Microsoft 365 Updates: Security, Outlook, SharePoint, Teams, Office 365, and Office 365 Admin Center

Date:Friday, Mar 13, 2020
Author: Paul Maggs
Reading Time: 9 minutes
Tags: Security and Compliance Microsoft Outlook SharePoint Online Microsoft Teams Office 365
Categories: M365 Updates

Key Updates and Announcements

Happy Friday everyone, hope everyone is doing well.

Welcome to today’s Microsoft 365 update, see below for a list of what I see as key announcements, and scroll down further to review the latest Microsoft 365 updates from the previous week.

  • Microsoft Secure Score is to be updated based on feedback received from customers. The changes, to be rolled out on the 16th March, provide a more accurate representation of an organisations security posture. You can go here to review which security actions are to change.

  • Microsoft are adding to the list of filetypes which are blocked by Outlook on the web. The change will roll out on the 6th April 2020 and will increase the number of file types which can’t be viewed or saved locally. Micerosoft’s provided additional information here

  • Microsoft Teams Skype consumer interop is arriving by the end of April 2020. This feature will be disabled by default, therefore it will need to be enabled from the Teams administration center. You can find more in depth information about this interoperability here.

  • Forms usage reports are to be added to activity reports found in the Microsoft administration center. Reports will spam from 0 - 180 days and provide an overview of number of for designers, form respondents, and total users. Go here to find out more information regarding these new reports.

  • IT administrators will have the ability to pre-install Microsoft teams apps. The new feature rollout is expected to be completed by early April 2020 and can be setup from the Teams administration center.

List of Updates

Note: Please ensure you’re signed into your Office 365 Administration portal to access the links referenced below. Also note, some tenants may not have all the below updates currently published to them

Updated Feature: Microsoft Secure Score improvement action updates

Click here for more information

MC206238, Stay Informed, Published date: Mar 11, 2020

Applies To: All We’re updating Microsoft Secure Score improvement actions to ensure a more accurate representation of security posture.

We’ll be rolling this out to customers on March 16, 2020.

Updated Feature: Blocked file types in Outlook on the web

Click here for more information

MC206009, Plan For Change, Published date: Mar 9, 2020

Action required by Apr 6, 2020

Major Update: Announcement Applies To: All We will be adding some additional file extensions to the BlockedFileTypes list. The BlockedFileTypes parameter specifies a list of attachment file types (file extensions) that can’t be saved locally or viewed from Outlook on the web.

This change will roll out in early April and will be complete by the end of April.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 55100.

For more information, including a complete list of extensions that will be blocked, please see https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Exchange-Team-Blog/Changes-to-File-Types-Blocked-in-Outlook-on-the-web/ba-p/874451

Updating classic SharePoint team site home pages to the modern template

Click here for more information

MC202661, Stay Informed, Published date: Jan 30, 2020

Major Update: Announcement Applies To: All

Updated March 12, 2020: In order to give customers more time to prepare for the automatic update, we are adjusting the roll-out timeframe. Additionally, based on feedback, we have updated the supporting documentation with additional details. With this update, classic SharePoint team site home pages that have not been customized will be automatically updated to a modern home page template.

  • We’ll begin gradually rolling this out to Targeted Release customers in May (previously March).
  • The rollout will be complete by the end of June (previously May).

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 60405.

Updated Feature: Outlook mobile updates the roll out of Privacy Settings

Click here for more information

MC205983, Stay Informed, Published date: Mar 9, 2020

In January, we announced that Outlook for iOS and Android would follow the privacy controls on diagnostic and related data that Office sends to Microsoft (MC201864).

When we rolled out this change, in app notifications advised all users that a change in their privacy settings had occurred. This was not the intended experience; consequently, we rolled back this change. We apologize for any inconvenience or concerns.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 58135 and 60109.

Example:

New Feature: Teams/Skype Consumer chat and calling interop

Click here for more information

MC205801, Stay Informed, Published date: Mar 7, 2020

Updated March 11, 2020: Updated instructions to access the setting. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Your Teams and Skype for consumers users will soon be able to chat and make Voice over IP (VoIP) calls to one another.

  • We’ll be gradually rolling this out at the end of March 2020.
  • The rollout will be completed by the end of April.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 53935

Example:

Updates available for Office 365 ProPlus on the Monthly, Semi-Annual (Targeted) and Semi-Annual Channels

Click here for more information

MC206149, Stay Informed, Published date: Mar 10, 2020

We’ve released updates to the Office 365 ProPlus Monthly Channel, Semi-Annual Channel (Targeted) and Semi-Annual Channel.

We’ll be gradually rolling out these updates of Office 365 ProPlus to users on those channels starting March 10th 2020.

Updated Feature: Forms Activity Reports in the Microsoft Admin Center

Click here for more information

MC206131, Stay Informed, Published date: Mar 10, 2020

We’re updating the Microsoft Admin center to include Forms Activity Reports. This report allows you to understand if and how much Forms is being used within your organization.

We’ll be rolling this out to customers starting March 11, 2020 and the roll-out should be completed by March 13, 2020.

Example:

New Feature: Edit metadata from within the SharePoint Document Library and List View web parts

Click here for more information

MC206010, Stay Informed, Published date: Mar 9, 2020

Your end users will soon be able to edit SharePoint metadata in a file or list directly from the web part.

  • We’ll be gradually rolling this out to Targeted Release customers starting in early March.
  • The rollout will be completed by the end of April.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 61030.

Example:

New Feature: Edit metadata from within the SharePoint Document Library and List View web parts

Click here for more information

MC205752, Stay Informed, Published date: Mar 6, 2020

Admins will soon be able to pre-install apps that will be visible when a user clicks the the ellipses (…) on the left rail of the Teams desktop app.

  • We’ll be gradually rolling this out in the Teams Admin Portal in mid-March 2020.
  • The rollout will be completed by early April.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 61332.

Example: