This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.
Another busy week for cloud services at Microsoft. Here are the news items the team at AzUpdate are covering this week: New Priority Account capabilities now available in Microsoft 365, Azure Bastion and VNet peering can be used together, New integrations between GitHub and Azure Policy allow for better manage policy definitions and assignments, New constrained vCPUs capable VMs now available and of course the Microsoft Learn module of the week.
New Priority Account capabilities now available in Microsoft 365
Executives, leaders, managers, and other personnel are considered priority accounts for IT requiring added effort to ensure uptime and confirmation of service. To address this need, Microsoft has introduced capabilities in Microsoft 365 enabling an admin to tag specific users as priority accounts and then leverage app-specific features designed for them. These 2 capabilities include:
Priority account protection:Microsoft Defender for Office 365 now supports priority accounts as system tags that can be used in filters in alerts, reports, and investigations.
Premium mail flow monitoring: Mail flow for priority accounts can now be assigned a threshold for failed or delayed emails, receive alerts when that threshold is exceeded, and view a report of email issues for priority accounts.
Azure Bastion and VNet peering can now be used together
Azure Bastion no longer needs to be deployed in each peered VNet when VNet peering is configured. The Azure Bastion host can now be used to connect to VMs deployed in a peered VNet without deploying an additional Bastion host so long as it is configured in one virtual network (VNet). Added information regarding this offering can be reviewed here: VNet peering and Azure Bastion (Preview)
Azure Policy as Code via GitHub
Azure Policy as code enables the ability to manage the lifecycle of definitions and assignments in a repeatable and controlled manner. New integrations between GitHub and Azure Policy allow the ability to better manage policy definitions and assignments as code. The integration begins with the ability to export policy definitions and assignments from the Azure Portal to GitHub repositories. The export definition button, available in the definitions view, allow the ability to select your GitHub repository, branch, directory then enable the ability to select the policy definitions and assignments to export to GitHub. More information can be viewed here: Using GitHub for Azure Policy as Code
New constrained vCPUs capable VMs now available
Microsoft now offers the Esv4, Edsv4, and Easv4 memory optimized Azure VMs as new constrained vCPU VM sizes. Organizations can now take advantage of next generation Azure Virtual Machines for workloads requiring high memory, storage, and I/O bandwidth, but not a high vCPU count. Further details as to the entire list offered can be found here: Constrained vCPU capable VM sizes
Community Events
Festive Tech Calendar – New content from different communities and people around the globe for the month of December
All Around Azure: Beginner Guide to AI – First event in a series specifically focused on AI technologies such as Azure Cognitive Services, Azure Cognitive Search, Conversational AI and Azure Machine Learning Designer
Introduction to Cloud Adoption Framework – Sarah Lean investigates Microsoft’s Cloud Adoption Framework offering and what is available for organizations to take advantage of
MS Learn Module of the Week
AZ-104: Configure and manage virtual networks for Azure administrators
Preparing for your AZ-10: Microsoft Azure Administrator Exam? This learning path share details on configuration and management of Azure network capabilities like connectivity services, application protection, application delivery, and network monitoring services. This learning path can be completed here: AZ-104: Configure and manage virtual networks for Azure administrators
Our team always appreciates your input on the Microsoft services news we share. Let us know in the comments below if there are any news items you would like to see covered in next week show. Az Update streams live every Friday so be sure to catch the next episode and join us in the live chat.
This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.
Listening to the challenges many of our customers are facing with increasingly working online, we’ve developed new capabilities in Dynamics 365 to discover email messages, meetings, and phone call activities related to an opportunity, and then to factor these signals into the score.
Capturing activities to determine opportunity health
A healthy opportunity will usually have activities happening in it like email messages, meetings, and phone calls. Many of our predictive opportunity scoring customers were gathering these signals manually to determine opportunity health. We’ve replaced the need for customers to manually track activities by using AI to gather activities, approving prediction accuracy and compensating for cases where sellers do not diligently update the opportunity fields.
There is additional value in activities they provide actionable explanations for opportunity scoring predictions. It can help the seller make more educated choices about what the best next action might be for example, a high level of activity may indicate that the opportunity is heating up and is worth attention. Likewise, an opportunity with where the activity level is low may need immediate attention.
Here’s an example showing the opportunity score improving:
Here’s an example showing the opportunity score declining:
Connecting opportunities with activities
In addition to activities that are explicitly connected to opportunities, we developed algorithms to infer indirect connections between activities and opportunities, using Contact and Account activity timelines. Since these are not trivial connections (for example, an account may have multiple opportunities), AI is assigning them appropriate predictive weights.
