Microsoft has announced a new Teams experience for Windows, replacing the existing version with a faster, cleaner Teams app.

The new version seeks to dramatically improve user experience, introduces powerful-AI based tools to more users, and addresses performance issues that have crept into Teams since the platform’s astonishing success during the Covid-19 pandemic – which saw rapid adoption by organisations around the world and an explosion of new features.

Microsoft estimates the new communication and collaboration app is now twice as fast, but uses approximately 50% less system memory, completing initial loading in under 10 seconds compared to over 20 seconds in ‘Classic’ Teams in independent benchmarked testing.

Part of that extra speed – in loading, scrolling and searching – has been achieved by tidying many of the extra controls that have been added to teams, simplifying the design for a ‘cleaner’ viewing window. Users who need access to multiple accounts will also find it easier to switch between work environments.

Microsoft are also highlighting the extensive integration of ChatGPT AI tools in the form of Copilot – which debuted for Microsoft 365 a few weeks ago. Within Teams, AI assistance will be able to summarise meetings, write chat or documents on your behalf, and answering questions mid-discussion flow.

While we’re not quite convinced about 3D avatars (!) the new Teams can highlight when individuals were speaking, automatically break long meetings into key ‘chapters’ for video review, redesigns Teams channels to feel more like the gathering point they’re intended to be, and use AI mid-chat in a way that has untold potential.

Overall the new design is more visually impressive, with customisation options that are available in public preview now, and available to Microsoft 365 users later in 2023.

For Microsoft 365 Expertise and support, please contact our team today.

Advanced meeting room spaces that support hybrid working have become popular in recent years (no prizes for guessing why) and are big asset to partially or wholly remote workforces.

However many organisations find the hardware choices bewildering – so before choosing a conferencing kit for your meeting room, here are three key questions you need to ask:

Where’s that call coming from?

If you’re a devotee of either Microsoft Teams or Zoom, it’s easy to believe the entire world uses the same meetings software.

Stop and consider this for a moment and it should be immediately obvious there’s a problem here. Not all of your customers or suppliers will have standardised on the same choice as you necessarily – and that’s not even to mention rival platforms, or indeed traditional phone calls.

More modern Microsoft Teams Rooms devices also provide native support for scheduled Zoom meetings &/or Cisco Webex, and HDMI override that’s compatible with alternatives like Google Meet. We already escaped the world of restrictive hardware a decade ago, so let’s not go back there. Instead, it’s sensible to plan for a conference room setup where people can both make and accept calls in a variety of platforms, to cover all bases.

Connected to what?

How will the end-user actually make the call? This is important to think about – there are really three options here:

• From a fixed PC/Mac in the room
• From a device the user brings into the room with them
• From a dedicated conference suite that tracks its own scheduled meetings

Option 1 helps eliminate some common hardware problems like getting the right cabling/adaptors, but it’s likely to prove a bit restrictive the rest of the time. Option 2 gives users great flexibility over using the room, and can be paired with wireless hardware – as well as falling back on some other advantages of laptops, tablets or smartphones: like the user bringing their own calling platform and display, and familiarity with their own audio settings.

Option 3 goes a step further so that the room already understands what meeting is happening when, and often supports ‘single-touch’ join from a console or touchscreen. This is best for enterprise environments where the video/audio largely doesn’t change, and what you really need is for the conferencing software (Teams or Zoom) to control who is actually using the meeting room, and when.

But what’s the room like?

Don’t forget the practicalities – this isn’t just about the technology, but also the physical space.

How big is the room, and how is the seating arranged? Will a conference phone cut it, or do you need satellite microphones to make sure audio is captured? Where are the power sockets? This will determine how your plans overlap with the device choice. Monitors are often easier to use than projectors, particularly as more screen-sharing is taking place.

Camera angles are important if your room is large, although audio always takes priority – most of the time it’s more important that everybody can be heard clearly, rather than be seen.

Need IT support and communications expertise? Speak with our team today.

