Here’s everything you need to know:

Deactivate and delete organizations in Viva Goals

According to the Microsoft 36 Roadmap, admins can soon deactivate organizations or even delete them when requested from the iva Goals Admin portal. They’ll also be able to configure the settings to deactivate dormant organizations automatically.

The feature is expected to start rolling out to users later this month and should hit general availability by mid-July 2023. Microsoft further added that admins will be able to,

• Deactivate organizations that are not required or even permanently delete them.
• Configure to automatically deactivate and delete inactive organizations.
• Reactivate any deactivated organization within 90 days.

Animated Backgrounds in Teams Meetings

Microsoft is also busy at work in a bid to refresh the meeting experience in Teams with animated backgrounds. The feature will replace the platform’s existing background with a dynamic animation for a more immersive virtual environment. What’s more, it ships with a wide variety of options to enhance the meeting experience with creativity and personalization according to users’ preferences.

Teams already supports pre-defined backgrounds from Microsoft. The feature tagged 122513 in the Microsoft 365 Roadmap is expected to roll out in early July and will hit broad availability later that month.

The are also plenty of updates rolling out across the Microsoft 365 suite. Be sure to check out some of our recap posts for more information.

Featured image via Bing Image Creator

This month’s post is already up and here’s everything you need to know:

Meetings

First up, Microsoft is introducing a new feature dubbed active speaker view in Teams. Essentially, the feature is designed to help meeting attendees identify the main speaker while a meeting is in progress easily.

According to Microsoft:

The active speaker’s video will be rendered at a higher resolution, providing better visual clarity. The use of 16:9 tiles and consistent placement of audio and video participants on the same stage ensures a fluid experience.

Next up, Organizer support for Breakout Rooms for VDI users is now active. As such, users will now be able to form smaller groups and join smaller meetings to focus on other issues that might not be part of the agenda in the main meeting.

Chat and collaboration

Microsoft Teams will now let users schedule in-person meetings offline. It’s worth noting that these offline meetings will not include chat threads or other meeting functionalities such as the join a meeting button or recording capabilities. Through the Teams calendar, users will be able to easily turn off the online toggle to create an offline meeting.

Additionally, Microsoft is also introducing a ‘Notes’ tab for users and organizations that have enabled OneNote, the M365 app for notetaking, With the new feature, every team will have access to a dedicated OneNote workbook within the channel that’s designed to make it easier users to collaborate. “Team members will be able to add their notes, edit, attach files, recall & search for channel notes within OneNote on any platform,” says Microsoft.

Mobile

Microsoft is also debuting a Dashboard for Chat in Mobile for Teams. The feature is designed to update the existing chat details page and incorporate additional information that will assist users in easily finding content that was shared with them in chat.

What’s more, Teams on VDI and web will now feature a Call Health Panel that’s designed to help users find and fix issues that tend to arise while on a Teams meeting, The panel will feature your network, audio, screen sharing, and outgoing video quality data.

Teams Premium

If you have a Teams Premium subscription, you’ll now have access to Virtual Appointments two-way lobby chat, that’s designed to enable clients and facilitators to chat prior to B2C meetings. Additionally, the Intelligent meeting recap feature has also shipped to general availability for Teams Premium users.

That’s it for this month folks, and while we only hit the key highlights, there are still a lot of features shipped to Microsoft Teams in May. For instance, as promised during Microsoft’s developer conference, Build 2023, Avatars for Teams is now available to enhance the meeting experience for users.

Aside from that, Microsoft has also indicated that it’ll be revamping the meeting recap experience for all Teams users. Users can already catch up on all the meeting contents via the ‘Details’ tab of a meeting which includes links to the meeting transcript, recording, and any manual notes that were taken.

The Expanded view for profile card feature is also available for Teams users. It will help users know more details about their colleagues across the entire organization such as birthdays, LinkedIn posts, career changes, or pending meeting invites.

Be sure to visit Microsoft’s blog post for more details about the features that were added to Teams in May. We also invite you to check out more Microsoft Teams content here.

The Teams Premium Microsoft 365 add-on subscription ships with features such as real-time translation of captions, recommended tasks, personalized highlights customized meeting templates, watermarking, recording capability limiting, branded meetings, and more. And now, Microsoft has announced the general availability of the Intelligent meeting recap feature in Teams Premium.

