Orchestrate your WFM solution with Dynamics 365 Customer Service

Orchestrate your WFM solution with Dynamics 365 Customer Service

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

A well-orchestrated workforce is the backbone of any successful customer service endeavor. This requires a systematic and holistic approach to Workforce Management (WFM), taking into account the diverse needs of customers, the fluctuating demands of the market, and the ever-changing nature of business operations.

WFM holds together the intricate machinery of customer support, ensuring operational efficiency and exceptional customer experiences. In a dynamic environment, where seamless interactions are critical, workforce management goes beyond the simple task of staffing and extends to the strategic alignment of resources, skills, and time.

Businesses choose a workforce management solution based on their unique challenges, such as compliance with labor laws. Microsoft understands that customer scenarios vary, and hence offers an open approach to incorporating the right WFM solutions. This gives customers unparalleled flexibility and efficiency in managing their workforce when using Dynamics 365 Customer Service.

WFM adapter from TTEC Digital for Dynamics 365 Customer Service

As a first step, Microsoft has partnered with TTEC Digital to offer an enhanced adapter that connects Dynamics 365 Customer Service with four leading WFM providers: Calabrio, Verint, NICE and Alvaria. The adapter is bidirectional, enabling seamless data transfer between the systems. It offers features such as real-time adherence reporting and historical reporting. Users can forecast demand on supported channels, namely inbound voice, SMS, email, chat and digital messaging, and staff accordingly.

With the enhanced adapter, organizations can use the schedule sync feature to seamlessly import schedules created in the WFM system directly into the agent calendar in Dynamics 365 Customer Service. This functionality empowers agents to conveniently review their daily schedules including breaks, training sessions, and other activities directly in Dynamics 365 Customer Service, eliminating the need to navigate to an external WFM system. This not only boosts individual performance but also contributes to overall team efficiency.

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Currently, Schedule Sync is supported when using the adapter with Calabrio’s WFM system. Microsoft plans to expand support for other WFM providers.

Learn more about the WFM adapter from TTEC and watch a short video demonstration. Also, explore additional information such as pricing and buying options by checking out the TTEC WFM Adapter on Microsoft AppSource.

Connect any third-party WFM with Dynamics 365 Customer Service

The extensible nature of the Dynamics 365 platform gives organizations a publicly consumable Dataverse API. It offers maximum flexibility and customization for connecting WFM solutions with Dynamics 365 Customer Service.

For a detailed understanding including design architecture, entity details, and API specifications, please refer to this guide. Sample codes are available in the GitHub repository to expedite your journey.

What’s next

Microsoft is committed to an open and flexible approach to bringing more WFM adapters to Microsoft AppSource and enhancing the existing adapter from TTEC. Microsoft expects to offer continued API enhancements to support any third-party WFM connections.

Dynamics 365 Customer Service offers a native forecasting capability, currently in public preview. The feature empowers customers to predict both volume and demand for contact centers. We plan to enhance and expand on this capability with additional advancements, providing customers with more powerful tools for forecasting.

Stay tuned as Dynamics 365 Customer Service continues to evolve and deliver cutting-edge capabilities in WFM that anticipate and meet the ever-changing demands of the modern business landscape. Your journey to enhanced workforce management with Dynamics 365 Customer Service has just begun.

Learn more

To learn more about agent forecasting in Dynamics 365 Customer Service, read the documentation: Forecast agent, case, and conversation volumes in Customer Service | Microsoft Learn

The post Orchestrate your WFM solution with Dynamics 365 Customer Service appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.

Brought to you by Dr. Ware, Microsoft Office 365 Silver Partner, Charleston SC.

Practice mode is now available in Microsoft Forms

Practice mode is now available in Microsoft Forms

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

We’re excited to announce that Forms now supports practice mode, enhancing students’ learning process by offering a new way to review, test, and reinforce their knowledge.  Practice mode is only available for quizzes. You can also try out practice mode from this template.


 


Practice modePractice mode


Instant feedback after answering each question
In practice mode, questions will be displayed one at a time. Students will promptly receive feedback after answering each question, indicating whether their answer is right or wrong.