Microsoft have previewed an exciting new set of Teams collaboration features in the June 2020 update.

Those on the more experimental Preview Build will be the first to receive the option for large Gallery View – expanding the video meeting grid to 7×7 for a maximum of 49 participants in a meeting. The maximum possible meeting attendance is also set to be increased to 300 participants.

With Schools around the world attempting to push ahead with e-learning, there’s also a new ‘Class Insights’ dashboard designed to monitor pupils’ engagement. Microsoft is promising ‘virtual breakout rooms’ – with centralised control via an organiser who can direct smaller groups to their own meetings and recall them to the main meeting when ready.

Multi Window support will allow users to create satellite calls, chats and more in external windows for better productivity – likely to be especially welcomed by those who use more than one display.

For those speaking English, live captions in meetings will be available in Preview Build to support extra accessibility.

Assigning Priority status to certain chats will allow users to receive custom notifications on important or urgent items. On the security side, external the PSTN numbers of dial-in users will now be masked to guest-attendees, and ‘screen-lock’ is compatible between Teams phones and the desktop app.

Teams phone hardware is receiving a host of new UI features, and for those interacting with more personal users, Teams calling has become inter-operable with the Skype app. This will allow more public facing communication between business Office 365 tenants, and those with Outlook.com acounts, Microsoft 365 consumer/student plans and similar.

The Free Teams Trial will also have one of its key limitations, the ability to schedule meetings, removed in a bid to encourage users to get the most out of one of the platform’s strongest features.

Microsoft have increased the pace of the Teams development cycle, as millions of users around the world need greater functionality for remote working.

Lineal are a Microsoft Gold Partner – for Microsoft 365 expertise and support, please contact our team today.

Gamma Communications have officially launched Teams Direct Routing, allowing organisations which use Microsoft 365 to make Microsoft Teams your phone system.

Teams Direct Routing is a simple monthly bolt-on to Teams-enabled Microsoft 365 licenses, that allows the user to make or accept normal voice calls via the UK phone network.

But what about the actual… phone? Yes, end users can use either the Teams mobile app for their smartphone on iOS/Android, or their PC/Mac – however hardware manufacturers are surprisingly close behind: with Poly and others announcing hardware officially approved to operate a Microsoft Teams based phone system.

Poly CCX Series Teams Phone Handsets

This makes Microsoft Teams a compelling choice as a full-business phone system, with call-routing, voicemail and many the other features commonly associated with work phones – available ‘through’ Teams.

Each user’s overall license package comprises three parts: two Microsoft elements including the user’s Microsoft 365 license that includes Teams, the ‘Phone system’ (PBX) bolt-on, and one from Gamma – the Teams Direct Routing Bolt-on itself.

All this is backed by the remote-working flexibility of Microsoft 365’s cloud infrastructure and Trust Centre – better yet, the monthly cost of extending Teams in this way is a tiny fraction of the upfront cost of buying a traditional business phone system and unifies the user’s other key work communication tool (email) under a single account, calendar, and set of security permissions.

With a user-base of over 70 million daily active Teams users, Teams itself is a workplace juggernaut given extra momentum by the important need for home-working driven by Covid-19. Although Microsoft themselves also offer direct routing call plans that integrate with Microsoft Teams, these do not include the numerous extra functions extensively supported by telecommunications suppliers, such as flexible number porting, extra control over redundancy and business continuity plans, and other related considerations needed to better ‘manage’ an organisation’s communications.

Gamma, whose popular Horizon system operates nearly half a million UK business phone seats, are also giving every sign that Teams Direct Routing will also be the more cost-effective choice when compared to Microsoft’s own call plans.

Teams Direct Routing is likely to prove an extremely popular choice for companies seeking to modernise, and ‘get the most’ out of Teams. Take our advice: this one is going to be big.

For more information on Microsoft 365 and Teams, click here.

For more information on Microsoft 365 licensing, click here.

For more information on how Microsoft Teams can be deployed as a full phone system, please contact our team today.

