Microsoft Ignite is an annual conference for developers and IT professionals. Microsoft hosted the conference digitally due to the coronavirus pandemic. Microsoft announced a variety of updates and new features they will soon be launching. Microsoft 365 updates and new features were announced, which are sure to improve user experience.
Here are the top five Microsoft 365 updates and features that will improve the way businesses and you use it.
Time feature suggested:
Time is money and organizations need to manage it well. Many teams struggle to schedule meetings that work for everyone. Microsoft has announced a new feature called “Suggested Time” that will suggest a time for the owner to meet when other participants are available. Outlook’s mobile app makes it easy to set a preferred time. Outlook will then suggest a time that is most convenient for you and the other participants. Outlook offers the option to skip one or more events if there is insufficient availability. Outlook will also notify you if there is a conflict.
Outlook Calendar Board
Keeping track of your day-today activities has become more difficult due to productivity. Many people use multiple apps/software to track their tasks. Simple tracking becomes difficult. Microsoft has released the Outlook Calendar Board to ease this burden. This calendar will allow you access, organize, modify, and keep track your schedule easily.
Microsoft Teams Connect:
Microsoft Teams Connect will be launched to revolutionize how organizations interact with customers, employees, and other parties, in light of the pandemic and the need to work remotely. It allows teams to easily connect with each other, collaborate quickly, and keep control over who has access to what data and information. Teams Connect will be released later in the year. They also added features to enhance virtual meetings.
Presenters often share their screens when delivering PowerPoint presentations. PowerPoint Live allows you to deliver a better presentation that provides a richer, more inclusive experience for all participants. You can also work at your own pace and not have to follow others.
The Presenter Mode is another new feature, and it is already available. There are more features to come. You can customize the way your screen and content are displayed to others. It makes your presentation more engaging and immersive. It improves the presentation experience for both you and your team.
There are many styles to choose from:
Standout: Allows you to display your video feed right in front of the content. This allows you to push the content into the background.
Reporter: Allows for you to show content that is not visible from your shoulders, such as a news segment.
Side-by side: The content and your video feed are simultaneously displayed side-by-side.
Only StandOut is available at the moment; all others are still in development.
Dynamic view is another small but admirable feature. This feature allows you customize your meeting window to keep all participants’ cams on top. It also allows you to maintain eye contact. Participants can also adjust the meeting windows at their own convenience.
Microsoft Viva
Microsoft Viva was created to revolutionize how employees work in a hybrid environment. Only four modules have been added at the moment: Topics, Connections and Learning, as well as Insights.
Viva Topics: New employees have difficulty understanding acronyms and terminologies as well as other company-related information. This was not a problem in the past. The entire work environment has been digitalized and there is no one to help them. Viva Topics can be described as the Wikipedia of an organization. They provide information that employees might need, such acronyms and terminologies. They connect employees with experts from the organization. Viva Topics gives access to various organizational information. When an employee attempts to access a topic in a company, they are presented with the relevant description and documents, experts, discussions, as well as the option to ask experts questions. Topics make it easy for employees to find the knowledge they need.
Viva Connections: This allows employees to keep up-to-date on everything happening within the company. The connections app can be thought of as a digital version of a company’s workplace. Employees can interact with one another and recreate the feeling of working in an office. They can also customize content according to their roles.
Viva Lear