 


Instant feedback after answering each questionInstant feedback after answering each question


Try multiple times for the correct answer
If students provide an incorrect answer, they will be given the opportunity to reconsider and make another attempt until they arrive at the correct one, allowing for immediate re-learning, and consequently strengthening their grasp of specific knowledge.


 


Try multiple times to get the correct answerTry multiple times to get the correct answer


Encouragement and autonomy during practice
Whether students answer a question correctly or not, they will receive an encouraging message, giving them a positive practice experience. And they have the autonomy to learn at their own pace. If they answer a question incorrectly, they can choose to retry, view the correct answer, or skip this question.


 


Encouragement message and other optionsEncouragement message and other options


Recap questions
Once students finish the practice, they can recap all the questions, along with the correct answers, providing a comprehensive overview to help gauge their overall performance.


 


Recap questionsRecap questions


Enter practice mode
Practice mode is only available for quizzes. You can turn it on in the “…” icon in the upper-right corner. Once you distribute the quiz recipients will automatically enter practice mode. Try out practice mode from this template now!


 


Enter practice modeEnter practice mode


 

Knowledge management best practices for Copilot ingestion

Knowledge management best practices for Copilot ingestion

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

Generative AI capabilities are rapidly changing the customer service space. You can use Copilot in Dynamics 365 Customer Service today to help agents save time on case and conversation summarization as these features do not require your organization’s support knowledge. However, before agents can use Copilot to answer questions and draft emails, you need to ensure Copilot is using accurate knowledge content. 

Good knowledge hygiene is key to bringing Copilot capabilities to life. For Copilot to successfully ingest, index, and surface the right knowledge asset, it’s important to ensure each asset meets defined ingestion criteria. Also, preparing knowledge assets for Copilot ingestion is not a finite process. It is essential to keep ingested knowledge assets in sync with upstream sources, and use proper curation and governance practices. 

While every organization has its own unique systems, we aim to provide a general set of best practices for creating and maintaining your Copilot corpus. We’ll cover four main topics here: 

  • Defining the business case 
  • Establishing data quality and compliance standards 
  • Understanding the content lifecycle and integrating feedback 
  • Measuring success

Defining the business case

It is imperative that you look at your organization’s goals holistically to ensure they align with the content you intend to surface. Consult with different roles in each line of business to capture the different types of content they already use or will need. Determine the purpose of each content element to ensure its function and audience are clear. Look at your organization’s common case management workflows that require knowledge to see the greatest impact on productivity. 

You may want to take a phased approach to roll out Copilot capabilities to different parts of your organization. The use case for each line of business will enable you to create a comprehensive plan that will be easier to execute as you include more agents. Administrators can create agent experience profiles to determine which groups of agents can begin using Copilot and when. 

For example, there may be some lines of business that are more adherent to your established content strategy. Consider deploying to these businesses first. This will create an opportunity to observe and account for variables within your businesses which today are under the surface. 

Establishing data quality and compliance standards 

Identify the correct combination of content measures and values before bringing content into your Copilot corpus. Careful preparation at this stage will ensure Copilot surfaces the right content to your agents.  

The following is a general list of must-haves for high-performing knowledge content: 

  • Intuitive title and description 
  • Separate sections with descriptive subheadings  
  • Use plain language and avoid technical jargon 
  • No knowledge asset attachments; convert them into individual knowledge assets 
  • No excessively long knowledge assets; break them into individual knowledge assets 
  • No broken or missing hyperlinks in the content body 
  • Descriptions for any images that appear in knowledge assets; Copilot cannot read text on images 
  • No customer or personal information about employees, vendors, etc. 
  • A review process for authoring, reviewing, and publishing articles 
  • A log of all actions related to ingesting, checking, and removing knowledge assets 

If you’re storing knowledge assets in Dataverse, they should always be the latest version and in Published status.  

Understanding the content lifecycle and integrating feedback

As mentioned above, clearly defined processes for authoring, reviewing, publishing, synchronizing, curating, and governing knowledge assets will help ensure Copilot surfaces responses based on the most recent knowledge assets. Determine which roles in your organization will author knowledge assets and the review process they will use to ensure accuracy.  

After publishing a knowledge asset, determine how your organization will gather feedback to signal when to update or deprecate the asset. Set an expiration date for each asset so you have a checkpoint at which you can determine whether to update or remove it. 

