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Posts tagged "update"

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This Gmail update just made it harder than ever to avoid video calls
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Avoiding video conferencing meetings could soon be trickier than ever now that Google has made it much simpler to join a video or audio call via Gmail.

The company has announced that users can now start or join meetings and audio calls from 1:1 chats in Google Chat in Gmail on Android and iOS.

“As some teams begin to return to office, while others remain distributed, we hope this makes it easier to connect with your colleagues in the hybrid work world,” Google wrote in a blog post announcing the new addition. “This feature will allow you to seamlessly switch between chat to a video or audio call when needed, helping you collaborate and move your work forward.”

Google Chat calls

Going forward, Gmail users will now see a phone and video icon in the top right corner of a 1:1 Google chat window that, when clicked, will start a direct call with the contact.

In order to join a call, you just need to select the phone or video chip within the 1:1 chat window, and while on a call, you’ll see a banner of the person you’re on a call with, the call duration and a Meet icon in the chat roster.

Missed calls will be indicated with a red phone or video icon within the conversation and the chat roster.

Google Workspace video call

(Image credit: Google)

The feature is hosted as part of Gmail, so if you select to join a call from the Google chat app, you'll be redirected to the Gmail app. If you don't have the Gmail app installed on your device, you’ll be prompted to download it via Google Play store or the App Store

The feature, which will be rolled out to all Google Workspace customers, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers by default, is currently only available for 1:1 meetings so far. This means there's no group calls for the moment, but given the ongoing popularity of video calls, this can't be too far away.

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Microsoft Office has a fresh new look – here’s how to update
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If you've upgraded to Windows 11 and want Microsoft Office to match the look of the company's latest operating system, then you're in luck as Microsoft's visual update for its office software is now available.

Back in June, the software giant announced a new look for Office designed for Windows 11 though it will also improve your experience if you're running Windows 10 according to a new blog post from Microsoft. 

At its core, Microsoft's new visual update for Office delivers a simple and more coherent experience across Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and Outlook. It's worth noting that the update isn't available for some of the company's other software including Access, Project, Publisher and Visio. 

Once enabled in one of the compatible Office apps such as Word, the visual refresh will also be applied to the others so Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and Outlook will have a new look as well.

Office Visual Update with Word Dark Mode

(Image credit: Microsoft)

Enabling the visual update for Office

Microsoft's new visual refresh for Office can easily be turned off or on using the Coming Soon feature which is located in the top right corner of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote.

To get started, simply click the megaphone icon to open the Coming Soon pane, navigate to the bottom and use the toggle to move between the new and current interface and apply the setting to all of Microsoft's compatible Office apps.

The biggest change in this visual update is the fact that Office now matches your Windows theme by default. This means you can experience it in whichever Windows theme you want including black with Word Dark Mode enabled, white, colorful or dark grey.

Another change is that the Quick Access Toolbar is now hidden by default to make the user interface of Office simpler. To display it again, just right-click the ribbon or click on the Ribbon Display Options icon and then click Show Quick Access Toolbar.

Microsoft's visual update is now now available for users running Windows 11 as well as for those running Windows 10 version 2110 and build 14527.20226 or later but if you don't see the update, restarting Office should make it appear.

We've also rounded up the best Microsoft Office alternatives, best free office software and best online collaboration tools to help you work more productively

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Microsoft Teams update will stop you annoying your colleagues
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Microsoft is working on a simple update for Teams that should help address common issues with international collaboration.

According to a new entry in the company’s product roadmap, Microsoft Teams users will soon benefit from a facility that highlights each users’ current time-zone.

“You can easily find out the local time of the people you collaborate with by checking the profile card,” the listing explains.

The feature is still currently under development, but should roll out to all Microsoft Teams users by the end of January, 2022.

Microsoft Teams on tour

Although small businesses are less likely to make use of the new local time feature, it could prove extremely helpful for employees at larger enterprises with colleagues scattered across the globe, or for anyone who travels regularly for work.

For example, the ability to quickly check which colleagues are online and when should make it easier for managers to schedule a cross-team meeting or determine to whom to delegate a time-sensitive task.

If someone has their notifications turned on, meanwhile, the new feature will minimize the chances of a colleague disturbing them at an inopportune time with an unimportant task or query.

Since the transition to remote working, many people have also developed the habit of leaving messages for co-workers to discover when they first log on in the morning. Although the utility of this practice is obvious, it has the effect of making the person feel bombarded before they’ve had a chance to get their feet under the desk.

While the new time-zone feature does nothing to disincentivize this practice, the likelihood of accidentally falling foul of the collaboration faux pas is lessened.

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This new Microsoft Teams update will make things easier for guests
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Microsoft is working on a new update for Microsoft Teams designed to improve the guest user experience in its increasingly popular online collaboration tool.

For those unfamiliar, guest access allows businesses to provides access to teams, documents in channels, resources, chats and applications to those outside of their organization while still maintaining control over their corporate data.

Guests may include partners, vendors, suppliers or consultants and anyone with a business account like Azure Active Directory or an account for an email service like Microsoft Outlook or Gmail can participate as a guest in Teams.

Now tough, Microsoft will give guests even more control over their experience in Teams by allowing them to decline invitations, initiate leaving an organization and manage the guest tenant list.

Be our guest

In a new post on the Microsoft 365 roadmap, the software giant has revealed that guests will now be able to do even more in Teams.

For instance, guest users will now be able to decline a pending guest invitation within the Teams app and when they click “Decline”, the Teams Tenant List will not show the tenant with the pending invitation in the Account Management tab. Guest users can now also initiate leaving an org and when they click on “Leave Org” they will be guided on how to leave a tenant from both Teams and the company's Azure Portal.

