{"id":108394,"date":"2020-01-31T18:21:08","date_gmt":"2020-01-31T18:21:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.microsoft.com\/?p=436048"},"modified":"2020-01-31T18:21:08","modified_gmt":"2020-01-31T18:21:08","slug":"now-in-microsoft-365-new-tools-for-firstline-workers-supercharged-search-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2020\/01\/31\/now-in-microsoft-365-new-tools-for-firstline-workers-supercharged-search-and-more\/","title":{"rendered":"Now in Microsoft 365: New tools for Firstline Workers, supercharged search and more"},"content":{"rendered":"

Since the early days of personal computing, information workers have benefited the most from technology. That makes sense, since these workers tend to spend the bulk of their day at a computer screen. But there are 2 billion workers in the world who don\u2019t work behind the computer<\/strong>. You\u2019ll find them, instead, behind the counter, on the factory floor, in the operating room, and out on the tarmac. First with customers, first with products, and first to represent your brand, these Firstline Workers are the lifeblood of organizations across the planet. And for too long, they\u2019ve been underserved by technology.<\/p>\n

With Microsoft 365, the world\u2019s productivity cloud, we\u2019re changing that. Thanks to new technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and automation, we can build experiences across devices to connect organizations from the shop floor to the top floor. So, while we continue to unlock new productivity experiences for information workers, we can help their Firstline colleagues get more done too<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Firstline Workers already use tools like Microsoft Teams<\/a> and Power Apps<\/a> to digitize shift schedules, take meetings from anywhere, and simplify workflow. And this month, I\u2019m thrilled to announce some exciting new tools to help Firstline Workers collaborate and complete tasks, along with management tools to make managing them simple and fast.<\/p>\n

Starting with this month\u2019s \u201cWhat\u2019s new to Microsoft 365\u201d blog post, we\u2019re partnering with Modern Workplace<\/a> on a new podcast that complements both the blog and the Modern Workplace video series. For the first episode, host Alex Bradley and I talked about news coming out of the National Retail Federation (NRF) tradeshow, this month\u2019s Microsoft 365 updates, and my 2020 productivity New Year\u2019s resolutions. Please have a listen, subscribe if you want to hear more, and feel free to leave a comment with topics you\u2019d like us to cover.<\/p>\n

Read on to learn all the important Microsoft 365 updates this month.<\/p>\n

Empower your Firstline Workforce<\/h3>\n

Several new Microsoft Teams updates<\/a> help you drive higher levels of employee engagement and enhance customer experiences.<\/p>\n

Improve collaboration with Walkie Talkie in Teams<\/strong>\u2014Now Firstline Workers can more easily communicate and manage tasks at the touch of a button. The new push-to-talk experience in Teams delivers clear, instant, and secure voice communication over the cloud, turning employee- and\/or company-owned smartphones and tablets into walkie talkies. This new feature not only reduces the numbers of devices your employees need to carry but can also lower IT costs. And when integrated with new devices\u2014such as the recently unveiled Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro\u2014your Firstline Workers can communicate with each other instantly. Walkie Talkie will be available in private preview in Teams in the first half of this year.<\/p>\n

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Streamline user experiences for Firstline Workers<\/strong>\u2014Firstline Workers can now sign in to all their Microsoft 365 and custom apps using one-time SMS codes<\/strong>\u2014streamlining their sign-in experience. And shared device sign-out<\/strong> enables users to sign out of their apps on shared devices with just one tap, helping to protect customer data while improving the user experience. Finally, an updated Tasks feature<\/strong> in Teams delivers new capabilities and reporting to everyone from the C-suite to Firstline Workers.<\/p>\n

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Make management easier for your IT pros<\/strong>\u2014Now you can minimize management of employee tasks for IT pros. The new delegated user management<\/strong> feature allows IT managers to approve password resets and enable Firstline Workers to use their phone numbers for SMS sign-in via a single, customizable portal. In addition, Azure Active Directory (AD) user provisioning now integrates with SAP SuccessFactors<\/a>, making it easy to onboard and manage identities at scale, across any application. And finally, off-shift access controls<\/strong> for the Teams app enables your IT administrators to limit employee access to the Teams app on their personal devices outside of working hours. These updates are rolling out over the next couple of months.<\/p>\n

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Save time and create more impactful content<\/h3>\n

