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5 ways IT can support productivity when work can happen anywhere

Many business leaders have resisted remote work for years, thinking it would lead to lower productivity. But here’s a surprise: A mid-2020 study showed that knowledge workers, software developers, and IT professionals are all more productive when they work from home.

The study defined workplace productivity as spending more time on the right work—not merely being busy. Data from the study showed that compared to people working in the office, remote workers had a 4% increase in average daily time spent on their core work and an 18% decrease in time spent on emails, chats, calls, and meetings—adding up to an annual total per person of 58 more hours spent on core work, and 256 fewer hours spent on communication. That’s a huge difference!

Here’s how to support workers in delivering their best—wherever they are.

1. Help people feel valued, even when they’re far away.

When people aren’t coming to the office every day, technology plays a bigger role in helping them feel supported and cared for. Give employees PCs and accessories that are not only efficient but also a pleasure to use. Pay attention to things that make work more enjoyable, like design details, ergonomics, vivid displays, and crisp sound.

2. Champion the ongoing quest for work-life balance.

According to a study by NordVPN, the recent pivot to remote work meant more time at the desk for many people; at-home workers put in an average of two extra hours each workday.2 People need help maintaining a healthy work-life balance to avoid burnout. When you introduce new apps, devices, or other tech that helps them do more—such as changing collaboration apps to “away” at a certain time each day—be sure to connect it with benefits at the human level.

3. Invest in technologies that make work flow faster.

Worker productivity depends a lot on fast, reliable, and high-performing tech. The last thing your IT team needs is to be deluged by support requests from slow, unresponsive devices. Look for PCs that deliver blazing-fast speed, high-quality graphics, and long battery life. Choose accessories that last a long time. That way, people don’t have to stop to recharge, close out extra tabs to free up memory, or fill up IT help desks with reports on broken tech.

3. Offload mundane maintenance tasks that gobble up IT time.

Remote management capabilities can help you handle things from afar— like upgrades and security patches—without needing your end users to do anything. They get back time to focus on their work, and you don’t have to wonder if they’ve made critical updates. The right solutions automate these processes, so they don’t burden IT teams.

4. Work closely with HR to understand employee needs better.

Your colleagues in HR have a direct line to employees. They know how they’re feeling about their work and what’s slowing them down. Schedule regular check-ins with HR to get these insights—which can help you find tech-driven solutions that help employees succeed.

When your IT is at its best, so are your people.

HP and Now Micro offer the world’s most secure and manageable PCs. HP Elite Notebooks are made for today’s challenges—with hardware-enforced security features and layers of protection below, inside, and above the OS to proactively prevent threats and quickly recover in the event of a breach. Sleek and light, Elite Notebooks offer advanced features like secure, wide-angle webcams, hardened security features like self-healing BIOS, 5G, and 4G LTE connectivity, Audio by Bang & Olufsen, HP Noise Cancellation, and the power and performance for smooth virtual collaboration. Now Micro’s collection of software and hardware solutions is perfectly suited to easily solve unique technical problems. Our solutions are used by over 60,000 users and have helped customers streamline their deployment process. With HP, Now Micro, Windows 10 Pro, and the Intel® vPro® platform, you get the latest software and out-of-the-box hardware security features to help defend your devices and your business.

Learn more about Now Micro’s partnership with HP, Intel, and Microsoft at https://www.nowmicro.com/hp.

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How IT can improve virtual meetings for everyone

Some people love in-person meetings; others prefer the remote kind. However you feel about them, here’s an interesting discovery: A recent study found 86% of participants reported “as high or higher” levels of engagement in virtual meetings compared to face-to-face. That’s great news for the future of remote work—because if there’s anything we know for sure, there will be a lot more of them in our future. Here’s how to make them better for everyone.

Equip workers with the knowledge and tech they need to stay safe.

More than 50% of workers report not receiving any new security policies on working securely from home.

 A huge increase in virtual meetings hasn’t gone unnoticed by cyber attackers. New attack types are on the rise, and most meeting platforms have reported issues. Keep meetings secure by first ensuring that hardware and OSes are up-to-date. PCs more than four years old may not be able to take advantage of the latest patches, putting individuals and businesses at risk.

Equip teams for real work—not just talk.

Truly collaborative organizations are 5x more likely to be high-performing.

Setting a clear agenda and objectives for each meeting is key; you need the tech to support those intentions. Start with a high-definition webcam. Then think bigger—including wider mic arrays, enhanced audio, touchscreens, pen support, and tools like Windows Ink—to help teams collaborate through whiteboarding, marking diagrams and images, or sketching ideas. Tools that auto-generate meeting transcripts can help make note-taking faster and more accurate.

Manage bandwidth and eliminate lag time.