You can use the helpful response rate (HRR) to gather initial agent feedback. HRR is the number of positive (thumbs-up) ratings for each interaction divided by the total ratings (thumbs up + thumbs down). You can correlate this feedback with the knowledge assets Copilot cites in its responses. Gather more detailed feedback by creating a system that enables users to request reviews, report issues, or suggest improvements.

Measuring success 

While knowledge management is an ongoing process, so is its measurement. You’ll want to periodically track usage and performance to ensure Copilot is useful to agents and identify areas for improvement.  

Tracking analytics

First, you can measure the performance of your knowledge content based on the purpose you outlined at the beginning. You can view some metrics directly within your Customer Service environment. To view Copilot analytics, go to Customer Service historical analytics and select the Copilot tab. Here, comprehensive metrics and insights provide a holistic perspective on the value that Copilot adds to your customer service operations. 

You can also build your own Copilot interaction reports to see measurements such as number of page views for each knowledge asset, the age of the asset, and whether the agent used the cited asset. The asset age is based on the date it was ingested by Copilot, so it’s important to ensure publication and ingestion cycles align.

Serving business processes

Some other key metrics that you’ll want to consider will be more closely tied to your organization’s business processes. Some examples include:

  • Number of cases related to a knowledge article 
  • Number of escalations prevented 
  • Time saved when agents access these articles 
  • Costs saved from reduced escalations and troubleshooting time 

Overall, introducing and expanding Copilot capabilities in your CRM is an iterative and ongoing process. Include stakeholders from every role to ensure your organization is using Copilot to help solve the right problems and enhance the agent experience.  

AI solutions built responsibly

Enterprise grade data privacy at its core. Azure OpenAI offers a range of privacy features, including data encryption and secure storage. It allows users to control access to their data and provides detailed auditing and monitoring capabilities. Copilot is built on Azure OpenAI, so enterprises can rest assured that it offers the same level of data privacy and protection.  

Responsible AI by design. We are committed to creating responsible AI by design. Our work is guided by a core set of principles: fairness, reliability and safety, privacy and security, inclusiveness, transparency, and accountability. We are putting those principles into practice across the company to develop and deploy AI that will have a positive impact on society.

Learn more

For more information, read the documentation: Use Copilot to solve customer issues | Microsoft Learn 

The post Knowledge management best practices for Copilot ingestion appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.

Brought to you by Dr. Ware, Microsoft Office 365 Silver Partner, Charleston SC.

Copilot in Microsoft Word – Copilot Snack Show Me How Video

Copilot in Microsoft Word – Copilot Snack Show Me How Video

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

HLS Show Me HowNew.png  “One of the challenges that many employees face in their daily work is creating and managing documents efficiently and effectively. Whether it is writing a report, a proposal, a memo, or a presentation, there are often multiple tasks involved, such as researching, drafting, editing, formatting, and sharing. These tasks can take up a lot of time and energy, especially if the documents are complex, lengthy, or require collaboration with others.


Microsoft 365 Copilot in Microsoft Word is a new feature that aims to help employees streamline their document creation and management process, by providing them with smart and personalized assistance. Copilot in Microsoft Word leverages artificial intelligence and natural language processing to understand the context and intent of the user, and to offer relevant suggestions, insights, and actions. Some of the benefits of using Copilot in Microsoft Word include:


– Document generation: Copilot in Microsoft Word can help users generate high-quality content faster and easier, by suggesting text, images, tables, charts, and other elements based on the topic, style, and tone of the document. Users can also use voice commands to dictate their content, and Copilot in Microsoft Word will transcribe and format it accordingly.


– Document transformation: Copilot in Microsoft Word can help users transform their existing document content by rewriting text, making wholesale changes, transforming text into tables, and more.


– Document queries: Copilot in Microsoft Word can help users find answers to their questions and queries within their documents, by using natural language and semantic search. Users can ask Copilot in Microsoft Word to highlight, summarize, explain, or provide additional information about any term, concept, or data point in their documents, and Copilot in Microsoft Word will display the results in a sidebar or a pop-up window.


