In Microsoft 365 news this week, the Bookings app in Microsoft Teams will soon add a Queue tab that shows all the day’s appointments in chronological order. Keep reading for details about that new feature and other news and announcements related to the Microsoft 365 suite.
New Features
- Records Management feature allowing records to start as unlocked
- What’s happening: Microsoft is improving admins’ ability to manage documents labeled as a record. This new capability allows for the creation of retention labels that designate SharePoint and OneDrive contents as records that remain unlocked unless an end user manually locks them.
- Rollout start: Mid-January 2022
- Rollout finish: Late February 2022
- What’s happening: Microsoft is improving admins’ ability to manage documents labeled as a record. This new capability allows for the creation of retention labels that designate SharePoint and OneDrive contents as records that remain unlocked unless an end user manually locks them.
- Records Management feature allowing records to start as unlocked
- Public preview: Hold reports in Advanced eDiscovery
- What’s happening: Microsoft has announced an upcoming public preview of hold reports in Advanced eDiscovery. This will allow access to built-in reports about all legal holds related to eDiscovery cases.
- Public preview: Hold reports in Advanced eDiscovery
- Built-in filters for Activity explorer now generally available
- What’s happening: In the Microsoft compliance center, the supplier has added built-in filters in Activity explorer to make it easier to access frequently utilized filters.
- Built-in filters for Activity explorer now generally available
- Ability to create and alter Microsoft Search verticals
- What’s happening: Microsoft is altering Search to give administrators the ability to establish and change both customized and out-of-the-box search verticals.
- Rollout start: Early January 2022
- Rollout finish: Late January 2022
- What’s happening: Microsoft is altering Search to give administrators the ability to establish and change both customized and out-of-the-box search verticals.
- Ability to create and alter Microsoft Search verticals
- New roles and role groups in the Microsoft 365 compliance center
- What’s happening: Microsoft is adding new roles and role groups to enable granular permissions management.
- Rollout start: Early January 2022
- Rollout finish: Early February 2022
- What’s happening: Microsoft is adding new roles and role groups to enable granular permissions management.
- New roles and role groups in the Microsoft 365 compliance center
- Public preview: Sensitivity labels for modified documents
- What’s happening: Microsoft has announced a public preview of the application of default labeling policies to any supported documents edited by end users.
- Public preview: Sensitivity labels for modified documents
- Video creation in Office Mobile
- What’s happening: Microsoft previously introduced a stream video player for Office Mobile, a hub for various content types such as Forms, PDFs, Word documents and Excel spreadsheets. Because of the positive reception for the video player, the supplier is now moving forward with video creation for Office Mobile.
- Rollout start: Late December 2021
- Rollout finish: Mid-February 2022
- What’s happening: Microsoft previously introduced a stream video player for Office Mobile, a hub for various content types such as Forms, PDFs, Word documents and Excel spreadsheets. Because of the positive reception for the video player, the supplier is now moving forward with video creation for Office Mobile.
- Video creation in Office Mobile
- Teams Bookings app Queue tab
- What’s happening: Microsoft is adding a Queue tab to the Bookings app in Teams. The new tab will show all the day’s appointments in chronological order.
- Rollout start: Early January 2022 for public preview; mid-January 2022 for general availability
- Rollout finish: Late January 2022
- What’s happening: Microsoft is adding a Queue tab to the Bookings app in Teams. The new tab will show all the day’s appointments in chronological order.
- Teams Bookings app Queue tab
Updated Features
- Meet and Call controls for Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows
- What’s happening: Teams Rooms on Windows is replacing the “Dial pad” control with “Call” and the “New meeting” control with “Meet.” This change will take effect only for Teams rooms running only in Microsoft Teams or Skype for Business and Microsoft Teams (default) modes.
- Rollout start: Mid-January 2022
- Rollout finish: Mid-February 2022
- What’s happening: Teams Rooms on Windows is replacing the “Dial pad” control with “Call” and the “New meeting” control with “Meet.” This change will take effect only for Teams rooms running only in Microsoft Teams or Skype for Business and Microsoft Teams (default) modes.
- Meet and Call controls for Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows
- Exchange Data Loss Prevention evaluation of sender address based conditions
- What’s happening: Microsoft is altering how Exchange Data Loss Prevention in the Microsoft 365 compliance center assesses sender address based conditions.
- Exchange Data Loss Prevention evaluation of sender address based conditions
- Microsoft Teams Android app update available
- What’s happening: Microsoft has issued an update for the Teams Android app to remedy an issue that could potentially affect emergency calling on some devices. The problem stems from an unintentional interaction between the Android operating system and the Teams application.
- Microsoft Teams Android app update available
- Updates issued for Microsoft 365 Apps for all channels
- What’s happening: The supplier has issued updates for Microsoft 365 Apps to all channels. This includes the Current Channel, Monthly Enterprise Channel, Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel (Preview), and Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel.
- Updates issued for Microsoft 365 Apps for all channels
- Native permissions for Microsoft Teams third-party applications in the browser
- What’s happening: Microsoft will soon require end users to manually opt in for third-party app native device permissions on a per application basis within the Teams web browser experience.