Deliver more engaging content find what you need quickly and easily.<\/p>\n

Connect with your audience during presentations with Live Presentations<\/strong>\u2014Presentations can provide a great opportunity to communicate information and connect with your audience, but language barriers, screen distance, and pacing can all affect audience engagement. With Live Presentations, audience members can turn on live captioning (available in 60 languages), navigate between slides to catch details, or send reactions to the presenter\u2014all in real-time. Live Presentations is coming soon to PowerPoint for the web. Presenters can access it as part of any Office 365 subscription.<\/p>\n

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See why the new Microsoft Edge is the browser for business<\/strong>\u2014Built on the Chromium open source project, the new Microsoft Edge is simple to manage with world-class performance and compatibility, Microsoft security features, and tools to help your organization be more productive. You can download the new Microsoft Edge<\/a> today for all supported versions of Windows and macOS in more than 90 languages.<\/p>\n

Find what you need quickly with Microsoft Search<\/strong>\u2014Searching through personal files or a company intranet without knowing what you\u2019re looking for (or when you do) can make your search experience difficult and time-consuming. Our new Microsoft Search experience<\/a> is built with AI technologies and intelligence and insights from the Microsoft Graph. You\u2019ll get contextually relevant results, when you need them, where you\u2019re already working\u2014whether in Microsoft Word, SharePoint, or Bing. To get started, just click in the new Search box and instantly see answers and insights from the applications, people, and information that matter the most.<\/p>\n

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And over the course of the next couple of months, we\u2019ll add new features for businesses. Using Microsoft Graph connectors<\/a>, available now in preview, you can search over content sources beyond Microsoft 365. Additionally, we\u2019re also announcing capabilities to set up custom verticals, add your own refiners, and use adaptive cards to create your own visualizations in the results page in Office.com and SharePoint. Finally, to help ease the transition, we\u2019ve enabled developers to use the tried and true SharePoint framework<\/a> to customize the appearance and develop applications on top of Microsoft Search.<\/p>\n

Create and share data-driven Visio diagrams directly in Excel<\/strong>\u2014You can now create impactful Visio diagrams<\/a> (such as flowcharts or organizational diagrams) from your data directly in Excel with the public preview of the Visio Data Visualizer add-in. Each diagram category provides a wide range of layout styles and theme options, making it easy to build a diagram to fit your needs. Visio Data Visualizer is available to Office 365 subscribers. To get started, add the \u201cVisio Data Visualizer\u201d add-in in Excel.<\/p>\n

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Model systems and processes using Unified Modeling Language (UML) shapes in Visio for the web<\/strong>\u2014We made diagramming simpler and easier for everyone by bringing UML shapes and functionalities<\/a> to Visio for the web. UML diagrams provide software developers and systems architects the ability to design and visually represent software-based systems, as well as model business processes and workflows. To start diagramming, all Visio Plan 1 and Visio Plan 2 users can visit visio.office.com, select the preferred UML diagram, and start modeling their systems or processes instantly.<\/p>\n

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Access company branded templates from within Office apps<\/strong>\u2014It can be tricky to find your organization\u2019s templates when creating new presentations and documents. Office now provides easy access to company-branded templates right from within Word, Excel, and PowerPoint\u2014saving you time lost to digging through intranet and document stores. To get started, update Office to the latest version, select File <\/strong>> New<\/strong>, then select your organization\u2019s name.<\/p>\n

Make IT management easier<\/h3>\n

New capabilities and resources to help you migrate from Windows 7 and meet data residency requirements.<\/p>\n

Migrate from Windows 7 to Windows 10<\/strong>\u2014This month marked the end of support for Windows 7. Fortunately, Windows 10 enables you to harness the power of the cloud while making you and your organization more productive and secure than ever before. And when purchasing Windows 10 with a Microsoft 365 license, your users will get a highly productive and secure experience, while IT will find these tools much easier to deploy and manage. Check out our Windows 7 end of support<\/a> resources to start your migration path today.<\/p>\n

Meet data residency needs in Switzerland with new Microsoft datacenters<\/strong>\u2014Now new Microsoft Office 365 customers<\/a> in Switzerland will have their Office 365 data stored in an in-country datacenter, helping organizations with data residency requirements to meet their obligations.<\/p>\n

Also new this month<\/h3>\n

I am so thrilled to bring powerful tools for Firstline Workers while continuing to bring new productivity experiences to information workers as well. It\u2019s all about helping entire organizations be more productive and connected, from the shop floor to the top floor. As always, every Microsoft 365 update reflects our commitment to improving the experience for you\u2014so if you have feedback or ideas on how we can improve, don\u2019t hesitate to let us know<\/a>.<\/p>\n