– Document management: Copilot in Microsoft Word can help users organize and manage their documents more efficiently and effectively, by suggesting tags, categories, folders, and metadata based on the content and purpose of the document. Users can also use Copilot in Microsoft Word to share, sync, and collaborate on their documents with others, by using Copilot in Microsoft Word’s integration with OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams, and Outlook.” – Microsoft 365 Copilot


In this video I walk you through document generation, document transformation, chatting with Copilot about your document, and creating a summary of your document.


Resources:



Thanks for visiting – Michael Gannotti LinkedIn | Twitter


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What’s New in Microsoft Teams | December 2023

What’s New in Microsoft Teams | December 2023

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

Happy New Year! Welcome to our December 2023 update of What’s New in Microsoft Teams. This month, we are excited to showcase 49 new features and enhancements that will help you collaborate more effectively, streamline your workflow, and stay connected with your team. From the new Microsoft Teams app in VDI to improvements in chats, webinars, town halls, Teams Phone, Teams Devices, Platform, and Frontline Workers, there is something for everyone. Read on to learn more about the latest updates and how they can benefit you and your organization.


 


My personal favorites are custom channel announcement backgrounds, improved search and domain-specific search, and calling shortcuts for Teams Phone. Custom channel backgrounds allow you to generate unique images for your channels using AI removing the need to use external applications to create new images. Improved search within Chat and Channels allows you to quickly find specific threads you are looking for in long conversations or chats and the domain-specific search lets you search for specific file types or a person’s name to quickly narrow your search so you can find exactly what you need. And updated calling shortcuts for Teams Phone give you the ability to perform repetitive tasks quickly while using a Teams Phone.



And every month we highlight new devices that are certified and ready to use for Teams. You can find more devices for all types of spaces and uses at aka.ms/teamsdevices.


 


Please read about all the updates and let me know your thoughts! I’ll do my best to respond and answer questions as they come up.


 


New Teams


Chat and Collaboration


Webinars and Town Halls


Teams Phone


Teams Rooms and Devices


Platform


Collaborative Apps


Frontline Worker Solutions


Virtual Appointments


Teams for Education


 

 



New Teams


New Teams for virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI)
The new Teams app is generally available for VDI customers. You can now experience and enjoy all the benefits of the new Teams app within virtual desktops. The new Teams in VDI has feature parity with classic Teams and offers improved performance, reliability, and security.



The new Teams app will be faster in terms of overall responsiveness, such as launching the app and joining meetings while consuming less memory and disk space than classic Teams in the virtualized environment. The preview version of new Teams was up to two times faster while using 50% less memory.



Moving forward, new features and capabilities as well as enhancements to existing features will be available exclusively in new Teams. We encourage our customers to get started on their new Teams journey in the virtualized environment today.



With the new Teams app, you can use one installer for both desktop and VDI and have the option to update automatically in VDI. Learn more about upgrading to new Teams for VDI.


 


 


Chat and Collaboration


Custom channel announcement background
Channels bring people, content, and tools together to cultivate workplace knowledge, improve teamwork and co-innovate in a single place. Each channel post is as important as the other, so how do you make one stand out? Now you can create a personalized announcement background that harnesses creativity and engages teams in new ways. To create new images, type a description or use the power of AI to generate a personalized background. Creating an image using generative AI is available in Teams Premium and with Microsoft 365 Copilot license.


Custom Channel Announcement backgrounds.gif


 


Loop components in channels
Stay in the flow of your work and keep your content synced with Loop components in channels. Now when you compose a post in a channel, you can easily co-create and collaborate with Loop components like tables, lists, progress tracker and more.


Loop components in channels.png


 


An improved search experience in chat and channels
You can now benefit from an enhanced in-channel and in-chat search experience including a new “find in channel” search button that is integrated into the channel information pane. Search within a specific chat or channel to have the results displayed in the right pane of the screen. In a single view, you will be able to quickly glance at your search results as well as the channel or chat interface, without leaving your flow of work. After selecting a search result, you are taken to that specific message in the channel or chat so you can quickly gain the full context of the message rather than only have the search blurb displayed.


find in chat.png


 


find in channel.png


 


Chat button on missed call activity
Easily get in touch with your contacts after a missed call. A new chat button is now added to your activity feed, enabling you to follow up on a missed call and start a chat with just one click.