Microsoft Teams will soon gain the ability to display video-call participants in a 3×3 (9-person) grid, among other new Teams features.

The new teams features improve on the current limit of a 2×2 (4-person) grid – one notable limitation when compared with popular rivals such as Zoom.

Other features being added include custom-backgrounds, a ‘raise-hand’ feature similar to that used in Citrix GoToMeeting webinars, audio-sharing and call recording for 1-1 direct calls. The iOS version on mobile/tablet will also gain Teams’ background blur feature used to obscure the caller’s surroundings.

Recognising perhaps that Teams is still new to many workplace settings there has been a revised focus on hardware for new teams features: ‘Teams Certified’ audio/conferencing devices are now available, and the new Teams push-to-talk ‘walkie-talkie’ mode designed for field workers is currently in preview.

Playing catchup with Teams’ dramatic surge in popularity – to over 44m daily users and 1000% more calls during lockdown across the globe – Microsoft are also overhauling the Teams Admin centre to give admin users more visibility and control over meetings, usage and group policies.

Lineal are a certified Microsoft Gold Partner. Learn more about Microsoft Teams, or contact us today.

This week Microsoft Teams gained 12 million daily users, bringing the total to 44 million globally. During the past few days, Microsoft have raised cloud computing capacity by 600% to support this surge in demand for remote-working tools.  

If it’s all new to you, or you’re working from home for the first time – never fear! Lineal have assembled some of the best online Microsoft Teams resources to help users of all levels. 

We’ll update this ultimate guide to Microsoft Teams to include valuable new videos, examples and training materials as we discover them. 

The Basics 

• Microsoft Teams Quick Start Guide: https://download.microsoft.com/download/D/9/F/D9FE8B9E-22F5-47BF-A1AB-09539C41FCD0/Teams%20QS.pdf 
• Welcome to Teams [VIDEO]: https://support.office.com/en-gb/article/video-welcome-to-microsoft-teams-b98d533f-118e-4bae-bf44-3df2470c2b12?wt.mc_id=otc_microsoft_teams&ui=en-US&rs=en-GB&ad=GB 
• Introducing Microsoft Teams [VIDEO]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKU-FMzZFF0 

Intermediate 

• Getting Started with online meetings [VIDEO]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bl-P0Jrs3g0&list=PLXPr7gfUMmKxuxmc5ZKF-6Zhi4IoNn1c6 
• Simple Microsoft Teams Video Training Online: https://support.office.com/en-us/article/microsoft-teams-video-training-4f108e54-240b-4351-8084-b1089f0d21d7
• ‘Everyday Etiquette in Microsoft Teams’ (Credit: Matt Wade/Chris Webb – AtBot/Avepoint): https://avepointcdn.azureedge.net/pdfs/en/Etiquette-in-Teams-eBook.pdf
• Learning sections of Microsoft Teams: https://support.office.com/en-us/teams 
• Microsoft Tips: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/tips/home 
• Download Teams for mobile via Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.microsoft.teams&hl=en_GB via Apple App Store: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/microsoft-teams/id1113153706 

Experienced 

• What’s New in Microsoft Teams? Release Schedule: https://support.office.com/en-gb/article/what-s-new-in-microsoft-teams-d7092a6d-c896-424c-b362-a472d5f105de 
• Microsoft Learn Courses: Teams – https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/browse/?products=office-teams&resource_type=learning%20path 
• How to use Screenshare/Powerpoint during meetings [VIDEO]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISSDppQnyiE&list=PLXPr7gfUMmKxuxmc5ZKF-6Zhi4IoNn1c6&index=6 
• Managing Calendar in Microsoft Teams [VIDEO]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwUGAgiWaXI&list=PLXPr7gfUMmKxuxmc5ZKF-6Zhi4IoNn1c6&index=2 
• ‘Teams on Air’ Series [VIDEO]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RU0nqhSrCkU&list=PLXPr7gfUMmKxeNajnxxy1QK4J6uXDgJ9Z 
• Guide to Teams Security Permissions: https://support.office.com/en-us/article/team-owner-member-and-guest-capabilities-in-teams-d03fdf5b-1a6e-48e4-8e07-b13e1350ec7b 
• Microsoft 365 Blog: https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/microsoft-365/blog/ 
• Microsoft Trust Centre: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/trust-center 

Lineal are a Microsoft Gold Partner – for expertise and support, please contact our team today.

