Microsoft Ignite 2020 is over for another year and what an event !
With COVID-19 it had to be an all-digital event. However, that didn’t stop Microsoft and partners putting on an amazing and engaging show. Some of the key highlights for me were:
If you didn’t manage to catch the live event itself, don’t panic! All the sessions were recorded and are available here.
What’s new in Microsoft Teams
What we were particularly looking forward to at Wide Ideas was the announcement on new and upcoming features in Microsoft Teams. And wow, there was a ton of new features announced (many coming later this year).
But there is one feature in particular that we are very excited about!
Single Sign-on for Teams apps through Azure Active Directory
This feature provides a frictionless sign-on experience, across both desktop and mobile, supporting developers with single sign-on (SSO) through Azure Active Directory for Teams apps. Developers can now build their apps to sign-in their users using the same account they are using to sign into Microsoft Teams. SSO support for tabs is generally available and support for bots and messaging extensions are coming soon.
BREAKING NEWS…
We are thrilled to announce that our Wide Ideas for Microsoft Teams app is already SSO APPROVED by Microsoft. This means our customers can automatically access our app right now from Microsoft Teams without any additional sign-in requests.
Other Interesting features
Check out the complete list of new Microsoft Teams features here.
Here are just a few other features that caught our attention:
New Together mode scenes
Status: Available
Together mode reimagines meeting experiences to help participants feel closer together even when you are apart. With new Together mode scenes coming this calendar year, you can transport your team to a variety of settings that can help set the tone and create the experience for your meeting, whether it be an auditorium, a conference room, or a coffee shop.
Breakout rooms
Status: Coming in October
The way we host meetings has to adapt to support a mix of office and remote workers. This is the new normal in these challenging times. The Breakout rooms feature will allow meeting organizers to split up meeting participants into smaller groups to facilitate brainstorming sessions or workgroup discussions. Presenters can choose to hop between breakout rooms, make announcements to all breakout rooms, and/or close the breakout rooms that then bring everybody back into the main meeting.
Innovate through Microsoft Teams
Encourage your employees to share ideas through the digital tools they use every day.
Wellbeing and productivity insights in Teams
Status: Coming in October
Wellbeing features and productivity insights – powered by MyAnalytics and Workplace Analytics – are coming to Microsoft Teams starting in October. Individuals, managers, and business leaders will get insights personalized to their role with recommended actions to make changing habits and improving productivity and wellbeing easier. Additionally, new personal wellbeing experiences including a virtual commute to add structure to your remote work day and Headspace guided meditations to help you unwind will be available in the first half of 2021.
Microsoft Teams EHR connector
Status: Coming in later this year
In response to the global pandemic, many healthcare organizations have ramped up their telehealth offerings leveraging Microsoft Teams. The new Microsoft Teams EHR connector, now in private preview, will allow clinicians and patients to launch a virtual patient visit or consult with another provider in Teams directly from their EHR system. The Epic EHR system will be the first to integrate with Teams in this way, and Teams will be available in the Epic App Orchard later this year, enabling customers to launch an EHR-connected virtual visit in Teams directly from the Epic EHR system. Support for other EHR systems is coming soon.
Enhanced Power BI app for Teams
Enhancements to the Power BI app for Teams, coming in public preview later this year, will make it easier to discover data from across the organization and quickly create visualizations from Excel datasets right within Teams, collaborate more effectively, and make decisions based on real-time insight. It creates a centralized place for users to find and analyse data, while enhancing usage of Excel and Teams with embedded channel, chat, and meeting experiences.
