start in all meetings.
Admins: Learn how to turn this on or off here.
Improved sharpness and definition for video around your face, head, ears, and hair can be increased by the use of the new green screen feature in Teams meetings. It is currently in public preview and only supported if you are on Windows or Mac with Intel chips (not Mac M1/M2). It also requires that your background be a solid color screen or a clean background wall behind you.
More information on enabling this effect can be found in the Microsoft Tech Community.
Getting screen fatigue from a meeting marathon day? Take a break and use an Avatar in your meetings. Microsoft’s research indicates video usage is highly correlated to meeting participation, inclusiveness, and effectiveness. However, only approximately 30% of participants meet with their video on. Teams now allows you to select customizable avatars and reactions – giving you the opportunity to be more collaborative whether you just need a video break, are joining from a different time zone, or you just prefer not to use video.
Avatars are available in the Teams desktop app on Windows and Mac. It is not available in the consumer version of Teams or in Teams 2.0 yet.
You will need to go to the app navigation bar in Teams, select Apps, and search for the Avatar app and open it. Then create a new avatar.
Select the avatar that looks the most like you and then customize its body, face, hair, appearance, and wardrobe.
Be sure to go through all the tabs across the top of the screen to customize your avatar.
When you join a meeting, keep your video turned off and select Effects and avatars to select your avatar.
When you select a Reaction during a meeting, your avatar will perform the same action.
You can select moods and other actions in the Effects and avatars panel. You can also select a background under Avatar backgrounds.
Note that to use Avatars, you have to meet minimum hardware requirements. You will need a computer with a minimum of a two-core processor (four or more recommended) and at least 4.0 GB RAM (8.0 GB RAM or more recommended).
In addition to the updated look of the Teams admin center, you can now auto-install approved apps for users. The users have to sign into SaaS apps using Azure AD credentials first as it respects app access controls set by admins.
Turn it on under org-wide app settings.
Turn on the apps you wish to auto-install.
Users will see a notification in their Feed panel letting them know the apps are now available for use.
Next month we will cover any new announcements related to the Teams user experience from the Microsoft 365 Conference.
Software licensing can get expensive in a hurry. As the number of users in your organization starts to climb, you may find that your old methods of acquiring software and cloud services are no longer financially viable.
This software licensing issue may be a new problem for your company or one you’ve been wrestling with for years. Either way, understanding the two main options for licensing Microsoft software and services – Enterprise Agreements (EA) and Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) agreements – is essential to control this part of your operations.
We want to provide some perspective on both options and compare them side-by-side to help you determine which is best for you. While the CSP option is the newer of the two and has quickly gained popularity with many businesses, there is still room for the traditional EA in the right situation.
Let’s take a closer look at this topic that can profoundly impact your bottom line and how your teams get work done daily.
If you have experience using Microsoft on an enterprise level, you’re already familiar with a Microsoft EA. For years, this is how countless companies have licensed Microsoft products for use in their organizations. A Microsoft EA is likely your best bet if you need to access common software subscriptions like those in Microsoft Office 365, traditional infrastructure licenses, or utilize more advanced compliance or security functionality.
A Microsoft EA delivers the most business value to organizations with 500 or more users or devices. The volume licensing program allows companies of this size to easily streamline their purchases under one agreement.
A standard Microsoft EA lasts for three years. At the start of that agreement, your organization determines what software and cloud services need to be licensed. Also, you set the number of users at the beginning of the agreement, which will impact the EA cost. A minimum of 500 users are placed on the EA option for a commercial operation and 250 users for a government entity.
The concept of an annual “true-up” is an integral part of the EA process. Once per year, you’ll have the opportunity to true-up your agreement to align it with your current needs. In other words, you can adjust the devices, products, services, and users that Microsoft has included in your agreement annually rather than multiple times throughout the year.
PDG recommends an organization begin reviewing their Microsoft software, hardware, and online licensing purchases approximately 120 days before their contract anniversary date.
Throughout this review, Microsoft recommends an organization ask themselves a series of questions, including has your organization:
Your organization should be prepared to submit your True Up order between 30 to 60 days before your anniversary date, as Microsoft requires.