 


Files app updated to OneDrive app experience in Teams
The Files app accessed from left side of the Teams desktop client is now updated with the OneDrive app experience, bringing performance improvements, more views, and the latest features of OneDrive to both classic and new Teams. As part of this change, the Files app on left side of the new Teams desktop client is now called the OneDrive app. Learn more about the next generation of OneDrive.


OneDrive app.png


 


Domain-specific search
New domain-specific search filters like “files”, “group chats” or “teams and channels” help you narrow down search results and quickly discover the information you seek. In addition, you can now enter a stakeholder’s name, and with domain-specific search efficiently find shared files and mutual group chats.


Domain-specific search.jpg


Domain-specific search 1.png


 


Copilot in chat and channels conversation history
You can now view your past Copilot conversation history if you use Copilot in Microsoft Teams. Open the Copilot flyout and type in a question. When you close and open the Copilot flyout you will see your previous conversations with Copilot.


 


 

Webinars and Town Halls


New webinar and town hall templates added to Outlook Teams add-in
New meeting templates for webinars and town halls are available in the Teams meeting dropdown menu in the Calendar tab in Outlook with the Teams add-in enabled. This allows organizers to set up webinars and town halls directly within Outlook and these will show up on calendars in both Outlook and Teams apps.


New webinar and town hall templates added to Outlook Teams add-in.png


 


 

Teams Phone


Calling shortcuts for Teams Phone
External keyboard shortcuts help improve the efficiency of repetitive tasks and can be easier to navigate for if you have mobility or vision disabilities. Available now, updated calling shortcuts for Teams Phone help you initiate calls more intuitively while reducing the potential for error.



Windows:
Alt + Shift + A: Initiate an Audio Call
Alt + Shift + V: Start a Video Call



MacOS:
Option + Shift + A: Initiate an Audio Call
Option + Shift + V: Start a Video Call


 


Learn more about keyboard shortcuts for Microsoft Teams.


 


Group chat call confirmation
While the ability to initiate a call with all members of a group chat can be a time-saver when time is critical, the new group chat call confirmation helps reduce the likelihood of placing an accidental call. Learn more about starting a call from a chat.


Group chat call confirmation.png


 


Teams Phone Mobile now available in Norway
Teams Phone Mobile enables you to integrate business mobile calling with Teams for flexible, productive, and secure mobile communications. This solution is now available to customers in Norway via Telia.


Teams phone Mobile Coverage 1.png


 


 

Teams Rooms and Devices


Find devices that are certified for Teams for all types of spaces and uses at aka.ms/teamsdevices.



Enable People Recognition with an intelligent camera
Users will be able to enroll their face and create a face profile using the new enrollment process in the Teams desktop client. The face profile is used for meetings in a Teams Rooms with an intelligent camera capable of People Recognition is deployed, to recognize in-room attendees and label their identity for all meeting participants, both in-room and remote.


 


Automatic updates for the Teams app on Android-based Teams devices
Android-based Teams devices will receive automatic updates of the Teams app without the need for any manual intervention. Administrators can manage the automatic updates by organizing devices into update phases or pausing the rollout temporarily, if needed, from Teams Admin Center.


 


Synced updates for Microsoft Teams Rooms on Android devices and paired consoles
When Microsoft Teams Rooms on Android devices are updated from the Teams Admin Center, their paired consoles will get updated in tandem, ensuring a seamless experience.


 


Manage Microsoft Surface Hub as a Teams Rooms on Windows device
With the transition of Microsoft Surface Hub devices to the Teams Rooms on Windows platform, Admins can now manage Surface Hub devices as Teams Rooms on Windows devices in the Teams Admin Center and Teams Rooms Pro Management (available for Teams Rooms Pro license customers).


 


Enabling People Recognition in a Teams Meeting with a desktop client face enrollment process
You can enroll their face and create a face profile using the new enrollment process in the Teams desktop client. The face profile is used in Teams Rooms meetings where an Intelligent Camera capable of People Recognition is deployed to recognize in-room attendees, and then labels their identity for all meeting participants, both in-room and remote.


 


Teams Phone and Teams Rooms licenses in device store
IT administrators can already browse and purchase Certified for Teams devices in the device store in Teams Admin Center. This update will enable IT admins to try and buy Teams Phone and Teams Rooms licenses from the device store.



