Direct from Microsoft
Microsoft Ignite is happening this week, completely free and virtual. The Teams blog published a power on Your Guide to Microsoft Teams @ Ignite 2020.
Microsoft has released an open preview of on-network conferencing for audio conferencing. Organizations can send inbound and outbound Audio Conferencing calls to Microsoft dial-in numbers through Direct Routing. In translation, you are still dialing a service number owned by Microsoft that is assigned to a conference bridge. This capability will instead route calls to those numbers from an on-premises PBX using Direct Routing. I suspect this is for organizations that require additional security and want these calls to stay on their network prior to connecting out to the Teams online service.
Microsoft released version 1.1.6 of the Microsoft Teams PowerShell module that now officially includes Skype for Business Online Connector integration. I wrote about the preview version and the new way to connect to Skype for Business Online using a device login code (Exploring New Functionality in the Microsoft Teams PowerShell Module).
If you can’t keep up with what functionality is available in Teams depending on the platform, then this Microsoft support article is for you. This includes features like calendar, calls, files, meetings, channels, and Teams for education.
Community Contributions
Speaking of the new Teams PowerShell module, noticeably missing is the Enable-CsOnlineSessionForReconnection function. Worry not, Andres Gorzelany talks about how to get this function back when upgrading to the new module.
Luca Vitali has a great article covering the new Teams on-network audio conferencing configuration with your Teams Direct Routing implementation.
Mentioned in a previous issue, a new admin role for managing Teams devices is rolling out to tenants. Jan Ketil Skanke posts a picture of what the Teams admin center looks like for a user assigned this role. Great to see more role-based access control for administrators.
#MicrosoftTeams Devices Admin role is NOW available for assignment in #azuread – this allows your device admins manage your meeting rooms devices without access to mess with the Teams service. Great stuff #Goodtimes https://t.co/FZiJb2nAsX pic.twitter.com/0t64TaCu47
— Jan Ketil Skanke [MVP] (@JankeSkanke) September 16, 2020
Tom Morgan outlines how to create a Microsoft Teams meeting as an application. This uses new application access policies instead of delegated or application permissions. And caveat given, these are currently in beta, which means they can change without warning and are not supported in production.
Paul Lange notes that two new IP addresses were added for SIP in Direct Routing scenarios with Australia getting its own connection points.
Two new IP’s added in July for SIP in Direct Routing scenarios. Australia got it’s own connection points. Time to update your firewalls. pic.twitter.com/c6Hm41f3RW
— Paul Lange (@pl_lange) September 15, 2020
Tony Redmond outlines how to monitor guest accounts added to Teams using the Office 365 audit log.
Events
Since Microsoft Ignite is virtual this year, Comms vNext is hosting a virtual party called Don’t Hate, Federate. Registration is available here using Microsoft Forms.
Road Map and Message Center Updates
Road Map: Organizational branding for line of business app catalog
Admins will be able to customize their Teams line-of-business app catalog using their organization’s branding, like a company logo. More information can be found in this message center announcement.
Message Center: Introducing macOS native notifications in Teams
Users will be able to choose their preferred Teams notification delivery, either the Teams built-in notification system or from the native operating system notification system. This will be available for MacOS 10.14 and greater starting in late October.
Message Center: Windows 10 native notifications in Teams
Users will be able to choose their preferred Teams notification delivery, either the Teams built-in notification system or from the native operating system notification system. This will be available for Windows 10 starting in mid-October.
Message Center: Turn off message preview for chat notifications in Teams
The Teams client will allow users to enable or disable message previews for Teams message notifications. This can allow for more privacy by hiding the chat message content from appearing in the notification. This will begin rolling out in early October.
Message Center: End of meeting notification
Rolling out in mid-September, the Teams client will notify meeting participants that there are five minutes remaining in a scheduled meeting. Great way to wrap up a meeting and be respectful of everyone’s schedules.
Message Center: Introducing Microsoft Teams templates
Rolling out the first week of October, users will be able to create new teams using Teams templates. Templates have a predefined team structure with a set of channels, tabs, and apps.
Training
Over at the Mio Dispatch blog, Dominic Kent outlines how to setup a Microsoft Teams meeting for first-time users.
Microsoft also has a great guide for delivering virtual events with guidance by the different roles present in a virtual event (organizers, producers, presenters, etc.).
Tip of the Week
Matt Wade has a great comprehensive article on how to present in Microsoft Teams meetings with two monitors.