How the predictive opportunity scoring model is trained
First, we make sure, automatically, that the data we have is meaningful and contributing to the prediction. Then we look at each recent activity level of every opportunity and try and find a correlation between this signal and the likelihood of winning the opportunity.
After the model is trained, we can view the open opportunities in the system and give them a score based on past examples. What the AI does is learn how recent activity level affects the likelihood to win an opportunity in your organization.
What Clover Imaging Group has to say about predictive opportunity scoring
“The predictive opportunity scoring model in Dynamics 365 Sales offered sales leaders at Clover Imaging Group valuable machine learning into what has traditionally been a manual process. With the predictive opportunity scoring model implemented, sellers were able to more effectively prioritize their opportunities based on metrics that are unique to our industry and organization. Beyond that, the predictive opportunity scoring model also gave detailed explanations as to why an opportunity was scored as it was, and what needs to be done to achieve a higher success probability. Plus, the Microsoft support and development team took the time to understand the nuances of our business, which allowed the model to pick up and evaluate the metrics most important to us.”
Next steps and continued learning
We encourage you to explore predictive opportunity scoring in Dynamics 365 Sales to see how it can help your sales team to prioritize work more effectively.
To understand the full capabilities of Dynamics 365 Sales and the value they bring to Dynamics 365 customers, visit Dynamics 365 Sales. To get started with activity suggestion, visit Overview of Dynamics 365 Sales. you’re using contact capture and have feedback, questions, or new needs, contact us at D365AISales@microsoft.com.
This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.
New apps and features in Microsoft 365 for individuals and families this fall
By Gareth Oystryk, Director of Product Marketing, Microsoft 365
Since we introduced Microsoft 365 to individuals and families earlier this year, we have continued to deliver new innovations across our apps and services to help you and your family save time and stay connected. See what’s new below.
Locate your loved ones and build better driving habits with Microsoft Family Safety
Stay connected even when you’re apart with the Microsoft Family Safety app. Share your location with loved ones, spot them on a map, and save places they visit the most, all with a free Microsoft account. With a Microsoft 365 Family subscription, you also get alerted when your family members arrive or depart from a specific location.1 Plus, get insights on how your family is doing on the road, including how many times the driver uses their phone, their top speed, and even the number of times they brake hard. Location alerts are available to Microsoft 365 Family subscribers on Android and iOS worldwide, except for Japan, China, and countries where right-to-left languages are used. Drive safety reports and driver history are available to Microsoft 365 Family subscribers in the US, Canada, UK, and Australia on Android and iOS.
Get a more holistic view of your spending in Money in Excel
Money in Excel now pulls up to two years of transaction history to get a better picture of your spending habits, a big increase from the three months of transaction history it launched with. Plus, Money in Excel now supports multiple credentials per financial institution so you and your partner can get a unified view of your accounts. Available now to Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscribers in the US in Excel for Windows, macOS, and web.
Get started quickly with new templates for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
Over the last couple of months, we’ve published over 30 premium templates for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint that help you get started faster and look your best. Check out the Family Budget Planner template, the Mood Board template for your next creative project, and the Emergency Contacts template, a must-have for every home. Available now to Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscribers in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for web, Windows, and macOS.4
Stay in your flow with Your Phone app and Link to Windows on Galaxy phones
In August, Microsoft and Samsung announced new experiences that will help you stay productive wherever you are. Today, we’re rolling out a new multi-app5 experience in Your Phone app, so you can run multiple Android mobile apps side by side on your Windows 10 PC. Apps will launch in separate windows enabling you to interact with multiple apps at the same time even if Your Phone app is not open. Pin your apps to Favorites, Windows 10 taskbar, or Start menu for quick and easy access. And moreover, you can now search for your previously pinned apps via Windows search from within your Start app list.
Whether you are staying connected with family and friends, keeping up on your social feed, or ordering food, you can do it all simultaneously from the comfort of your PC, with no need to install apps or sign-in again. The Your Phone multi-apps experience is now rolling out to supported Samsung devices. Learn more here.
Sync Samsung Notes and Reminders on Galaxy phones with Outlook, OneNote, and To Do
Also rolling out, Samsung Notes can automatically sync with your OneNote feed in Outlook on the web. And Samsung Reminders can automatically sync to Microsoft To Do, Outlook, and Microsoft Teams. Now you can take notes or set reminders while on the go with your Samsung Galaxy phone, and then access them on your Windows 10 PC when you return home. Samsung Note sync to OneNote feed in Outlook on the web is available now for Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscribers and to anyone with a Microsoft account by the end of this year. Learn more about this experience on Samsung.com.