70% of network traffic is video

A big spike in videoconferencing has made lags more common. Help users test to ensure they have a solid Wi-Fi setup with enough bandwidth—using apps like Google Wifi. Some workers may need guidance on setting up routers or repeaters or using their phones as hot spots when the internet goes down. Here’s an easy win: Intel vPro-equipped devices with integrated Wi-Fi 6 offer up to 3x faster file-transfer speeds than Wi-Fi 5.5

Help employees make the most of virtual meetings.

As much as 93% of communication is nonverbal.

“Video on” has become a hallmark of the remote-work culture. Provide employees with tips on how to improve their virtual meeting experience—how to arrange lighting, troubleshoot audio, and upload professional headshots. Make a balanced plan that helps employees reduce stress by understanding when to have video on and when to have it off.

Utilize remote management tools to improve support.

According to ITDMs, after 2020, 49% of workers will be WFH at least part of the time.

Executives expect an increase in employees working remotely for at least three days per week—even 12 months after the global health crisis subsides. As this trend is here to stay, a modern approach to device management makes it easier for IT to support ongoing virtual meetings and work. With self-service features, windows 10 Pro simplifies device deployment, personalization, and user reset.

Collaborate better to move your business faster.

HP and Now Micro offer the world’s most secure and manageable PCs. HP Elite Notebooks are made for today’s challenges—with hardware-enforced security features and layers of protection below, inside, and above the OS to proactively prevent threats and quickly recover in the event of a breach. Sleek and light, Elite Notebooks offer advanced features like secure, wide-angle webcams, hardened security features like self-healing BIOS, 5G, and 4G LTE connectivity, Audio by Bang & Olufsen, HP Noise Cancellation, and the power and performance for smooth virtual collaboration. Now Micro’s collection of software and hardware solutions is perfectly suited to easily solve unique technical problems. Our solutions are used by over 60,000 users and have helped customers streamline their deployment process. With HP, Now Micro, Windows 10 Pro, and the Intel® vPro® platform, you get the latest software and out-of-the-box hardware security features to help defend your devices and your business.

Learn more about Now Micro’s partnership with HP, Intel, and Microsoft at https://www.nowmicro.com/hp.

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5 reasons laptops are the ultimate solution for hybrid work

When the world pivoted to remote work in 2020, people didn’t simply pack up their office desktop computers and take them home. They asked for laptops—and these slim, powerful PCs have become essential to business productivity in the months since.

In fact, it’s not a stretch to say that laptops are now a must-have for workers in nearly every industry. As we transition into a hybrid of on-site and remote work, it’s worth asking: Why have laptops come out on top? We’ve uncovered five reasons why they’re a perfect fit for modern work.

1. Enjoy mobility, flexibility, and control.

A lightweight, ultra-slim form factor makes it easy to move away from ambient noise, find a more comfortable spot during meetings, or get work done in a small space. When employees need more screen real estate for complex work like spreadsheets or graphics files, they can simply connect their laptops to external monitors or desktop PCs. It’s the best of both worlds.

2. Make notes and share ideas in real-time.

A touchscreen makes workflow faster, with the ability to draw and add notes directly on the screen to communicate thoughts or show revisions. Forget trading multiple emails or creating lists— employees can draw and write on the screen and then capture it with a screenshot. Laptops become tablets with 360-degree hinge designs, making drawing fast and fun.

3. Be more productive—without even trying.

Collaborating, meeting, and accessing Microsoft 365 apps in seconds is easier. With Windows 10 Pro, people get new ways to stay organized and productive, with features like single sign-on (SSO) for remote desktop services, tools like Microsoft Teams for seamless remote collaboration, and whiteboard capabilities that help work flow more smoothly.

4. Streamline remote IT support and management—without changing your processes.

Supporting a hybrid on-site and remote workplace may require changes in how you approach PC management, but when you have laptops equipped with remote management tools, you can quickly make updates and provide support to reduce downtime.

5. Drop-ship fully secure PCs to employees for hands-off IT.

When laptops have built-in security, with protection at multiple levels—below, in, and above the OS—you can feel confident shipping them directly to your employees without needing to install security solutions beforehand.

A sophisticated choice to enhance productivity.

HP and Now Micro offer the world’s most secure and manageable PCs. HP Elite Notebooks are made for today’s challenges—with hardware-enforced security features and layers of protection below, inside, and above the OS to proactively prevent threats and quickly recover in the event of a breach. Sleek and light, Elite Notebooks offer advanced features like secure, wide-angle webcams, hardened security features like self-healing BIOS, 5G and 4G LTE connectivity, Audio by Bang & Olufsen, HP Noise Cancellation, and the power and performance for smooth virtual collaboration. Now Micro’s collection of software and hardware solutions is perfectly suited to easily solve unique technical problems. Our solutions are used by over 60,000 users and have helped customers streamline their deployment process. With HP, Now Micro, Windows 10 Pro, and the Intel® vPro® platform, you get the latest software and out-of-the-box hardware security features to help defend your devices and your business.

