Microsoft Office 365 News 07-08-2020: Microsoft Teams Gets New IP Audio, Video Policies

In Microsoft Office 365 news this week, Microsoft announced plans to implement new settings for IP video and audio that will give IT admins more control over group calls and videos in teams. Additionally, end users will soon have new ways to access Power BI data from within Excel, among other news.

New Features

• • Teams audio and video policies
    • What’s happening: Microsoft will soon add new settings for IP video (IPVideoMode) and IP audio (IPAudioMode) to give IT admins greater control over meetings and group calls in Teams. These changes are based on user feedback that the supplier received on IP policy modifications proposed in November 2019.

• • New ways to access Power BI data from Excel
    • What’s happening: Microsoft will soon introduce two new methods for Power BI data access via Excel: PivotTables connected to Power BI and Excel data types.

• • Saved for later web part for SharePoint modern pages
    • What’s happening: SharePoint modern pages end users will soon have access to a Saved for later web part. This will allow users to view content they’ve saved when viewing your page. Page authors can choose to have this part display either all saved items across SharePoint or just saved items from the site the page is located in.

• • Preview of Large Gallery view for Teams
    • What’s happening: Microsoft has announced a preview of Large Gallery view for Teams, which lets you see video from up to 49 people simultaneously on one screen. This view also adapts the layout of videos into defined grids and is an optional feature each meeting user may choose to switch on and off.

• • SharePoint list and libraries title column renaming feature
    • What’s happening: End users will soon gain the option to rename the title field column in SharePoint libraries and lists.
    • Rollout start: Mid-July 2020 for Targeted Release; Late July 2020 for Standard Production
    • Rollout finish: Late September 2020

• • OneDrive Sync Help Pane for macOS
    • What’s happening: A new OneDrive Sync Help Pane that was already implemented for Windows will now also ship on macOS.
    • Rollout start: Early July 2020
    • Rollout finish: Mid-July 2020

• • Auto blocking of OneDrive and SharePoint file guest access
    • What’s happening: Microsoft has announced the implementation of the ability to set Data Loss Prevention (DLP) to automatically stop external access of new OneDrive for Business and SharePoint files until after they’ve undergone scans for sensitive data.
    • Rollout start: End of June 2020
    • Rollout finish: Mid-July 2020

• • Profile customization with Microsoft Graph
    • What’s happening: Users will soon gain the ability to add custom information to profile cards via the Microsoft Graph Beta.
    • Rollout date: Early July 2020

Updated Features

• • Updates to real-time detections and Threat Explorer
    • What’s happening: Microsoft has announced plans to enhance real-time detections and Threat Explorer for improved hunting experience consistency.
    • Rollout start: Early July 2020
    • Rollout finish: Mid-August 2020

• • Microsoft Edge Legacy to update to new Microsoft Edge browser
    • What’s happening: Microsoft plans to update the Microsoft Edge Legacy application on Windows 10 devices in business and education. This applies to devices updated by Windows Update and will not affect those updated by Windows Update for Business or Windows Server Update Services.
    • Rollout date: No sooner than July 30, 2020, starting with education devices connected to Windows Update

Announcements

• • New Yammer general availability
    • What’s happening: Microsoft previously announced the public preview of a new version of Yammer. The new experience will soon move into the next phase of general availability.
    • Rollout start: Mid-July 2020
    • Rollout finish: End of July 2020

• • New Outlook tasks experience general availability
    • What’s happening: The new tasks experience for Outlook on the web will soon transition from preview to general availability. The classic tasks experience will become unavailable and the preview opt-in toggle will disappear.
    • Rollout date: Early July 2020 for Targeted Release customers; Mid-July 2020 for Standard Release customers

• • Public preview of endpoint analytics
    • What’s happening: Microsoft has announced a public preview of endpoint analytics for devices managed with Microsoft Endpoint Manager – Intune and Configurate Manager (ConfigMgr). To activate this feature, simply go to https://aka.ms/endpointanalytics and select the start button. You can also learn more through the public preview page: https://aka.ms/uea.This

• • “In development for Microsoft Intune” page available
    • What’s happening: An updated version of the “In development for Microsoft Intune” page in the supplier’s documentation is now available.

• • Public preview of Exchange Online PowerShell V2 modern authentication unattended scripting option
    • What’s happening: Microsoft has announced the public preview of this feature that allows end users to run non-interactive scripts. It is now available in all environments.

• • Delayed rollout for management of Teams login with enrolled mobile devices
    • What’s happening: Microsoft previously announced that Teams admins would gain the ability to manage which accounts can log in to the app with enrolled mobile devices, in addition to restricting a device to one corporate account. To ensure the best possible user experience, the supplier has delayed this deployment.

• • Delayed rollout of update to Yammer use of Office profiles
    • What’s happening: Microsoft announced last year that user profiles in Yammer would switch from using standalone Yammer profiles to using Office profiles. To ensure the best possible user experience, the supplier has delayed the deployment of this update.

• • Delayed rollout of Teams setting making meeting attendees utilize the lobby
    • What’s happening: Microsoft previously announced plans to implement a new Teams meeting setting that would let organizers make all attendees wait in the lobby. To ensure the best possible user experience, this deployment has been delayed.

• • Paused rollout of updates to SharePoint site structural navigation caching
    • What’s happening: Microsoft previously announced plans to improve performance for publishing-enabled SharePoint sites that leverage structural navigation with a caching model. Based on lessons learned from early rings, the supplier has decided to make changes to the code before moving forward with the rollout.

• • Stopped rollout for seamless list sharing in Microsoft To Do
    • What’s happening: Based on user feedback, the supplier has decided not to move forward with its original plans for a feature allowing for list sharing between personal and work accounts in Microsoft To Do.

• • Retirement of Teams support for Android 4.4 devices
    • What’s happening: Microsoft will soon discontinue Teams support on Android 4.4 and recommends that end users upgrade to newer Android versions.
    • Retirement date: Aug. 1, 2020

For more information about the Microsoft Office 365 suite, please take a look at our blog series detailing the business value of the suite. Our expert techs also have extensive experience working with Office 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.