4 Biggest M365 Announcements from Microsoft Ignite 2022
During the October 2022 Microsoft Ignite event, a couple of announcements were made in regard to M365. From the introduction of AI features and new MS Teams capabilities to some of the core Microsoft 365 products, the announcements made were exciting. They are also sure to be the beginning of an increasingly automated and intelligent product stack from Microsoft and can be integrated as part of the business productivity tools a business should have.
Continue reading to find out the biggest M365 announcements from the 2022 Microsoft Ignite event.
What is Microsoft Ignite?
Microsoft Ignite is an annual technology conference for IT professionals and developers. The conference is held every October and is hosted by Microsoft.
The program is a showcase of what’s next for Microsoft and announces new development, apps, features, and the latest updates to the existing apps and software in the Microsoft world. The updates and developments revealed during the Microsoft Ignite event are designed to help customers, developers, and partners get the full value of Microsoft’s technologies and move forward in their business with the digital transformations available.
Top M365 Announcements from Microsoft Ignite 2022
New in Microsoft 365
The event brought about the re-introduction of the Microsoft 365 experience, which will begin rolling out in November 2022.
This new M365 app will showcase the value of M365 in one place and is compatible with mobile, web, and windows. The new Microsoft 365 app is an evolution of the work started with the Office app. It is stated to be an integrated and secure experience built on the Microsoft Graph. The Microsoft Graph brings together all your data, files, documents, contacts, meetings, and more.
New features include
- Apps module: This is a redesigned interface that can access any Microsoft 365 app or third-party-related apps. App Module is now available on mobile.
- Feed: Feed is a new way users can keep up with work by showcasing files shared by the people they work with and trending content in a tiny card format.
- Tagging: This is a new and intuitive way users can organize their work regardless of where the files are stored.
These new additions do not take away the role of the previous features, instead, it works together with the old features to enhance the users’ productivity.
New Features in Microsoft Teams
According to research, the number of users of MS Teams has doubled in the past year, increasing from over 145 million users in 2021 to over 270 million users in 2022. As a result, lots of new features are coming to Microsoft Teams to increase engagement and interactivity levels for users. Some of the new features include
- Cameo in PPT live: This feature is a PPT experience that seamlessly integrates the Camera feed in Teams into the PPT presentation, allowing the presenter to appear live in their slides.
- Excel live: This allows teams to edit Excel sheets or workbooks in real-time, enabling every participant directly live-edit the excel files. This feature will be available in preview in October and generally available by the end of the year.
- Together mode: Meeting managers and presenters will be able to assign seats to participants and can pin them to the meeting stage so they can be viewed by everyone.
- Cisco is now a certified Teams Rooms device partner. This means MS Teams meetings will be available across certified Cisco meeting devices.
Microsoft Teams Premium
For a while, MS Teams has seen the addition of new features, and this year is no different. The newly announced MS Teams Premium offers to make every MS Teams meeting personalized, intelligent, and secure. The features included in MS Teams Premium include
- Meeting guides: This feature allows users to choose the right template for a meeting and automatically create the right experience. There are various meeting guides to choose from and they can be easily created, customized, and managed by the IT team, reducing the time needed to plan how to get the meeting right.
- Customized meeting branding: This enables organizations to add custom backgrounds and logos to the meeting lobby.
- AI-powered live translations: With this feature, 40 spoken languages are provided in real-time, so attendees from various countries will be able to read the captions in their own language. This bridges the language barrier and brings about a more inclusive experience,
- Security: Adding advanced meeting protection, Teams meeting become more secure. Since 43% of the cost of cyberattacks comes from information loss.
- The Premium security feature includes options such as watermarking, who can record, and applying MS Purview Information Protection. These features ensure sensitive content in the meeting doesn’t get leaked.
The MS Teams Premium features begin rolling out in preview in December 2022 and will be fully available in February 2023.
Mesh Avatars in MS Teams
This is one of the most fascinating announcements in the MS Teams world and one of the best ways MS365 is beefing up support for the hybrid office. The release of the Mesh avatars feature is one of the first steps to enabling the metaverse experience and is now available in private preview.
This feature is perfect for hybrid workers and allows employees to create customized avatars to represent themselves and connect with their presence instead of turning their webcam on during a Teams meeting. They can represent themselves by choosing an avatar that fits the meeting – casual, day-to-day, or professional. They can also personalize their physical attributes, add accessories, and select from a wide range of gestures to show reactions.
Some business leaders believe this is the next big development in the collaboration tool.
Need Microsoft 365 Support?
If you have any questions about the announcements within this post, Quantum Technologies can help your Sturgeon Bay business understand the different features which are needed for your business.
Contact us today to learn more! Call 920-256-1214 or reach us online.