The COVID-19 pandemic saw a lot of organizations transition to hybrid work in a bid to mitigate the spread of the virus. As such, most of organizations became dependent on online communication tools like Microsoft Teams, though the process hasn’t been as smooth. “55% of people report that next-steps at the end of a meeting are unclear, and 56% report that it’s hard to summarize what happens in a meeting,” explained Microsoft in the blog post.

But with the general availability of the Intelligent meeting recap feature in Teams Premium, Microsoft will be able to counter these issues. It generates meeting notes, recommended tasks, and personalized highlights automatically.

Additionally, it will help users cut down on unnecessary administrative work like taking notes or figuring out important takeaways that shift their focus from what truly matters. In turn, you are able to work smarter rather than harder.

What’s more, you can even use the automatically generated meeting notes powered by GPT-3.5 as well as highlights to catch up with important details shared during the meeting in case you were engaged elsewhere at the time.

Additionally, Teams Premium makes it easier for you to quickly review meeting recordings. The offering features a neat tool, AI-generated chapters which splits the recording into sections based on the meeting transcript.

Aside from that, Microsoft has also indicated that it’ll be revamping the meeting recap experience for all Teams users. Users can already catch up on all the meeting contents via the ‘Details’ tab of a meeting which includes links to the meeting transcript, recording, and any manual notes that were taken.

The new meeting recap experience will now be incorporated into the ‘Recap’ tab where users can catch up on meeting recording directly within Teams, as well as provide co-created collaborative meeting notes, meeting transcripts, and content shared. However, it is worth noting that not all Teams users will have access to the AI-powered insights that ship with the intelligent recap feature. You’ll need a Microsoft Teams Premium subscription for that.

To access the Intelligent meeting recap feature and more, Microsoft is offering an introductory fee of $7 per month that will be valid till June 30. From July, users will be required to make a payment of $10 per month. Be sure to check out our detailed post highlighting what Teams Premium is and how you can leverage its capabilities.

via Neowin

And as it now seems, Microsoft is getting ready to default the new Teams app for everyone on Windows later this year. Microsoft’s Product Lead for the revamped Teams version, Anupam Pattnaik disclosed these details to Microsoft veteran, Stephen Rose while on Petri’s UnplugIT podcast,

Pattnaik indicated that:

Right now, the classic Teams is the default because we do not have all the features that we support in classic Teams in the new Teams. That’s the reason we have right now classic Teams as the default option, but sometime later this calendar year, we’ll make the new Teams the default option when we have feature parity, and when we feel confident that users can switch to the new Teams.

He further disclosed that Microsoft is working towards debuting the new Teams client for Mac, VDI, and web users sometime this year, too. There’s also a strategy in place to roll out Teams 2.0 to other customer segments like EDU, and Government Cloud later this year.

The exact date when this change is expected to take place isn’t yet clear. However, Microsoft has been busy at work pushing security updates and improvements to Teams 2.0.

Do you use the new Teams app for Windows? Share your experience with us in the comments.

via Petri

And now, the company has announced a new capability coming to Microsoft 365 Insiders that are part of Teams Public Preview. The new feature will let users customize the presentation of captions in meetings. Live captions is an important tool in Teams that’s designed to ensure that the flow of communication isn’t broken and that all meeting attendees are able to follow through with everything despite the quality of the audio.

It creates real-time subtitles of everything that’s said during a meeting automatically. As such, this new feature will further build on this experience. According to Microsoft, the new feature ships with a new Customization settings pane that you can use to adjust the font color and size, and increase the number of lines on the display.

What’s more, you can also use it to change where the live captions appear when you are in a meeting for better visibility and also to ensure that they are not disrupting the presenter’s window.

To access it, you’ll first need to join a meeting and enable the Live captions feature. Next, head to the What language is everyone speaking dialog box and click on the Spoken language arrow. You can now select the language you want to use in the list and hit the Confirm button to save the changes. And finally, click on the Settings option in the captions box at the bottom of the windows and select Caption settings.

Microsoft further added that the following options are now supported:

• Changing spoken language
• Changing caption language (Live translated captions is part of Teams Premium)
• Adjusting colors, height, position (top, bottom), and font size

The feature is currently rolling out to Microsoft 365 Insiders that are part of the Microsoft Teams Public Preview program both on Windows and macOS. Microsoft hasn’t indicated when this feature will ship to open preview for everyone to try out, however, you can still utilize the feature even if the meeting attendees are not part of the Teams Public Preview program.

