Microsoft has introduced new capabilities in Microsoft 365 to improve connection and collaboration within the workplace.
This month sees new and improved features for Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Office, OneDrive, SharePoint, Viva Goals, and WorkLab Guides.
Microsoft has also launched a preview of Experience insights, which provides an overview of user metrics for Microsoft 365.
Colette Stallbaumer, General Manager, Microsoft 365 and Future of Work, said:
“In today’s shifting macroeconomic climate, Microsoft is focused on helping organizations in every industry use technology to overcome challenges and emerge stronger.
“From enabling hybrid work to bringing business processes into the flow of work, Microsoft 365 helps organizations deliver on their digital imperative so they can do more with less.”
Teams Phone Pay-As-You-Go
Microsoft is introducing a new Teams Phone Pay-As-You-Go calling plan, providing customers with another subscription option. The Pay-As-You-Go license comes with a phone number, unlimited inbound calls, and outbound calls are charged per minute.
In July, Microsoft revealed its Teams PSTN user numbers as now over 12 million, nearly double the number it had a year earlier.
Teams Phone Pay-As-You-Go and other subscription plans can be used in conjunction with a Microsoft 365 Phone System.
Microsoft Teams, OneDrive and SharePoint
New capabilities are being previewed on Teams, OneDrive, and SharePoint to help users locate, manage access, and share files.
OneDrive Home has been redesigned to prioritise showing your most recent files and activity. Users can also filter files from the top buttons on the ‘Recent file’ list. Document libraries can also be pinned to the ‘Quick access’ section on the OneDrive Home navigation bar.
Microsoft Teams also now has an improved Polling experience. Teams users can create new pre-defined polls or reuse recent polls as a means of gathering information or increasing engagement from meeting participants and sharing results live. Voting and results animations have been added as further engaging features.
Kaizala is officially being retired on August 31, 2023, and its users will be migrated to Teams. The Kaizala Pro capabilities are already available in Teams and enable Kaizala to be used in polls, surveys, quizzes, and more.
Microsoft Office
Updates to Microsoft Office have been designed to enable users to implement their ideas via the web or a mobile device.
Web users can utilise ‘People Pinning’ to pin their primary collaborators to make it easier to access content from their top contacts. People Pinning is located in ‘My content’.
Mobile phone app users can use ‘Microsoft Feed’ to find their relevant activity, files, and insights from their Microsoft 365 contacts.
The app also includes Microsoft Lens, which allows users to easily capture and share information from photos and screenshots using its interactive text functions.
Viva Goals
VIva Goals is now generally available to Microsoft Viva users. The software helps to keep employees aligned with their organisation’s goals, as well as create business results which can be used to explain the impact of hitting and missing targets. Viva goals has been designed with an objective and key results (OKR) framework in mind. It can be used as a web application or from within Teams and other third-party integrations.
Microsoft recently added its own social media platform, Viva Engage, to Teams and the Microsoft 365 platform.
WorkLab Guides
WorkLab Guides have been created to help business leaders manage their hybrid working organisations effectively. The guide includes advice on collaborating asynchronously, hosting meetings, knowing when to meet in person, personalising their approach to fit their teams’ needs, and more.
Microsoft has promised to include a number of new product innovations in its September update.
