Microsoft has announced several new products and features during its Inspire event this week, many of which are designed to help organizations support their hybrid work environments and improve collaboration.
The new features and products include new capabilities in Teams, improvements to its Windows 365 cloud PC offering, a new contact center solution, new digital employee experience tools and more.
Here’s a look at the Redmond, Wash. IT giant’s major announcements:
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft continues to release new features for its flagship workplace communications tool, including the ability to collaborate on Excel workbooks in real-time Teams meetings via Excel Live. According to Microsoft, the Teams meeting window itself becomes an Excel sheet, and anyone in the meeting can edit a workbook right in the meeting screen. This follows the company’s recent announcement of Live Share in Teams, which allows users to collaborate in apps in the Teams meeting window. Other software vendors and developers can use new extensions in the Teams SDK to build apps for Live Share.
Microsoft also announced the general availability of Teams Connect Shared Channel, which essentially allows users to collaborate with people both inside an outside of their organization in one shared space.
Other new Teams features include collaborative annotations that allow users to draw, type and react on top on shared content in a Teams window, and a new video clip feature in Teams chat that allows users to record, send and view short videos.
The company also says it is making several improvements to Microsoft Teams Rooms and devices, including a new category of AI-powered intelligent cameras, new dedicated Teams displays, new webinar features, a LinkedIn integration and much more.
Windows 365
New features for Windows 365, includes the company’s cloud PC offering, including Citrix HDX Plus for Windows 365 to enable IT to extend the hybrid work experience on cloud devices and support a broader range of endpoint devices and peripherals. This also brings more security and policy controls.
Also new is Windows 365 Government, which expands the availability of cloud devices to the Government Community Cloud and Government Community Cloud High.
Microsoft says it is also making improvements to Windows 365 Business to make it easier to sign up and sign into cloud devices using a Microsoft account and restore a computer to an earlier point. IT admins will also be able to automatically enroll devices in Endpoint manager alongside their existing physical computer estate.
Viva Engage
Microsoft used its Inspire event to announce Microsoft Viva Engage, a new employee experience app for Teams designed to help build community and connection. According to the company, Viva Engage builds on the strength of Yammer, allowing leaders to share news and insights, answer questions and facilitate two-way conversations with employees. Employees can use the tool to connect with their coworkers and share thoughts and ideas.
Microsoft Cloud for Sovereignty
Microsoft is launching another industry cloud, this one designed to enable the public sector to build and digitally transform workloads in the Microsoft Cloud while meeting compliance, security and policy requirements. The company says this new offering will give public sector customers the ability to harness the resiliency, security and scale of the cloud while having greater control over their data, residency and transparency.
Microsoft Digital Contact Center Platform
Microsoft calls its new Digital Contact Center Platform an open, extensible and collaborative contact center solution designed to deliver seamless customer journeys.
The new solution brings together several Microsoft products, including Nuance, which the company acquired earlier this year. Other products included in the new contact center offering are Dynamics 365, Power Platform and Teams.
Learn more about Microsoft’s announcements during its Inspire event here.
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