New Feature in Microsoft Teams: Forwarding Messages to and from Channels

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An upcoming Microsoft Teams feature will allow users to forward posts and reply messages to and from channels, enhancing collaboration by reducing limitations on the type of content that can be forwarded.  Change for users: Currently, users cannot forward messages to and from channels. With this new feature, users can select the three-dot More actions menu on any channel post or reply message and choose Forward. In the Forward this message dialog box, users can select any destination chat or channel, with channels now included in the people picker. Admin Impact: This feature will be enabled by default. Admins can control message forwarding for individual teams or at the tenant level using sensitivity labels control data important to the organization. If a sensitivity label is applied, message forwarding will be disabled, blocking users from sharing content outside the channel. The feature will according to the Roadmap ID 469508 be rolling out in January or February 2025.

Changes to the background images feature in Teams

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There are two enhancements coming to the Background features in Teams soon.

Admin Controls:
When background images became available in Teams, there were no admin controls for the feature. Soon there will be a new meeting policy to control this feature. This policy will be available through the "SkypeOnlineModule" in powershell. According to the Message in the admin center, this is the syntax for changes, on a per user basis:
  • Grant-CsTeamsMeetingPolicy -Identity "email address" -PolicyName "BlurOnly" 
    The following options will be available: "BlurAndDefaultBackgrounds" | "BlurOnly" | "AllFilters" | "NoFilters"

    Upload images:
    Interestingly, one of the settings in the above set of options "AllFilters" is described as: AllFilters, which includes the ability for users to upload custom images.
    This feature, coming by the end of May will give the users an official way to add custom images within Teams. 
    If I understand the roadmap item correctly, the default will be "AllFilters"