Microsoft first made the announcement that Avatars were coming to Teams during its annual developer conference, Ignite 2022. Since then the feature has been in the testing phase in private preview, up until recently when Microsoft shipped it to public preview.

The company had previously indicated that it intended to release the feature to general availability in May, and it’s now living up to its promise. The feature is powered by Microsoft’s Mesh Platform and is designed to redefine and change how people interact during meetings.

Once the feature is available users will no longer need to turn their cameras on during meetings. Instead, you can now create, customize, and personalize your own Avatar using the Avatars App in the Microsoft Teams App Store. What’s more, you can create up to three avatars using hundreds of customizations ranging from physical attributes to accessories.

To enable the feature and use it during the Teams meeting, select the Effects and Avatars option from the menu before joining the meeting. It is worth noting, that you can use various gestures with your Avatar when reacting to what is being said during the meeting.

Alongside the Avatars coming to Teams news, Microsoft has also announced that new immersive spaces for Microsoft Teams are also in the pipeline, and should be available in private preview this week.

This new feature is also powered by Microsoft’s Mesh Platform and is designed to help users create and include an immersive experience in any Teams meeting.

According to the company:

Connecting with others in immersive spaces mimics many elements of in-person interactions, like the ability to walk over to the group users want to catch up with or to wave at others in the room. And with spatial audio, a large discussion with multiple conversations or a quick side chat can occur without feeling like an interruption.

You’ll be able to access this new feature via a PC or virtual reality (VR) headset. Additionally, you’ll be able to communicate efficiently with other meeting attendees, even if they joined the meeting using video, as an avatar, or in the immersive space directly.

Microsoft is further enhancing this experience by integrating a new feature into Teams. The Shuffle feature is in place to help Teams users assign meeting attendees breakout rooms spontaneously.

The feature is currently rolling out to members of the Teams Public Preview and on the Windows or macOS version of Teams. It should be noted that you can make use of this feature during or before the Teams meeting starts.

Here’s how you can access the feature as highlighted by Microsoft in the blog post:

• Prior to the meeting (but after sending a meeting invite) and after creating rooms, on the Breakout rooms tab of meeting calendar view,  click Assign participants. When the Assign people to breakout rooms window appears, click the Shuffle dropdown and assign, as necessary.
• During a meeting, click Rooms > Assign Participants, and then click the Shuffle dropdown and assign, as necessary.

Microsoft hasn’t indicated when this feature will ship to open preview for everyone to try out, however, you can still utilize the feature even if the meeting attendees are not part of the Teams Public Preview program.

The feature is designed to help reduce fatigue during remote collaboration. It virtually places participants in a shared background to make it feel like they are sitting in the same room as all other meeting participants.

And now, to build on the feature’s capabilities, Microsoft is introducing a set of new improvements designed to make the Together mode experience “more inclusive and easier-to-understand.” Here’s everything you need to know:

First up, users will now be able to see the name labels that support status icons, such as a microphone, active speaker, spotlight, or pin within the meeting as long as the feature is enabled.

Next up, it will also be easier for users to spot raised hands and reactions within the meeting view. Additionally, Microsoft will be doing away with your own video in the gallery in a bid to avoid duplication of the self-preview.

However, it is worth noting that these improvements are not available in general availability yet. You’ll need to be part of the Teams Public Preview program to access them on the Windows or macOS Teams client.

To be able to use this feature, users need to be members of the Teams Public Preview and use the Windows or macOS Teams client. Other users are not required to be members of the Teams Public Preview.

To enable Together mode, you’ll need to first join a Teams meeting and head to the View section, and select Together mode.

Do you use Together mode during a Teams meeting? Share your experience with us in the comments.

And as we come to the end of the week, as usual, it’s time to recap all the key features Microsoft announced as coming to its Microsoft 365 suite. Here’s everything you need to know:

Outlook on the web – Work Hours and Location

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, a lot of organizations transitioned to hybrid work, and with people working asynchronously across different times, it may be difficult to pass communication appropriately. It is important to strike a balance between work and personal time, you’d not like to be thinking about work while hanging out with friends and family.

Microsoft has now announced a new feature to Outlook on the web that will allow users to set up their work hours and location (WHL). The feature tagged 88822 in the Microsoft 365 Roadmap will let users specify when they’ll be working remotely or in the office.