Microsoft have announced their plans for combining Skype for Business and Microsoft Teams, setting out how the two communications platforms will merge in a new Microsoft Teams roadmap.

As Lineal predicted just a few weeks ago, Microsoft will indeed align the two apps under one heading, named Microsoft Teams, from Summer 2018.

Microsoft Teams, a super-smooth instant messaging and group sharing app for business, will go head to head with rapidly expanding collaboration app rivals like Slack and Basecamp, but will incorporate the enterprise business telephony and conferencing abilities (including PSTN calling, video conferencing and group screen sharing) from the hugely popular Skype for Business.

Consistent across Windows and Mac client versions, on mobile and in the cloud – the new teams roadmap details ‘Messaging’, ‘Meeting’ and ‘Calling’ changes to the app for Q4 2017 through to Q4 of 2018.

On the Messaging side all new planned features (for example contact groups, chat between the two apps and Skype for Business contact import) will be available by the end of Q1 2018, although Meeting and Calling additions are more gradual.

Certain Meetings features, such as browser-based meetings via teams and audio conference calls will be available by Q4 of 2017, although power uses will need to wait until Q2 of 2018 for more advanced features such as recording, powerpoint share and PSTN fallback.

Call queues, out of office support and transfer to PSTN call tools will be running by next Summer, with call park and shared line appearance delayed until Q4 of 2018.

Users can already run both Skype for Business and Teams side by side, although Microsoft will increasingly push users in the direction of the latter. Extra help materials for organisations making the transition can be found here.

Both Teams and Skype for Business are already included at no extra charge to Microsoft Office 365 Business Premium customers, although many do not even realise the leading communication apps are available to use.

While the combined product is likely to be an extremely powerful and flexible business tool, Microsoft’s challenge for the Teams roadmap will be to make Microsoft Teams as much of a household name as the Skype brand.

Lineal are a Microsoft Gold partner – contact us today for Office 365 support.

Are Microsoft Teams and Skype for Business about to merge?

Teams and Skype for Business – Microsoft’s two key communication applications may be about to merge, following a series of leaked hints from the Office 365 message centre.

Microsoft Teams – Redmond’s answer to easy-use messaging and group sharing apps for business (think Slack, or Basecamp) that have seen massive growth in popularity, already looks visibly similar to the Skype for Business client on Mac, and it’s easy to imagine the two becoming a single, powerful unified communications product.

Quite whether Skype for Business or Teams would be cut is an interesting dilemma. Despite a slow start, Skype for Business has proved very successful in the telecoms world – expanding to cover video conferencing, Outlook calendar integration and other established business functions, whilst Teams is still in its early stages.

Microsoft Teams though is clearly closer in concept and execution to the ‘appy’, casual platforms that, quite frankly, Microsoft wishes it was as cool as. This is also where the unified communications industry is heading generally: mobile friendly, cross channel communication apps with unimaginable technical wizardry happening unseen in the cloud.

Believe it or not, Slack has been around since 2013. Basecamp even longer. ShoreTel recently announced the new ShoreTel app, replacing their old mobility client with a mobile friendly, cross-platform, cloud-based, messaging and VOIP collaboration platform. Microsoft (traditionally very slow to any new party) must surely arrive eventually.

This is in part because the generation that have grown up with WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger simply don’t see messaging and audio as separate realms, and are noticeably more open to the idea of a business application with something of the ‘look and feel’ of social media.

Merging the two makes excellent commercial sense for the unstoppable business behemoth that is Microsoft, and would park the tanks on several lawns at once.

Contact the IT and communications specialists – speak to Lineal today: 01271 375999