Finally, guest users can now manage the guest tenant list in Teams by choosing to hide or show guest tenants in the menu of Microsoft's video conferencing software.

Being able to collaborate with others from outside one's organization is one of the best features in Teams and through this new update, which is expected to roll out in December, guests will have more control over their experience when doing so.

We've also highlighted the best online collaboration tools and best video conferencing software

Via MSPoweruser

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Microsoft Teams update will make your life harder, but for good reason
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Microsoft is set to roll out an update for collaboration platform Teams that will add a layer of friction to using third-party app integrations, but for good reason.

According to a new entry in the company’s product roadmap, Microsoft Teams users will soon have to manage permissions manually for each third-party app they want to use via the web client.

“In order to better secure Microsoft Teams third-party applications that request native device permissions – such as camera, microphone or location access – we will be requiring users to manually opt-in for these permissions per app in the Microsoft Teams web browser experience,” wrote Microsoft.

This is already the case across the Microsoft Teams desktop and mobile clients, the roadmap entry goes on to explain.

The new web client permissions system is still under development, but should take effect for all users by February next year.

Microsoft Teams apps

Since the start of the pandemic, collaboration software vendors like Microsoft, Zoom and Slack have worked hard to expand upon in-built functionality (video conferencing, VoIP, messaging, file-sharing etc.) with third-party integrations.

In Microsoft’s case, the company is aiming to turn Teams into a central hub for work, by building as wide a range of functionality into the platform as possible, from cloud storage and CRM to project management, calendering and more.

Only last week, Microsoft revealed it is developing a new-look app store that should make it easier to identify the most useful third-party integrations on a per user basis.

As the number of Teams applications grows, however, the likelihood one might be abused for cybercriminal purposes rises too. To nip any potential issues in the bud, Microsoft will soon require users to manually specify app permissions across all Teams clients (desktop, mobile and now browser).

Of course, the measure won’t stop users from giving malicious apps access to their webcam and audio feed, but at the very least it will force people to think twice about which apps they engage with.

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This new Gmail update will help you avoid hybrid working confusion
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Showing up alone to an in-person meeting could soon be a thing of the past thanks to a new Gmail update.

With workers across the world slowly returning to office life (if they haven't adopted hybrid working of course) physical meetings are unfortunately becoming more common once again.

But as many workforces balance home and office working, this can lead to confusion about who will actually be at a meeting in-person, and who will be there virtually – something Gmail and Google Calendar now hope to have fixed.

RSVP in Gmail

Going forward, Gmail users will now be able to specify whether they will be attending a meeting either virtually or in-person in their email RSVP.

The function had initially been added to Google Calendar back in July 2021, but is now available within Gmail RSVPs for extra functionality. Users will now see a drop-down arrow next to the “Yes” option in a meeting invite where they can select “Yes”, “Yes, in a meeting room” and “Yes, joining virtually” choices.

RSVP in Gmail

(Image credit: Google Workspace)

“With these RSVP options, you can indicate how you plan to join a meeting—in the meeting room, or virtually,” a Google Workspace blog announcing the feature noted. “Then, both the organizer and guests will be able to see how attendees are planning to attend the meeting in the event detail. This will help meeting attendees know what to expect when joining a meeting, and prepare accordingly.”

The blog did highlight that the new RSVP options are not shared with contacts on other platforms, such as Microsoft Outlook.

Google says the feature has begun rolling out now, and will be available to all Google Workspace customers, as well as G Suite Basic and Business customers, within the next few weeks.

The news comes shortly after the launch of a new “Focus time” feature in Google Calendar that will allow users to block out periods of time where they can avoid meetings and get their heads down for actual work.

Setting such a marker in your Google Calendar will also allow users to automatically decline meetings, meaning no last-minute rush to finish off work.

Need extra help? These are the best calendar apps around

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Microsoft Teams is finally getting the update you’ve all been waiting for
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Working together with others outside your organization in Microsoft Teams will soon be possible thanks to a new update to Microsoft's online collaboration tool.

Workgroups often extend beyond one's organization with employees connecting with multiple external stakeholders including customers, vendors and partners. However, up until now, users had to rely on different software or even personal apps to collaborate with them.

Not only does this require employees to use multiple apps which takes longer and can reduce their productivity, it also creates security risks for both workers and their companies.

For this reason, Microsoft is currently working on two updates that leverage Microsoft Teams Connect and the secure access capabilities of Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) to make cross-organizational collaboration easier for businesses.

Cross-organizational collaboration

The first update involves shared channels which allow individuals and teams across multiple organizations to work together in Microsoft Teams. When this feature becomes available in preview early next year, shared channels will appear within each Member's Teams tenant alongside other teams and channels. 

Users will also be able to schedule a shared channel meeting, use other Microsoft apps like Office and share each channel with up to 50 teams and as many organizations as they need.  Meanwhile, admins can use cross-tenant access settings in Azure AD to configure granular and differentiated trust relationships for external collaboration with different organizations.

Microsoft is also working on another update scheduled to rollout by the end of this year that will enable Teams users to chat with others outside their network including those using Teams personal accounts. They'll be able to invite any Teams user to chat using an email address or phone number while remaining within the security and compliance policies of their organization.

Cross-organizational collaboration is the Teams update many users have been waiting for as it will allow Microsoft's collaboration tool and video conferencing software to become a one-stop-shop for all of their business dealings both internally and externally.

Looking to improve your Microsoft Teams experience? Check out our roundups of the best business webcams, best headsets for conference calls and best video conferencing software

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