Welcome to your monthly round-up of all the latest features and updates from Microsoft Teams and SharePoint. This month we bring you a calling app update for Teams, a keyboard shortcut to unmute, a List app for iOS, offline access to SharePoint lists, SharePoint page analytics, and more.
What’s New in Teams
Meetings
Press to Unmute
You can now use a shortcut to unmute by holding down the Ctrl+Space keys (Windows) or Option+Space keys (macOS), then release the keys to go back to muted state again. This feature is on by default and helps prevent any unwanted distractions. To disable, go to your Teams Settings > Privacy section and uncheck the Keyboard shortcut to unmute.
Custom background on web
Previously only available on desktops, custom backgrounds are now available to web users. You can blur your background or select from Microsoft-provided backgrounds during your video meeting or call, making your meetings more fun and personal.
An important note blurring or replacing your background may not prevent sensitive information from being visible to other people in the meeting.
Music mode for Teams
High-fidelity music mode enables Microsoft Teams users to experience richer sound experiences when sharing non-speech. High-fidelity mode enables significantly improved audio quality in Teams calls and meetings. The optimised experience in Teams applies to signals captured by microphones as well as audio played while sharing an application or desktop.
Mirror my video
You no longer have to see the text in your video flipped. Imagine a primary school teacher with a small whiteboard in hand, or you have a virtual background with text in it. While the meeting audience sees the text correctly, you see the text flipped. By providing you with the option to un-mirror, you will be able to see the text correctly.
Simply go to your Device Settings and toggle off Mirror my video.
Devices
Calling app update for Teams Rooms on Windows
Making a call from Teams Rooms is now updated with a new Teams calling app.
All peer-to-peer calling and group calling functionality that was previously under the “New meeting” button are now under “Call.” Using the Teams Rooms console, “Call” lets you dial a number using a dial-pad where a calling plan or direct routing is configured for the room account, as well as access a search bar for peer-to-peer Teams calls, and group Teams calls. Enter the Session Initiation Protocol Uniform Resource Identifiers (SIP URI) which is available for modes with Skype for Business.
This update is only applicable if the Teams Rooms is running in Microsoft Teams only, or Skype for Business and, Microsoft Teams (default) modes.
Management
Teams Meeting Recordings – Automatic Expiration
To help admins more easily manage storage, we’re introducing a policy that will automatically send new Teams recordings to the recycle bin after 60 days. Admins can change the default expiration setting in PowerShell.
Changing expiration settings only will affect newly created TMRs from that point forward. Additionally, end-users can modify the expiration date on individual files they own. This will be rolled out in the next few weeks.
What’s New in SharePoint
SharePoint: Auto-News Digest
SharePoint Auto-News Digest sends an automated email to employees in your company about the latest News posts that they haven’t read yet.
Using Microsoft intelligence, a curated selection of News posts are shared with employees through an email that comes directly from SharePoint. This is a great way for employees to catch up on News that they may have otherwise missed. Only published news posts are sent in the digest, and employees will have access to all the news posts that they are sent so rest assured that employees won’t see news that they don’t have permission to see. If employees want to opt out of receiving the Auto-News Digest, they simply click the unsubscribe button at the bottom of the email.
Microsoft Lists: mobile app (iOS) – built on SharePoint
Access all lists you own, you have created, or that have been shared with you – all on the go. Now you don’t need to be chained to your MacBook to access your Lists. This update also means you will be able to create new lists, edit list items and easily share with other people, wherever you are.
The Lists app will first come to iOS and Android shortly after.
Microsoft Lists: offline mode
Similar to accessing files offline, people will soon have the ability to take Microsoft Lists offline.
Meaning you can work with vital information in scenarios where you may have low-to-no internet access.
SharePoint admin centre: site creation source
SharePoint admins will now be able to see where sites were created from – be it PowerShell, via the SharePoint admin centre, from Teams, from SharePoint “Create site” – and to be able to see more clearly who created the site.
SharePoint: Page Analytics
View rich page analytics on SharePoint Pages, including page views, page viewers, and page traffic.
With page analytics, you can view information about how users interact with your page or news post. For example, you can view the number of people who have viewed the page over time, average time spent on the page spent per user, and page traffic by time.
If you are a page owner or member of the site where the page resides, you can view analytics for your page or news post by selecting Analytics at the top of the page.
Visitors of the site can view analytics by selecting Views at the bottom of the page.
We hope this new feature breakdown was useful, and you can utilise some of the above features to improve useability and employee experience. We regularly share tips on how to make the most out of both Microsoft SharePoint and Teams on LinkedIn and Twitter, you can follow us here or you can subscribe to our monthly newsletter to get these tips directly in your inbox.