Easily share your photos and files with OneDrive family and group sharing
OneDrive has always made it easy to share docs, photos, videos, albums, and folders. But until now, sharing to a group of people meant typing in the names of all the people you wanted to share with. Last month, we simplified the process with one-click sharing to family and groups. Once you predefine your family or friend group, you’ll be able to share a photo, album, or important document to your group with one click. Family and group sharing is available in OneDrive for web to anyone with a free Microsoft account.
Formal or casual? Specify your writing goals in Microsoft Editor
Now you can choose the level of formality you would like Microsoft Editor to consider when providing relevant critiques for your writing. You can choose between “formal,” “professional”, or “casual” styles to help ensure your writing hits the right tone. This experience is rolling out now to Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscribers in Word for web. Writing goals is currently only available for English language users; however, it will support additional languages in Word for web in the coming weeks.6 For languages outside of English, you can choose between two goals: “formal” or “casual.”
Focus on your conversation instead of your notes with Transcribe in Word for web
Whether you’re interviewing a family member to chronicle your family’s history, running a virtual parent-teacher association meeting, or “attending” a college lecture via any major video conferencing platform, you want to focus on the conversation without worrying about taking notes. Now you can record your conversations directly in Word for the web and transcribe them automatically. Transcribe detects different speakers so after you finish recording, you can easily follow the flow of the transcript. Available now to Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscribers in Word for web. Currently only available for English language users using Microsoft Edge or Chrome web browsers.
Survey or quiz your friends and family with Microsoft Forms
In October, we made Microsoft Forms available for personal use. With easy-to-use tools and clear design suggestions, you can gather input and make plans for a variety of activities—survey your neighborhood friends for a weekly running time, coordinate your virtual holiday gathering with family, or even host a virtual trivia night with friends from any location. Available now for web and within the Office mobile app for anyone with a Microsoft account. Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscribers can poll an expanded number of respondents and get access to more templates.
1Requires location alerts to be enabled and active. 2This feature is currently available in preview only in the US and Canada and is currently available only in chats with three or more participants. Standard SMS data charges apply. 3To help ensure the privacy of our users, this feature will only work if you are already sharing your location with the person setting up a location alert for you. Additionally, anytime someone sets up a location alert on you, Teams will notify you. To disable this feature, you can simply stop sharing your location. 4Premium templates are available in the following languages: Chinese (simplified), Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese (Brazilian), Russian, and Spanish. 5Users must link their Galaxy device to their Windows PC through ‘Link to Windows’ on phone and Your Phone app on PC, follow the set-up prompts, including being signed into same Microsoft account. Link to Windows is preloaded on select Galaxy devices. Your Phone requires latest Windows 10 Update on the PC. For Apps experience, Galaxy device must be on and connected to the same Wi-Fi network as the PC. Some mobile apps may restrict content to be shared on other screens or may require a touch screen to be able to interact with them. Ability to run multiple apps simultaneously is rolling out to select Samsung Galaxy devices running Android 11 and requires Windows 10 May 2020 Update or later. 6Writing goals in Microsoft Editor will support the following languages in the coming months: Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese (Brazilian), Portuguese (European), Russian, and Spanish.
Brought to you by Dr. Ware, Microsoft Office 365 Silver Partner, Charleston SC.
This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.
In Microsoft Information Protection (MIP) SDK version 1.7, changes were made to support a new label metadata storage location for Office files – Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. For your applications and services to continue reading and writing MIP sensitivity labels for Office file types, it’s critical that you update to MIP SDK version 1.7. Applications running older versions will not be capable of reading the updated metadata format.
Metadata Storage
Historically, MIP SDK, the Office native labeling experience, and Azure Information Protection client have written MIP label metadata in a custom XML part. As customers enable features that require the new storage location, all MIP-enlightened applications and services will migrate this metadata to a new storage location upon save. New files will have the metadata written to the new location only.
Updates to the Office file formats are detailed in the protocol documentation listed below.
Start updating your applications and services to MIP SDK 1.7 today. Without this update your customers and partners will be unable to take advantage of future experiences and features that may depend on this updated storage location.
This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.
In Microsoft Information Protection (MIP) SDK version 1.7, changes were made to support a new label metadata storage location for Office files – Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. For your applications and services to continue reading and writing MIP sensitivity labels for Office file types, it’s critical that you update to MIP SDK version 1.7. Applications running older versions will not be capable of reading the updated metadata format.
Metadata Storage
Historically, MIP SDK, the Office native labeling experience, and Azure Information Protection client have written MIP label metadata in a custom XML part. As customers enable features that require the new storage location, all MIP-enlightened applications and services will migrate this metadata to a new storage location upon save. New files will have the metadata written to the new location only.
Updates to the Office file formats are detailed in the protocol documentation listed below.
Start updating your applications and services to MIP SDK 1.7 today. Without this update your customers and partners will be unable to take advantage of future experiences and features that may depend on this updated storage location.
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