Happy Friday, everyone.
Microsoft Lists will be arriving soon and are expected to land into Office 365 tenants by mid October 2020, and when available, the Microsoft Teams Lists app brings SharePoint lists into the Teams interface. If you’re not sure what lists can do, check out this link - More information about Microsoft Lists
Microsoft Authenticator app is to have additional security measures requiring biometrics to access the app are to be enabled by default. Expect this feature by mid september for both iOS and Android.
Microsoft Teams will allow selecting from multiple numbers when dialling a contact, for example, if they have an office number and mobile number, either will be selectable. Expect this feature by end August.
Moving files between OneDrive, SharePoint, or between SharePoint site collections and retain existing sharing permissions. Expect this feature by end August.
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
Click here for more information
MC220031, Stay Informed, Published date: Aug 7, 2020
We originally announced this feature in MC215704, June ‘20. After making changes we are ready to proceed with the roll-out.
Default page templates allow site owners to set a default template for all editors who are creating pages and news on their site. This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 64529.When this will happen
We will begin roll-out to Targeted Release in mid August and expect to be complete for all tenants by mid September.
How this will affect your organization?
SharePoint site owners will be able to set the default template in the page template picker.
Click here for more information
MC220124, Stay Informed, Published date: Aug 10, 2020
We are excited to announce that early access for the 2020 wave 2 release (MC218287) for Microsoft Power Platform was made available on August 3, 2020. This is a compilation of new capabilities that will be released between October 2020 and March 2021. The new features and enhancements demonstrate our continued investment to power digital transformation for our customers and partners.
How does this affect me?
Starting August 3, 2020, customers and partners have the ability to opt-in to early access and validate the latest features in a non-production environment. Starting August 10, 2020, customers that are a part of the Microsoft Government Cloud will have the option available in their administrative portal. These features include user experience enhancements that will be automatically enabled for users in production environments starting October 1, 2020. The deployment schedule is being finalized and will be available soon for reference.
There are many features available for early access across for the Power Platform. We encourage application administrators to review these changes to understand the impact and determine if change management for new features is required.
Click here for more information
MC220127, Stay Informed, Published date: Aug 10, 2020
When your end users move a file from OneDrive to a SharePoint site collection, or from a SharePoint site collection to a OneDrive, or from a SharePoint site collection to another SharePoint site collection, they will have the option to easily continue sharing the file with their collaborators at the new destination.
This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 65907.
When this will happen
We will begin rolling this out to production in mid-August and expect to complete that rollout by early September. We expect to complete rollout to all environments by the end of September.
How this will affect your organization
Move and keep sharing is a new feature that allows your end users to easily re-share a file with all the direct collaborators (e.g., the users who had previously received a share for that file) should it be moved.
If an end user chooses to do so, we will provide direct collaborators with the new link or with direct permissions that match those that they had at the source location. We will also send collaborators an e-mail that notifies them that the file has been moved should the owner reshare the file location.
When your users move files across site collection boundaries, they will see this new option.
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MC220137, Stay Informed, Published date: Aug 11, 2020
Teams now supports dialing multiple numbers for a given user.
This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 66194.
When this will happen
We will begin rolling this out in mid-August and expect the rollout to be complete by the end of August.
How this will affect your organization When a contact entry contains multiple numbers, a new split button in the chat header for audio/video calling will display them as available numbers with which to initiate a call.
The caller has the option to select among different numbers when calling users that have multiple numbers. The numbers to select from are source from the work telephone number and mobile number fields stored in Azure Active Directory.
Click here for more information
MC220194, Stay Informed, Published date: Aug 11, 2020
We’ve released updates to the following update channels for Microsoft 365 Apps:
- Current Channel -Monthly Enterprise Channel -Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel (Preview)
- Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel
When this will happen:
We’ll be gradually rolling out these updates of Microsoft 365 Apps to users on those update channels starting August 11th, 2020 (PST).
How this will affect your organization:
If your Microsoft 365 Apps clients are configured to automatically update from the Office Content Delivery Network (CDN), then no action is required.
If you manage updates directly you can now download these latest updates and begin deployment.
Click here for more information
MC220222, Plan For Change, Published date: Aug 12, 2020
Major update: Announcement Applies To: null
We are making changes to how Teams meetings and join links are accessible for meeting organizers who have had their scheduling capabilities revoked. Today, Teams meeting URLs can be accessed before, during, and after the scheduled meeting time, even if the scheduling permission for the meeting organizer has been revoked after the meeting was created.
To implement this change, we are adjusting the behavior of some settings in csTeamsMeetingPolicy to give additional control to the Tenant Admins. Tenant admins can now control and define the expiration of meetings created and scheduled by their users.
This change does not impact any scheduled meetings for organizers who continue to have the ability to schedule Teams meetings (as defined by Meeting Policy). You can find additional details on this change below.
Key points:
- Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID: 66921
- Timing: start rolling out in early September and complete by the end of September.
- Control: policies in Teams admin center or PowerShell
- Action: review and assess impact
How this affects your organization: Once this change is implemented, users who have any of these policies set to “False” will see a change in experience.
Click here for more information
MC220223, Plan For Change, Published date: Aug 12, 2020
Major update: Announcement Applies To: null
The following pages in the classic SharePoint admin center have been replaced by pages in the new SharePoint admin center and will be removed/retired: “Site Collections”, “Sharing”, “Access control”, and “Geo locations”.
Key points:
- Major: Retirement
- Timing: the change will roll out incrementally over several months. Once the banner appears on your tenant’s classic pages, the transition will happen 30 day later.