Logitech Sight
Sight is a certified for Teams room system accessory that pairs with Logitech Rally Bar or Rally Bar Mini to provide remote participants with a front-and-center view of in-person interactions. Sight ensures a more equitable meeting experience by seamlessly framing and presenting multiple active speakers, dynamically replacing and displaying individuals as they contribute to the conversation around the table. Discover Logitech Sight.


Logitech Sight.png


 


Logi Dock Flex
Specifically designed for hoteling, hot desking, and flex desk environments, newly certified for teams Logi Dock Flex brings together the reservation and booking experience that users are already familiar with from booking meeting rooms, combined with a simple plug-and-play docking experience. Users simply book their desk with Outlook, Microsoft Teams or ad hoc, find their desk, plug in, and get right to work. In addition, Logi Dock Flex can be easily managed through Teams Admin Center and Logitech Sync.



Learn more about the Logi Dock Flex by Logitech.


Logi Dock Flex.png


 


Neat Board 50 for Microsoft Teams
Neat Board 50, certified for Teams, is a powerful, pioneering all-in-one 50-inch touchscreen video device that’s easy to install, set up and use. Designed for the flexible future of work, it adapts to whenever, wherever and in whatever way you need to meet or express your ideas on Microsoft Teams in today’s modern workspaces. For greater freedom and accessibility, you can pair it with a unique adaptive stand, which lets you quickly move the device from space to space and adjust the screen up or down for optimal use and viewing. At the same time, the included pressure-sensitive Neat Active Marker allows you to enjoy more natural, friction-free whiteboarding. Discover the cutting-edge capabilities of Neat Board 50.


Neat Board 50.png


 


Nureva HDL410 system
Certified for Teams Rooms on Windows, the HDL410 system delivers full-room pro audio performance in extra-large spaces up to 35′ x 55′ (10.7 x 16.8 m). The solution’s powerful processors and expanded memory unlock advanced audio capabilities in Nureva’s patented Microphone Mist™ technology. The HDL410’s unified coverage map enables the physical mics from the two microphone and speaker bars to be processed together, creating a giant microphone array that spans the entire room. The result is everyone in the room and those participating remotely are heard more consistently and clearly. The HDL410 is a USB plug and play device and works seamlessly with all the other AV technology products you might already have in your hybrid spaces. Learn more about the Nureva HDL410 system.


Nureva HDL410.png


 


Lenovo ThinkSmart View Plus Monitor
The Lenovo ThinkSmart View Plus Monitor is newly Certified for Teams Peripheral mode and designed for Teams meetings and collaboration. It can be used as a secondary display for video calls or as a standalone device for chat, calendar, and personal productivity. Learn more about the Lenovo ThinkSmart View Plus Monitor.


Lenovo ThinkSmart View Plus Monitor.png


 


Poly CCX EM60 side car
Designed to plug-and-play seamlessly with the Poly CCX 505, 600, and 700 Series Microsoft Teams certified phones, the CCX EM60 is the first expansion module from Poly that is certified for Microsoft Teams. For users who need to manage multiple Teams phone calls with ease, the Poly CCX EM60 expansion module is the perfect solution. With Intuitive controls and a 5” color LCD screen, the EM60 offers up to 20-line keys across 3 pages for easy contact tracking, and the option to connect up to 3 modules for a comprehensive desk or wall communication station.


Poly CCX EM60 side car.png


 


HP 620 FHD Webcam
The newly Certified for Teams HP 620 FHD Webcam is a high-quality webcam that delivers clear and detailed video in Full HD resolution. It is perfect for video conferencing, streaming, and recording. With its wide field of view and autofocus, it captures everything in sharp detail. The built-in microphone ensures clear audio, while the plug-and-play USB connectivity makes it easy to set up and use. Learn more about HP 620 FHD Webcam.


HP 620 FHD Webcam.png


 


HP 960 4k Streaming Webcam
The HP 960 4K Streaming Webcam delivers stunning 4K Ultra HD video quality. With its advanced features, its wide field of view, autofocus, and light correction technology ensure that you always look your best on camera. The built-in stereo microphones provide crystal-clear audio, while the easy plug-and-play USB connectivity makes setup a breeze. Learn more about the HP 960 4K Streaming Webcam.


