Microsoft has long been a driver of innovation in the office productivity arena and the latest news announced at 2021’s Microsoft Ignite event has people buzzing about the future.
There were several enhancements to Microsoft 365 highlighted, including an entirely new way to interact in a virtual space inside Teams.
According to Microsoft, Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) has now grown to over 300 million commercial paid seats. It’s a cloud platform that has continued to evolve along with technology, adding on forward-thinking applications like Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Viva.
Have you been on the fence about subscribing to Microsoft 365? Hearing what 2022 is going to look like for those using the platform might convince you to move from on-premises Office software and subscribe to the cloud-based version.
Here are just a few of the many new M365 features announced at Microsoft Ignite 2021 recently.
New Way to Present with a Recording Studio in PowerPoint
Video has become a popular way to sell an idea or a product. PowerPoint is going to make it easy to record and tell the story of your presentation from right inside the program.
You’ll be able to use the recording studio to record video and audio, do retakes, and share your presentation with your audience in new ways.
3D Experience Coming to Microsoft Teams
Video meetings and events have taken on a whole new place in the business and non-business worlds during the pandemic. And that virtual interaction doesn’t look to be going anywhere, as companies realize they can reach a larger client-based by moving past geographical boundaries.
A new virtual reality experience through Mesh is coming to Microsoft Teams in 2022. With the use of VR goggles, participants can meet and interact in a 3D world that feels more real than 2D video and audio meetings.
Mesh for Teams from Microsoft
Meet With More People Using MS Teams
The Microsoft Teams Connect interface in Teams is going to have fewer barriers when it comes to meeting with those outside your organization.
You’ll be able to share channels with individuals and teams outside your company and collaborate in real-time, just like you can with your own team in the app.
Additionally, by the end of 2021, you’ll have the ability to chat with anyone outside your organization with a Teams personal account.
New Photo Editing & Filtering in OneDrive
Sometimes you’d just like to make a photo look a little better without having to ask the one person in your office that knows how to use Photoshop. Quick and easy photo edits are going to be possible next year from within OneDrive (Microsoft 365’s cloud storage and sharing app).
You’ll be able to easily make edits within OneDrive for things like:
- Cropping
- Rotation
- Light, color, contrast, exposure
- Filtering with presets
View OneDrive Files from Your Desktop
OneDrive is going to have Progressive Web App (PWA) capabilities. What this means is that you’ll be able to download a PWA version that allows you to see all your cloud-stored OneDrive files from your desktop instead of having to open up a browser window.
You can open OneDrive in its own window and even set it to open automatically when you boot your device.
New Flexible Canvas App Called Microsoft Loop
Microsoft has been generous with its apps in M365, adding over 24 new apps since its launch over a decade ago. One more new app is coming soon that is going to allow you to use a flexible and collaborative canvas that has portable components that can syn across all M365 applications.
Microsoft Loop has three key pieces that work together to allow you to plan, create, brainstorm, and connect the flow of your work. These are:
- Loop components: Units of productivity that allow users to collaborate and be more productive (e.g., lists, tables, notes, etc.)
- Loop pages: These are canvases where users can embed and organize various Loop components for any type of project.
- Loop workspaces: Collaborative workspaces where teams can share information and track progress towards a goal.
Added Bonus Features in Microsoft Viva Insights
Microsoft Viva is an add-on to Microsoft Teams. Viva Insights helps managers and employees decrease stress, enhance well-being, and monitor progress towards better working habits.
This cloud solution for employee and organizational health in a hybrid working environment will be adding a few premium features in the new year to make it even more powerful.
New features include:
- Tools to help managers become better so they can foster a positive team culture
- An effective meetings experience that helps meeting organizers with personal insights and improvement suggestions for meetings
- Guided meditations from Headspace in additional languages (French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish)
Explore the Full Value of Microsoft 365
Microsoft 365 offers a lot of value that many subscribers aren’t fully exploring. PartnerIT can help your Ontario business make the most of Microsoft 365 and train your team on some of the upcoming features to boost efficiency.
Contact us today to learn more at 519-672-0900 or through our website.