- Rollout start: Early February 2022 for standard release; early March 2022 for GCC, GCC-H and DoD
- Rollout finish: Late February 2022 for standard release; late March 2022 for GCC, GCC-H and DoD
- What’s happening: Microsoft will soon require end users to manually opt in for third-party app native device permissions on a per application basis within the Teams web browser experience.
- Native permissions for Microsoft Teams third-party applications in the browser
Announcements
- Microsoft Visio and Microsoft Project self-service trials
- What’s happening: Microsoft has announced that individuals without global or billing admin rights can register for 30-day trials of Microsoft Visio and Microsoft Project starting on January 26, 2022. Note: Trials are not available for clients in India or Education or Government customers.
- Microsoft Visio and Microsoft Project self-service trials
- Delayed rollout of new Microsoft Teams polling app
- What’s happening: Microsoft previously announced plans to introduce a new Forms application specifically for conducting polls in Teams. To ensure the best possible customer experience, the supplier has extended the rollout timeline for this application.
- Rollout start: Mid-October 2021
- Rollout finish: Late February 2022 (previously end of November 2021)
- What’s happening: Microsoft previously announced plans to introduce a new Forms application specifically for conducting polls in Teams. To ensure the best possible customer experience, the supplier has extended the rollout timeline for this application.
- Delayed rollout of new Microsoft Teams polling app
- Delayed rollout of updated Teams guest usability
- What’s happening: Microsoft previously announced plans to make various improvements to the Teams interface for guest users, including giving guests the ability to decline a pending guest invitation in Teams and initiate leaving an org. To ensure the best possible user experience, the supplier has altered the implementation timeline for these enhancements.
- Rollout start: Early January 2022 (previously early December 2021)
- Rollout finish: Late January 2022 (previously late December 2021)
- What’s happening: Microsoft previously announced plans to make various improvements to the Teams interface for guest users, including giving guests the ability to decline a pending guest invitation in Teams and initiate leaving an org. To ensure the best possible user experience, the supplier has altered the implementation timeline for these enhancements.
- Delayed rollout of updated Teams guest usability
- Delayed rollout of press to unmute in Teams
- What’s happening: Microsoft previously announced plans to give Teams meeting attendees the option to stay muted by default and press keyboard shortcuts to unmute. To ensure the best possible user experience, the supplier has delayed the deployment of this feature for some clients.
- Rollout start: Late December 2021 for standard and GCC; mid-January 2022 for GCC-H and DoD
- Rollout finish: Late January 2022 (previously early January 2022) for standard and GCC; early February 2022 for GCC-H and DoD
- What’s happening: Microsoft previously announced plans to give Teams meeting attendees the option to stay muted by default and press keyboard shortcuts to unmute. To ensure the best possible user experience, the supplier has delayed the deployment of this feature for some clients.
- Delayed rollout of press to unmute in Teams
- Delayed rollout of hardware support for Blackmagic and AJA devices
- What’s happening: Microsoft previously announced plans to expand Teams users’ abilities to stream content from clients to the local network with Network Device Interface (NDI). Specifically, the supplier is giving end users who can switch on NDI the option to steam content to attached Blackmagic or AJA devices. To ensure the best possible user experience, Microsoft has delayed the implementation of this feature.
- Rollout start: Early January 2022 (previously late December 2021) for standard and GCC; late March 2022 for GCC-High and DoD
- Rollout finish: Mid-February 2022 (previously mid-January 2022) for standard and GCC; mid-April 2022 for GCC-High and DoD
- What’s happening: Microsoft previously announced plans to expand Teams users’ abilities to stream content from clients to the local network with Network Device Interface (NDI). Specifically, the supplier is giving end users who can switch on NDI the option to steam content to attached Blackmagic or AJA devices. To ensure the best possible user experience, Microsoft has delayed the implementation of this feature.
- Delayed rollout of hardware support for Blackmagic and AJA devices
- Delayed rollout of new Teams Store experience
- What’s happening: Microsoft previously announced plans to redesign the Teams Store experience, with improvements including greater ease of discoverability and intelligent app recommendations. To ensure the best possible user experience, the supplier has delayed the implementation of the new design.
- Rollout start: Late November 2021
- Rollout finish: Mid-January 2022 (previously mid-December 2021)
- What’s happening: Microsoft previously announced plans to redesign the Teams Store experience, with improvements including greater ease of discoverability and intelligent app recommendations. To ensure the best possible user experience, the supplier has delayed the implementation of the new design.
- Delayed rollout of new Teams Store experience
- Delayed rollout of support for real-time messaging protocol (RTMP) streaming to custom endpoints
- What’s happening: Microsoft previously announced plans to give Teams users support for streaming meetings and webinars via RTMP to custom endpoints. To ensure the best possible user experience, the supplier has delayed the deployment of this feature.
- Rollout start: Mid-January 2022 (previously late November 2021) for standard release and government customers
- Rollout finish: Mid-February 2022 (previously mid-December 2021) for standard release and government customers
- What’s happening: Microsoft previously announced plans to give Teams users support for streaming meetings and webinars via RTMP to custom endpoints. To ensure the best possible user experience, the supplier has delayed the deployment of this feature.