HP 960 4k Streaming Webcam.png


 


Anker PowerConf S3 Speakerphone
The Anker PowerConf S3 Speakerphone is a portable conference speaker Certified for Microsoft Teams that delivers crystal-clear audio for your meetings and calls. Its six microphones with voice-enhancing technology ensure that everyone can be heard, while the noise-cancelling technology reduces background noise. The USB-C connectivity makes it simple to use, while the long battery life ensures that you can use it for extended periods without needing to recharge. Learn more about the Anker PowerConf S3 Speakerphone.


Anker PowerConf S3 Speakerphone.png


 


Dell Wired Headset – WH3024
The Dell Wired Headset – WH3024 is a high-quality headset that delivers clear and immersive audio. With its comfortable design and noise-cancelling microphone, it ensures that you can communicate clearly and effectively. The easy plug-and-play connectivity makes it simple to use, while the in-line controls allow you to adjust the volume and mute the microphone with ease. Learn more about the Dell Wired Headset – WH3024.


Dell Wired Headset – WH3024.png


 


 

Platform


Resources-specific consent apps
Admins will be allowed to pre-approve apps using resource-specific consent (RSC) permissions, so their users can install them even when RSC is otherwise turned off.


 


Teams AI library
The Teams AI library offers developers a suite of code functionalities designed to ease the integration of Large Language Models, empowering them to build rich, conversational Teams apps. It simplifies the process of creating Bots and Message Extensions, as well as interactions with Adaptive Cards for conversational experiences. Additionally, the Teams AI library also aids the migration of existing Bots, Message Extensions, and Adaptive Card functionalities with seamless integration with Large Language Models.


 


Click-to-Chat with Teams App Publishers
Teams Admin Center users can now quickly and easily open a private Teams chat between themselves and a third-party app publisher to directly ask questions on pricing, compliance or other topics as they consider the deployment and/or purchase of the app.


 


 

Collaborative Apps


Autopilot Accounts Payable AI
Autopilot Accounts Payable AI automates the task of uploading, assigning, and tracking supplier invoices with AI in Microsoft Teams. Featuring data extraction to help quickly create accurate invoices for approval and payment, automated reminders when invoices are due, and the Autopilot Accounts Payable bot available to help with daily tasks and financial insights. With this app, you can optimize invoice management through single-platform, customized workflows.


Autopilot Accounts Payable AI.png


 


Carbon Neutral Club Inc
The new app from Carbon Neutral Club Inc brings climate education and action directly into daily work with Teams. This app delivers educational content personalized to each employee, rewards them with points every time they take climate positive action, and tracks these points with team leaderboards. Creating a space for teams to not just share climate tips, news, and education but also take on climate challenges together.


Carbon Neutral Club Inc.png


 


Datadog
Datadog is a popular monitoring and security platform for cloud applications. The Datadog app allows you to create, manage and collaborate on incidents all within Teams. The app helps organizations stay on top of IT systems by receiving alerts that include monitor tags and traces on Teams channels. Also, Datadog Workflow Automation helps integrate real-time observability data with automatic remediation. Now with Teams integration you can receive messages and act on decision points from the Teams chat interface itself!


Datadog.png


 


emSinger
The emSinger application takes the complexity out of moving documents between departments, customers, partners, suppliers, and employees. This paperless office solution enables you to quickly sign documents with globally accepted, legally valid signatures, within Microsoft Teams. Simply download the document, select your signature, and sign the document, eliminating lag in the signing and approval process.


 


Neo Agent
The Neo Agent app brings the power of AI to Managed Service Providers to streamline service desk operations. Neo helps with IT ticket management and resolution by tracking and conversationally summarizing tickets, providing predictive insights, and enhancing overall productivity and efficiency. This AI assistant tackles the key pain points of manually dealing with high volumes of IT tickets.


Neo Agent.png


 


Teamcenter
Siemens introduces a new app designed to elevate collaboration within product engineering and manufacturing through seamless integration with Teamcenter, its leading product lifecycle management (PLM) solution. This innovative tool harnesses the power of generative AI to simplify and enhance the problem-solving process. By enabling the creation and management of problem reports in multiple languages, you can efficiently address challenges within the familiar environment of Microsoft Teams. The intuitive design of Teamcenter ensures a fluid collaboration experience across various devices, empowering teams to effortlessly transform complex problems into innovative solutions. Embrace a smarter, more connected way of working with Siemens Teamcenter and unlock the full potential of collaborative product development and manufacturing.


