11th MVP Award Rewarded

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I am actually on vacation, but as I sit here under the summer sun, toes in the pool and a cold drink within reach, I have been waiting for that email confirming that I’ve been awarded my 11th Microsoft MVP Award! As last year, I am being awarded in both the Teams and Copilot category. To say I’m humbled would be an understatement. Being part of the global Microsoft MVP community for over a decade now has been an incredible journey, filled with learning, sharing, speaking, and connecting with passionate technologists from every corner of the world. What is the Microsoft MVP Award? The Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) award is given to technology experts who share their knowledge and real-world expertise with communities. With fewer than 4,000 MVPs worldwide, it’s an honor to be part of such a vibrant and dedicated group. MVPs contribute through speaking engagements, writing, open-source contributions, and helping others online and offline. You can learn more about the progra...

Teams meeting experience is getting a long awaited feature

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Yesterday a message regarding Teams meeting experience landed in the Admin Message Center. Teams is getting three new features this month.

One of them have been demonstrated for a long time, but it is finally coming to a client near you: Custom Backgrounds is supposed to be rolling out mid April.

I am guessing this has been one of the most requested features at user voice, and with the WFH situation many of us are in, this is most welcome in order to "hide" distractions in the back. And no, that's not my living-room you see in the picture.

The other two features are also most welcome, and will increase the meeting experience for users.

By adding a "Meet now" button in channels, it will be easier than ever to launch an ad-hoc channel meeting. And by changing/enhancing the landing page for a Teams meeting invitation a user is taken to upon clicking an invite, it is more clear to the end user what options the users have to join the meeting.

There are no admin controls related to these feature at the time, but you may want to update your training and inform your users about the new features.