Each month Microsoft roll out updates across their products including Teams, Outlook, Word and so on. You could spend time looking through all the updates on the Microsoft roadmap. But to make it easier for you, we put together our top features to look out for each month.
December 2024
Viva Engage (Prev. Yammer) | Verified Answers
Certain users, such as experts and admins, will be able to mark answers to questions as verified answers. Questions with verified answers will get a verified label and badge at the top of the question and on the verified answer. The goal of verified answers is to help enhance the trust and utility of knowledge in Viva Engage.
Forms/Teams | Forms Replaced by Polls in Meetings
The new Polls app will soon replace the Forms app in Teams meetings. This will provide more options for polls within meetings. The Forms app will continue to support surveys only.
Microsoft Teams | Take Control During Screensharing on Web
This update enables meeting participants using the Microsoft Teams web app to use the “Take control” function to request control while another person is screen-sharing.
Microsoft Teams Premium/Copilot | Intelligent Recap for Ad-hoc Meetings
Intelligent recap will be available for ad-hoc meetings and calls, for example, those started from ‘Meet now’ or chat. Teams Premium and Copilot for Microsoft 365 licensed users will be able to browse the recording by speakers and topics, as well as access AI-generated notes, AI-generated tasks, and name mentions after the ad-hoc meeting ends.
November 2024
Microsoft Teams | Name Pronunciation
You will be able to record and share the correct pronunciation of your name, promoting inclusivity and helping colleagues avoid mispronunciations. With a click, you can play and listen to your colleagues’ name pronunciations.
Outlook | Sort By Flagged
Support is being added to allow you to sort by flag status, flag due date and flag start date.
Microsoft Teams | Brand Impersonation Protection
Teams will get support to identify if an external user is impersonating a brand commonly targeted by phishing attacks, during their initial contact with an enterprise user via Teams messages.
Microsoft Copilot | Schedule Prompts
You’ll be able to plan ahead by scheduling essential prompts for repeated tasks in Copilot chat. Create a productive routine that helps you stay organised and efficient.
October 2024
Microsoft Teams | All Teams and Channels View
A new ‘your teams and channels’ view provides you with a centralised hub where you can see all your teams and navigate to their channels from one page. This interface streamlines your workflows, enabling you to quickly access and manage your teams and channels.
Microsoft Teams | Skin Tone Settings for Reactions
In Teams settings, you will have the option to select your preferred skin tone. This preference will be applied to all emojis and reactions in chats, channels, and meetings.
Outlook: Work Hours and Location in My Day
Work Hours and Location information will now be available in My Day pane in Outlook when using agenda view. You will be able to update your Work Hours and Location information from My Day and also see who is coming to Office. This feature will be available in the new Outlook for Windows and web.
September 2024
Microsoft Teams | Q&A App Updates
Take your meeting Q&A to the next level with this new update that lets attendees vote on the questions they want presenters to answer. Organisers will be able to sort questions by most voted, as well as filtering and archiving questions to keep the discussion focused in meetings and events.
OneDrive | Improved Search
OneDrive for web is getting a new and improved search functionality. With this update, you’ll see new filters for different file types, ensuring you can pinpoint exactly what you’re looking for. With the date filter, you’ll be able to narrow down your search results to find files created or modified within a specific timeframe.
Microsoft Edge | Auto-discarding Sleeping Tabs
Tabs that have been sleeping for a long time will be discarded to save memory. When you navigate back to a discarded tab, the tab will need to be reloaded.
Copilot for Microsoft 365 | Image Generation in Copilot Chat
You’ll be able to create images using natural language to visualise concepts and ideas within Copilot Chat in Microsoft Teams.
August 2024
Microsoft Teams | Rename General Channel
You will soon (finally🙏) be able to rename the general channel in your teams. The general channel will be able to be renamed by the team owner, or member (if they have permissions), and will show up in the teams and channels list in alphabetical order.
Microsoft Teams | Export Q&A Questions
Event organisers will be able to export questions that attendees asked in a meeting or event as a .CSV file.
Microsoft Edge | Highlighting in Workspaces
Workspaces is getting enhanced collaboration with synchronized highlighting.
July 2024
Microsoft Clipchamp | Brand Kit
Brand kit enables anyone to create and share brand asset collections including colours, fonts, and logos to easily apply while creating. This release adds support for images, backgrounds, stickers, video, and audio asset types. Your official assets can now be rolled out tenant-wide via SharePoint Organization Asset Libraries (OAL).
Bonus: Clipchamp are also releasing an image background removal feature this month.
Microsoft Teams | Files Tab Renamed
The Files tab in chats will be renamed to ‘Shared’. The shared tab shows all the files and links that were sent in the chat. Channels are not affected by this change.
New Outlook | New RSVP Settings
New Outlook and Outlook on the web are getting two new RSVP options to respond to meeting invites: (1) do not delete invitation email after RSVPing and (2) auto-decline if the attendee’s calendar shows as busy.