What’s more, users can set up different working hours per day, or multiple work slots in a day. Additionally, if you use Teams too and have the feature enabled on Outlook, the location status will also be displayed on your Teams profile card.

According to Microsoft:

The new WHL also impacts how “suggested times” work when creating a meeting event in Outlook on the web. Suggested times will take into account the WHL of the attendees before suggesting times when people are available.

The feature is expected to start rolling out to users later this month and hit general availability by early June.

Microsoft Teams: New ‘Sync device buttons’ setting

Microsoft has introduced new Sync device buttons toggle under the Teams Desktop client Settings (Devices tab). The setting is designed to help users disable syncing between their device controls and with Teams.

The feature is already available in preview and is currently in the roll out phase. It’s expected to hit broad availability by mid-May. “The purpose of this feature is to offer an option for end users to disable the syncing of their connected Peripherals with the Teams Desktop client to allow for co-existence scenarios with other HID-enabled or speech-recognition apps,” says Microsoft.

Microsoft Edge management service

For those unfamiliar with the Microsoft Edge management service, it’s essentially a single portal for admins designed to help them manage the Edge browser. And now, Microsoft has announced that admins will have the capability to configure all Edge browser policies for their organization in a configuration profile and set-up the browser to use these settings.

The feature tagged 124856 in the Microsoft 365 Roadmap is expected to start rolling out mid-July and hit general availability by mid-August.

That’s it for this week folks! In related news, Microsoft added a new feature to the Microsoft 365 mobile app for both iOS and Android users that lets them sign PDFs. The feature is currently rolling out to Microsoft 365 Insiders, it’s not yet clear when it will hit broad availability.

Be sure to check out last week’s recap post in case you missed it. Let us know which feature you’re anticipating most in the comments.

Featured image via Bing Image Creator

Developed in partnership with Microsoft, LexisNexis is proud to have Microsoft’s Corporate, External, and Legal Affairs (CELA) department as the first preview customer to test and help further develop Lexis Connect. LexisNexis is looking for another five or six legal departments to join the commercial preview for free. Anyone interested can get a demonstration at the CLOC Global Institute next week in Las Vegas.

About LexisNexis

LexisNexis is an organization that provides legal research, information, and analytics solutions. It is a part of the RELX Group, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. LexisNexis has been in operation for over 45 years and has a presence in more than 130 countries worldwide. Its products and services are utilized by law firms, corporations, government agencies, academic institutions, and legal professionals globally. 

LexisNexis offers a wide range of legal information solutions, including research tools, practice management software, and information analytics products. It is dedicated to helping legal professionals find and use the information they need to make informed decisions and deliver better outcomes for their clients.

Key Features of Lexis Connect

During the briefing, Muthuraman M K, lead product manager, demonstrated the key features of Lexis Connect. 

One of the most exciting features is the Ask Legal app. It is a conversational AI assistant that can aid anyone in a company by answering legal questions. It has two modes of operation: Chat mode and Request mode. In Chat mode, employees can ask questions, and the app tries to answer by using the company’s internal policies and guidelines. In Request mode, employees can submit a request to the legal department, like preparing or reviewing a contract.

Another fantastic feature of Lexis Connect is the lawyer-facing part of the product, where lawyers manage all the matters that have been submitted. With access to a dashboard, lawyers can view all matters or filter to view only their own. By selecting a specific matter, they can see all its details, along with any communications and documents related to it. Additionally, lawyers can use an AI-generated feature to view similar matters.

Legal Research is another AI assistant of Lexis Connect specifically for legal research. Lawyers can utilize this feature to ask questions in natural language and receive answers powered by Lexis Answers.

Lastly, the app has the Ask Legal feature. The feature is still in development and will soon integrate with the Lexis+ AI product that was released last week. This integration will allow users to ask questions of Lexis+ AI directly within Lexis Connect in a conversational interface powered by large language models.

Further Development

Several other aspects of the product are still being developed, including analytics, Outlook integration, and support for multiple legal teams.

At the briefing, Jason Barnwell, Microsoft’s General Manager for Digital Transformation in CELA, highlighted that this product is precisely what legal departments require to cope with the increasing demand for their services and to gain better insight into their department’s operations.

LexisNexis has always been at the forefront of legal research and analytics solutions, and the preview launch of Lexis Connect is just another step into that.

Via: LawNext