Teamcenter.png


 


Trello
The Trello app in Teams is a popular collaboration tool used for managing projects through Kanban-style boards and cards. In the latest update, Trello has also integrated with Copilot for Microsoft 365. With this plugin in Teams, you can search for high priority or pending tasks in natural language via Copilot.


Trello 1.png


 


Zendesk
The Zendesk for Microsoft Teams integration allows you to resolve tickets faster, simplify employee workflows, and boost team performance. The latest update to this app helps simplify support workflows and collaboration with Zendesk ticket management directly in Teams. You can stay up to date with tickets and support activities with real time notifications as well as deploy Zendesk Bots to help resolve commonly asked questions.


 


 

Frontline Worker Solutions


Tasks in my area in Teams mobile
The mobile experience for Microsoft Planner app in Teams will let you filter to a specific bucket or set of buckets, so you can focus on tasks in your area or department. We expect this simple change will provide greater focus and productivity, while maintaining the familiar look and functionality of the Planner app.


 


Full name display in Shifts app
Team members’ full names are now visible in the team schedule. This helps managers quickly identify staff members by their full names, even when names are lengthy, by toggling profile pictures on/off.


 


Graph API for day notes in Shifts app
Now, managers have the flexibility to add day notes using the Graph API, in addition to the Shifts app. This powerful capability allows customers to seamlessly integrate relevant day notes from third-party or line-of-business applications, enhancing the Shifts experience.


 


Excel import enhancements in Shifts app
Frontline managers will gain the ability to import an Excel file into Shifts with time off and open shift entities. Complementary, those entities will also be supported when managers export schedules in a compatible format to import.


 


Improved Shifts privacy settings
Frontline managers can control how much shift information is visible among their frontline workers, enhancing data privacy and control (e.g. time off reason & notes, shift notes, break duration, activities, and how far back a frontline worker can view their coworkers’ schedules).


 


Import and export time off and open shifts via Excel
Frontline managers can import schedules created or generated to an Excel file into Shifts through Shifts web and desktop applications. With this, frontline managers will be able to import through Microsoft Excel the following entities: employee assigned shifts, create open shifts for their team and assign time offs to their employees.


 


Deploy Shifts at scale
Admins can centrally deploy and manage shifts for the entire frontline workforce in the Teams Admin Center. As part of the centralized deployment and management, admins can standardize Shifts settings (open shifts, swap shifts requests, offer shifts requests, time off requests and time clock), identify schedule owners, and create scheduling groups uniformly for all frontline teams at the tenant level.


 


Deploy frontline dynamic teams
Admins can deploy teams at scale for frontline workers using dynamic teams in the Teams Admin Center. Dynamic teams will automate member management to ensure your teams are always up to date with the right users as people enter, move within, or leave the organization using dynamic groups from Entra ID.


 


 

Virtual Appointments


New virtual appointment template added to Outlook Teams add-in
A new meeting template for Virtual Appointments is available in the Teams meeting dropdown menu in the Calendar tab in Outlook with the Teams add-in enabled. This allows schedulers to set up virtual appointments directly within Outlook and these will show up on calendars in both Outlook and Teams apps.


New virtual appointment template added to Outlook Teams add-in.png


 


 

Teams for Education


School Connection for parents in Microsoft Teams mobile
The School Connection app in Microsoft Teams mobile empowers parents and guardians to engage, support, and monitor their student’s learning at school. As a parent, you can stay up to date on assignments, grades, insights from the past month on digital activity, and more. This release will be generally available to all regions except countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa; the availability for those countries will be announced at a later date.


 


New Teams for Education available on all platforms
The new Teams App is also generally available for our Education customers. Now available for desktop on Windows, Mac, Edge and Chrome browsers. Additional browser platform availability will be announced in early 2024. Upgrading to new Teams is quick and easy – no migration is required. For additional resources, including update schedules, different methods on how to update to new Teams, and any known issues, visit New Microsoft Teams for Education.