And for those with a Copilot Licence:
Automatic Summary of Word Documents
When you open a document, Copilot will generate a summary in the Word window. You can hide the summary or open the Copilot chat pane to ask specific questions about the document.
June 2024
Microsoft Teams | Custom Emojis and Reactions
You will be able to upload your own custom emojis and reactions to personalise your communications within Teams. Emojis will be available within your tenant in chat and channels via the emoji and reaction menus.
Microsoft Edge | AI Theme Generator
Edge is getting an AI theme generator that lets you input a text prompt to generate images to use as browser themes. Applying the theme includes setting the generated image as the ‘new tab’ page, and applying the image’s dominant colour to the browser frame.
Viva Engage | Domain/URL Update
Following on from the transition of Yammer to Viva Engage, Microsoft are due to update the domain/URL this month.
May 2024
Microsoft Clipchamp | Silence Removal
Silence removal uses AI auto transcription to transcribe your audio. It then finds pauses in your speech transcription and any gaps detected longer than 3 seconds is considered a pause. You’ll have the option to remove all pauses at once or to review each pause.
Bonus Clipchamp feature: the Clipchamp desktop app will soon support work accounts!
Microsoft Edge | Auto-discarding Sleeping Tabs
Tabs that have been sleeping for a long time will be discarded to save memory. When you reopen a discarded tab, the tab will need to be reloaded.
OneDrive | Annotate PDFs with Text
This feature allows you to annotate and save PDF files with text boxes if the files are stored in OneDrive and SharePoint. You can access the annotation feature by opening the PDF in file viewer and selecting “edit”.
April 2024
Microsoft Edge | Custom Branding in Edge for Business
Admins will be able to customise their organisation’s branding assets on Edge for Business. You’ll be able to add details such as; name, logo, and brand colour to the profile flyout; and logo to overlay the Edge for Business taskbar icon. This branding can help users differentiate between multiple profiles and browser windows. This applies to profiles signed in with an Entra ID (formerly known as Azure Active Directory) account.
Microsoft Edge | SpeedTest Added to Sidebar
The SpeedTest app used to test your internet connection is being added under tools in the Edge Sidebar.
Microsoft Teams | Meeting Content Automatically Shared Post Meeting
Shortly after a meeting ends, meeting participants will automatically get a set of all the content from the meeting in the meeting chat. This includes a quick entry point to the meeting recap page, the transcript, the recording, Collaborative notes, any files that were shared, a link to any Whiteboard that was used, and the meeting details.
March 2024
Microsoft Teams | Voice Isolation
Voice isolation uses AI to filter out all background noise, including other people’s voices, when you’re in a Teams meeting. By leveraging your voice profile, this advanced noise suppression ensures only the user’s voice is transmitted. Whether you are in a busy office, a noisy café, or a crowded airport, you can communicate with confidence and clarity.
Microsoft Edge | Extension Requests and Feedback
The Microsoft Edge management service will provide admins and end users with an enhanced extensions management experience. End users can request access to blocked extensions, and admins can view these requests in the Microsoft Edge management service. Admins can also optionally choose to receive email notifications for these requests to inform them promptly of any new feedback.
Microsoft Clipchamp | Silence Removal (Pauses)
Silence removal uses AI auto transcription to transcribe your audio. It finds pauses in your speech transcription and any gaps in the speech detected for more than 3 seconds is considered a pause. You will be provided with the option to remove all pauses at once with a single click or to review each pause where you can adjust and consider ones you want to keep.
February 2024
Microsoft Teams | Archive Channels
Archive channels in Teams. At the moment you can only delete or hide channels. Archiving means you still preserve the channel content, including messages and files, and it’s removed from your active channels listing. It can also be restored if needed. The difference between archiving and hiding is that achieved channels won’t allow new activity.
Microsoft Teams | Hide the General Channel
When you create a new Team you always get a general channel that can’t be deleted. You’ll soon be able to hide this to keep focus on the channels you have created.
OneDrive | Offline Mode
You’ll be able to launch OneDrive in your browser, make edits to files such as move, delete or copy, without internet access. All changes will be synced when you’re next connected to the internet.
January 2024
Microsoft Teams | Immersive Spaces
Immersive spaces in Teams makes it easier for Teams users to transform meetings into a 3D experience. With just one click, you can connect with your team in a pre-built immersive space right from the view menu in Teams meetings.
Watch our video on Immersive Spaces
Outlook | Offline Support (New Outlook for Windows and Web)
This is the first set of offline capabilities in the new Outlook for Windows. Mail, calendar events, and contacts will be stored on your device, so you can view them even when you’re not connected to the internet. Additionally, you can perform key actions on your mail, including flag, move, and delete, and compose messages, to stay productive even when you’re not connected to the internet.
Microsoft Teams | Audio and Video Flyout in Meetings
The Audio and Video Flyout is designed to make it easier and more efficient for you to manage their audio and video settings during Teams meetings. You’ll be able to easily toggle features on and off with visual indicators for both audio and video settings, eliminating the need to navigate deep into the settings menu to make adjustments.
