You can’t talk about workplace productivity, security, and workplace protocols without discussing Microsoft and its products. The tech giant continues to dominate this space, and last week they held their Build 2022 conference to discuss all of their latest updates with clients globally. (Due to ongoing COVID concerns in many parts of the world, the conference was held virtually.)
Microsoft Teams

The biggest announcements from Microsoft included:

  • Previews for Loop components across Teams chats and Outlook emails
  • Collaboration controls in Power Apps

During Microsoft’s latest quarterly earnings call, CEO Satya Nadella discussed the ongoing relevance of Teams for remote workforces. “Teams is the most used and the most advanced platform for work and the only solution with meetings, calls, chat, collaboration, and business process automation,” Nadella said. “And organizations – from enterprises to SMBs – are relying on Teams to run their business. Our comprehensive approach reduces complexity and costs. Microsoft 365 customers can save as much as 60 percent compared to a patchwork of single-point identity, productivity, collaboration, and meeting solutions.”

Build 2022 Announcements

Here are the most significant announcements from the conference:

  • Microsoft Loop Updates: A private developer preview will be launched in June to create Loop components with adaptive cards. Participants can copy and paste adaptive card-based Loop components across Teams chat and Outlook emails. Microsoft originally introduced the Loop application at Ignite 2021.
  • Live Share In Teams: Microsoft introduced a preview for new Teams software development kit (SDK) extensions for developers to create and integrate “live share” capabilities into applications. Live share lets participants annotate, edit, zoom in, zoom out and interact with content shared in a Teams meeting window.
  • Teams Link Expansion: Later this summer, Teams will preview the ability to unfurl link previews – even when applications aren’t installed or when a link shared in Teams isn’t associated with a Teams app. Developers will eventually have the ability to add structured schema.org metadata and tag actions on their website for actionable Teams previews.
  • Preview of Embedding Tools: Another preview coming in the coming months involves collaboration controls in Microsoft Power Apps. Developers will be able to embed chat, meetings, tasks, files, approvals, and other Microsoft 365 and Teams collaboration capabilities into Power Apps with low code tools and drag-and-drop.
  • Microsoft Graph APIs Preview: Build 2022 presented also unveiled a preview for Microsoft Graph APIs, which gives Teams developers the capability to use Microsoft Graph APIs to embed Teams chat and channel features into applications. This can be done without switching between multiple tools.
  • Azure Communication Services Sample App Builder Access: An Azure Communication Services sample app builder can be accessed by developers on GitHub. It will allow developers to build and deploy sample applications for virtual visits in minutes without coding. They can utilize Microsoft Bookings for scheduling and Microsoft Graph and Azure Communication Services UI library for customizable communications experiences. The app builder is fully open source.
  • Teams App Store: New license management capabilities will be previewed this summer in the Teams App Store for users to assign and track licenses within the collaboration application and upgrade from free to paid subscriptions within Teams. In April, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella reported that there are more than 1,000 third-party applications in the Teams App Store.
  • Expanded Teams Partnerships: In July, Microsoft will roll out a Bosch Cognitive Service Maintenance app into the Teams App Store. Teams will be used to collaborate with other departments on procurement and other actions.
  • Figma Teams app: Available in the summer, users will be able to share, present and collaborate on a collaborative design platform files.
  • Mural app: This app will provide users a shared collaboration space for asynchronous visual collaboration via hundreds of provided templates.

Also coming soon to Microsoft Teams is a ServiceDesk Plus Cloud enhancement to permit users working on tickets to receive the latest updates and trigger service desk tasks without navigating between tabs.

Many business owners have Teams employed at their organizations but may not understand how the latest updates will affect them. Call the experts to get the most out of your Microsoft Teams licenses.

Alliance IT is a Sarasota-based managed services firm helping local businesses to make sense of the tools available to them.