- Delayed rollout of support for real-time messaging protocol (RTMP) streaming to custom endpoints
- Delayed rollout of 1:1 VoIP call transcription in Teams
- What’s happening: Microsoft previously announced plans to implement transcription for 1:1 VoIP calls. To ensure the best possible user experience, the supplier has delayed this deployment.
- Rollout start: Early January 2022 (previously mid-November 2021)
- Rollout finish: Late January 2022 (previously early December 2021)
- What’s happening: Microsoft previously announced plans to implement transcription for 1:1 VoIP calls. To ensure the best possible user experience, the supplier has delayed this deployment.
- Delayed rollout of 1:1 VoIP call transcription in Teams
- Delayed rollout of new SharePoint and OneDrive command bar
- What’s happening: Microsoft previously announced plans to introduce a new command bar. To ensure the best possible experience, the supplier has delayed the rollout of this feature for standard release.
- Rollout start: Late September 2021
- Rollout finish: Mid-January 2022 (previously mid-December 2021)
- What’s happening: Microsoft previously announced plans to introduce a new command bar. To ensure the best possible experience, the supplier has delayed the rollout of this feature for standard release.
- Delayed rollout of new SharePoint and OneDrive command bar
- Delayed rollout of new mobile-friendly experience in Microsoft Forms
- What’s happening: Microsoft previously announced plans to introduce a mobile-friendly experience for form creation and analysis. The supplier has delayed the implementation of the new experience.
- Rollout start: Early October 2021 for Forms on the web; mid-November 2021 for Forms in the Office 365 Android and iOS app
- Rollout finish: Late December 2021 (previously October 2021) for Forms on the web; late January 2022 (previously late November 2021) for Forms in the Office 365 Android and iOS app
- What’s happening: Microsoft previously announced plans to introduce a mobile-friendly experience for form creation and analysis. The supplier has delayed the implementation of the new experience.
- Delayed rollout of new mobile-friendly experience in Microsoft Forms
- Delayed rollout of enhanced Move/Copy user experience in SharePoint and OneDrive
- What’s happening: Microsoft previously announced plans to improve the Move/Copy user experience for OneDrive and SharePoint. The supplier has altered the rollout timeline for this update.
- Rollout date: Microsoft will roll out the new experience gradually starting in early January 2022 (previously mid-December 2021) for targeted release and ending in early February 2022 (previously mid-January 2022) for standard release.
- What’s happening: Microsoft previously announced plans to improve the Move/Copy user experience for OneDrive and SharePoint. The supplier has altered the rollout timeline for this update.
- Delayed rollout of enhanced Move/Copy user experience in SharePoint and OneDrive
- Delayed rollout of ability to switch between multiple video cameras in Teams Rooms on Windows
- What’s happening: Microsoft previously announced plans to give in-room end users the ability to switch between multiple cameras. This will apply to rooms with more than one camera attached to MTR. To ensure the best possible user experience, the supplier has delayed the implementation of this feature.
- Rollout date: Mid-January 2022 (previously mid-December 2021)
- What’s happening: Microsoft previously announced plans to give in-room end users the ability to switch between multiple cameras. This will apply to rooms with more than one camera attached to MTR. To ensure the best possible user experience, the supplier has delayed the implementation of this feature.
- Delayed rollout of ability to switch between multiple video cameras in Teams Rooms on Windows
- Delayed rollout of Teams activity feed notification configuration
- What’s happening: Microsoft previously announced plans to give Teams users the ability to configure the notifications that appear in their activity feeds. To ensure the best possible user experience, the supplier has delayed the deployment of this feature.
- Rollout start: Mid-January 2022 (previously mid-December 2021)
- Rollout finish: Late January 2022 (previously late December 2021)
- What’s happening: Microsoft previously announced plans to give Teams users the ability to configure the notifications that appear in their activity feeds. To ensure the best possible user experience, the supplier has delayed the deployment of this feature.
- Delayed rollout of Teams activity feed notification configuration
- Delayed retirement date for Transport Layer Security (TLS) versions 1.0 and 1.1
- What’s happening: Microsoft previously announced plans to begin enforcing TLS 1.2 for Direct Routing SIP interface to provide the highest possible level of encryption to clients. To give clients more time to act, the supplier will now begin retiring TLS versions 1.0 and 1.1 on February 1, 2022, instead of January 3, 2022.
- Delayed retirement date for Transport Layer Security (TLS) versions 1.0 and 1.1
- Delayed rollout of Roaming Signatures in Outlook for Windows
- What’s happening: Microsoft previously announced plans to introduce Roaming Signatures in Outlook for Windows. The supplier is delaying the deployment of this feature to work on stabilization.
- Delayed rollout of Roaming Signatures in Outlook for Windows
For more information about Microsoft 365, please take a look at our blog series detailing the business value of the suite. Our team has extensive experience working with Microsoft 365, as well as other types of IT solutions. To learn more, give us a call at 877-599-3999 or email sales@stratospherenetworks.com.