- Action: review and assess
How this will affect your organization: Admins will start to see a banner on these four classic pages. The banner will display the date when the page will be retired along with a link to documentation that describes where to find all the features in the new admin center
Click here for more information
MC220224, Stay Informed, Published date: Aug 12, 2020
If you do not have users who are using the Microsoft Authenticator app on their mobile devices for two-factor authentication, you may safely ignore this message.
Microsoft Authenticator App Lock will soon be enabled by default if the user has set up a PIN or biometric on the device.
When this will happen
- For iOS, we are rolling this out gradually in mid-August and should be complete by the end of August.
- For Android, we are rolling this out gradually in late August and should be complete by mid-September.
How this affects your organization The Microsoft Authenticator app can serve as a second verification method after users sign in with username and password, or it can allow sign-in without a password by using a mobile device with PIN or biometrics (fingerprint or face). App Lock keeps one-time passcodes, app information, and app settings more secure.
Currently, when a login notification arrives on the phone, users can approve or deny from the lock screen.
However, with App Lock enabled users will need to launch the app (on iOS) or launch a dialog (on Android) before they can approve/deny the request. They will also need to provide an additional PIN/biometrics gesture to successfully authenticate the login request.
Click here for more information
MC220258, Plan For Change, Published date: Aug 12, 2020
We will be retiring distribution of the macOS MS Teams client via DMG file starting on August 7th 2020 with DMG distribution being fully retired by October 6th 2020. Instead we recommend the utilization of Teams via our standard PKG file, which is where we will continue to invest.
Note: If your organization does not use macOS you can safely disregard this message.
Key points:
- Major: Retirement
- Timing: August 7th in app notifications, October 6th redirect enforced
- Action: review and assess
How this will affect your organization: You are receiving this message because our reporting indicates one or more users in your organization are potentially using this DMG approach. Starting on August 7th your users will receive an in app notice of the upcoming change via a dismissible banner with a link to a download of the PKG file. After October 6th, 2020, there will be a redirect in place for clients running Teams on DMG, where they will referred to a PKG download of the application.
Users will no longer be able to use versions of Teams running from the DMG, when this change is implemented.
Click here for more information
MC220282, Plan For Change, Published date: Aug 12, 2020
Major update: Announcement Applies To: null
We shared last year that Microsoft is enabling individuals and teams to purchase select services directly. Today we are announcing that self-service purchasing capabilities are coming soon for Microsoft Project and Microsoft Visio products. Individuals worldwide (excluding India) will be able to acquire a subscription for these products as early as September 15, 2020:
- Visio Plan 1 and Visio Plan 2
- Project Plan 1 and Project Plan 3
Note: This change will not impact any existing settings you may have in place to manage self-service purchasing. Additionally, self-service purchase capabilities are not available for customers who are eligible for Government or Education offers.
How this affects you: As an administrator, if you prefer to limit these capabilities, you can do so on a per-product basis. Project and Visio are available for control starting today via PowerShell. You can also take control of any of your user’s self-service purchases, allowing you to move them from a self-service purchase to another license or to cancel their subscriptions completely. Additionally, we’ve released the ability for users who are prevented from making their own purchases to make a request for a license or for you as an admin to point users to an existing license request process. These features will give you the ability to control how users acquire software within your organization.
For additional information on controlling self-service purchase, see AllowSelfServicePurchase for the MSCommerce PowerShell module.
For questions about self-service purchase, including how it may impact your organization, please refer to the self-service purchase FAQ.
Click here for more information
MC220283, Plan For Change, Published date: Aug 12, 2020
Major update: Announcement Applies To: null
Effective immediately, we have retired support for organizations to audit Sway activities via the Microsoft 365 admin center. We apologize for the delayed notice and are working to ensure we provide timely guidance in the future.
Key Points:
- Major: Retirement
- Timing: Immediately
- Action: review and assess
How this will affect your organization: You are receiving this message because our reporting indicates your organization is using Sway.
Administrators will no longer be able to audit Sway activities via the admin center with this change.
Click here for more information
MC220295, Stay Informed, Published date: Aug 13, 2020
We are pleased to launch the Lists app in Microsoft Teams for all Teams clients. This feature is related to Microsoft 365 Lists which is accessible via Lists home (MC218031, July 7, 2020).
Key points
- Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 64162
- Timing: early September and complete by mid-October 2020
- Roll-out: tenant level
- Control type: Teams admin control
- Action: Review and assess
How this will affect your organization The Lists app in Microsoft Teams brings lists in team SharePoint sites into the collaboration and teamwork canvas of channels and facilitates conversations around list items. With this app, end users can work on their favorite lists from within Teams.
Click here for more information
MC220376, Plan For Change, Published date: Aug 14, 2020
We are notifying you of an upcoming change to the Microsoft 365 app launcher when using Dynamics 365 legacy web client apps. When selecting the Microsoft 365 app launcher icon from the Dynamics 365 legacy web client, the list of apps will not appear in a drop-down pane. Instead, users will be redirected to Office.com in a new browser tab.
How does this affect me? Starting August 28, 2020, users will be redirected to Office.com in a new browser tab after selecting the Microsoft 365 app launcher from the Dynamics 365 legacy web client. This deployment will take place during your scheduled maintenance window. To find out more information regarding maintenance timelines, please visit this page.
This redirection does not impact those using applications through the Unified Interface. If you have any questions about the upcoming change or how to enable the Unified Interface, please contact Microsoft Support.