Cost-savings have long motivated organizations to commit to the three-year term that comes with an EA. On the organizational level, accessing Microsoft products through an EA rather than just purchasing the software offers meaningful savings. Additionally, if yours is a large organization, the fixed pricing model of the EA may prove advantageous as your costs are spread out over three years.
Finally, a Microsoft EA empowers your organization with the agility to quickly meet your specific technology needs to be scaled to your business size and requirements.
Microsoft CSP program offers a different approach
The Microsoft CSP Program is a relatively new alternative to using a Microsoft EA to license your software and services. CSP represents an opportunity to work with Microsoft or a partner to secure the Microsoft products and services required by your organization. These agreements can come in different forms.
Smaller organizations (those with fewer than 3,000 employees) will derive the most value from CSP. There are no lengthy contracts and upfront costs, and it offers convenient monthly billing. Also, Microsoft CSP allows the flexibility to add or remove licenses as needed, which means you only pay for what you’re using.
While you’ll have access to the same Microsoft cloud offerings and Azure cloud services through a Microsoft CSP as with an EA, the experience is different. With a CSP, you’ll look at a month-to-month subscription with a one-year agreement rather than a three-year contract. Gone is the need for an annual true-up since you’ll be able to increase or decrease subscriptions monthly.
The CSP agreement will automatically renew yearly, but you can make changes with each new month. So, if your needs change regarding user numbers or you need to add a new product, you can do it immediately, and your agreement will adjust as necessary. This superior flexibility is often the first thing drawing organizations toward CSPs and away from EAs.
Another differentiating factor is the lower user number required to get started with the Microsoft CSP Program. The user requirement will vary based on the partner you work with for your agreement.
As you weigh your options and determine which of these two approaches suits your company, the discussion will often come down to flexibility and total Microsoft spend.
Microsoft designed the CSP program to be flexible, but it doesn’t have all of the pricing advantages of an EA. The EA lacks the flexibility included in the CSP but may be a better budgetary fit in some circumstances.
So, for those who value flexibility and need to keep their options open, the Microsoft CSP is undoubtedly a compelling path. A CSP offers you an efficient way to provide your teams with the software and services they require without locking your company into an agreement that might not make sense for your needs three years from now.
Alternatively, a well-established company with clear expectations for its long-term software needs may be comfortable with the three-year licensing agreement of an EA. There are price level discounts in an EA that Microsoft doesn’t offer with the CSP, which is attractive for larger organizations.
Considering support from a Microsoft partner
It’s nearly certain that you’ll need support from a partner somewhere along the way. How you access that support and how your partner provides it will depend on which option you select. With the traditional EA, you’ll work directly with Microsoft, and the level of support you receive depends on what you include in your agreement.
If you opt for a CSP agreement, you’ll work with your chosen partner for support rather than with Microsoft. Some organizations prefer this model, as they can develop a close working relationship with the partner to ensure they meet all of their needs. What’s more, you may discover that a local partner will provide you with greater engagement and faster response times on tech and billing issues than you may receive from Microsoft.
When choosing a Microsoft Partner, there are several criteria you should consider:
A direct Microsoft Partner purchases products directly from Microsoft, which they resell to their clients. They also supply billing, provisioning, and support services. An indirect provider delivers billing and provisioning to the customer and technical support to the reseller. A CSP indirect partner makes it easier for a business to purchase the solutions they need over the long term from a vendor they trust.
This ensures rapid onboarding, direction determining business goals, advice, guidance, and training on how to earn incentives back from Microsoft.
Automated billing ensures an error-free process, while budgeting and alerting notifications ensure predictable monthly invoices.
A Microsoft CSP partner should have established experience via a long-term relationship with Microsoft. They have the infrastructure in place to manage your accounts properly.
Look for a partner who adds value to the licensing experience, including expertise in managing cloud spend, securing and backing up data to the cloud, and managing your software in the cloud, including consumption, tagging, and analytics.
We’re not here to tell you which of these two options is “better.” After all, both approaches can work well when applied to the right organization in the right manner. Your main concern is determining how an agreement can meet your organization’s needs most effectively and at the best price. Whether that comes in the form of an EA or a CSP is secondary to ensuring you have the right software and services to move your organization closer to its goals.