Learn more about Now Micro’s partnership with HP, Intel, and Windows, visit https://www.nowmicro.com/hp

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5 steps to securing identity infrastructure

According to Microsoft, in Azure Active Directory, there are 50 million password attacks daily, yet only 20% of users and 30% of global admins are using strong authentications such as multi-factor authentication (MFA). Attackers who get control of privileged accounts can do tremendous damage, so it’s critical to protect these accounts. Read our checklist to learn more:

Strengthen your credentials
Strengthen your credentials by enabling strong authentication, banning commonly attacked passwords, implementing expiration rules, protecting against leaked credentials, adding resilience against outages, and implementing AD FS extranet smart lockout.

Reduce your attack service area
Reduce your attack service area by implementing cloud authentication, blocking legacy authentication, blocking invalid authentication entry points, implementing privilege access management, and restricting user consent operations.

Automate threat response
Automate threat response by implementing sign-in and user risk security policies, integrating Microsoft 365 Defender with Azure AD identity protection, and setting up monitoring and alerting.

Utilize Cloud Intelligence
To utilize cloud intelligence, your organization should monitor Azure AD, Azure AD Connect Health in hybrid environments, Azure AD Identity Protection events, apps, and consented permissions.

Enable end-user self-service
Implementing self-service password reset, self-service group and application access, Azure AD access reviews, and automatic user provisioning will create efficient ways for end-users to secure your organization’s identity infrastructure.

Now Micro Professional Services

Systems Management
We create a simplified desktop and data center management experience for your robust, complex, and heterogeneous environments. Through configuration and automation of systems management tasks, we allow you to keep control of your complex IT business, whether it is on-premises, in the cloud, or across the country.


Cloud Productivity
Now Micro helps you implement a cloud-based infrastructure, giving you unparalleled access, robust security, and greater control in your environment. Moving the infrastructure to the cloud pushes technology out of the way so you can focus on your job.


Identity Management
Our identity management solutions help you create simplified synchronization between identities on-premises and in the cloud while allowing administrators to monitor user access and behavior.

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How to Equip Your Office for Hybrid Work

The ongoing pandemic is changing the way companies are structured. Remote work adds flexibility to workers’ lives and protects them from COVID-19, while in-person work allows staff to communicate nuances and socialize. Companies are now offering their employees the best of both worlds: a hybrid office. Read our top 4 tips on providing the right technology for a smooth transition into hybrid work.

Hoteling Stations

The new hybrid office system can look different for every company or for different departments within one company. For example, not all employees work on the same day in many companies, so to save space, a company could opt to have unassigned desks, also known as hoteling. Pairing hoteling with seamless workstations makes for a great hybrid office that saves space and money.

Invest in seamless workstations

After working the last two years at home, many employees have perfected their home technology to be able to work exactly how they want. However, with hybrid schedules, going back and forth between home and the office can be quite the hassle if you’re bringing things like laptops, headsets, and charging cables back and forth. A way to solve that challenge is to invest in seamless workstations for assigned desks or hotel stations. The arrangement can look different depending on each company’s needs. The setup used at Now Micro allows staff to bring only their laptops and plug them into monitors, which connect the laptop to charging, a wireless keyboard, and a mouse.

Conference Room AV Setup

Some days employees may choose to be in the office, while others work remotely. However, that doesn’t mean meetings have to only occur in person on only by video. Simply adding a small media player, a display on the wall, a web camera, and a speaker/microphone can equip conference rooms to help teams collaborate no matter where they are working.

Borderless Data Center

Storing company data can be challenging when employees are based in many locations. A solution to this is the borderless data center. The borderless data center is a hybrid cloud concept that brings the basic tenants of cloud computing to the brick-and-mortar data center for seamless application operation. Disaggregating the traditional physical infrastructure through a cloud-enabled Hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI) facilitates a software-defined, unified system combining all the elements of a conventional data center: storage, compute, networking, and management into a cloud infrastructure on-premises with lower costs, more control, and improved security.

Office setup and workplace culture are not going back to the way things were before. Therefore, it is essential to adapt to the times and equip offices that push us towards a more innovative future. Now Micro and its partners are here to help your office transition to a hybrid office. To learn more, visit nowmicro.com or email sales@nowmicro.com.

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The Consequences of a Cyberattack on SMBs

Nearly every company relies on the internet for its business operations, which means almost every company is at risk for a cyber-attack. In last week’s blog post, we discussed why Cybercriminals are targeting SMBs, but what are the consequences of falling victim to a cyberattack or data breach for SMBs?

Downtime

After a cyberattack, an SMB is likely to face significant downtime, which means their employees cannot do their jobs. While one can expect revenue to take a substantial hit from downtime, employee productivity usually is the most significant consequence. Employers are still required to pay their employees, they may be missing deadlines, and downtime may cause excess stress on their employees.

The cost of downtime = minutes of downtime x cost per minute.

Damage to hardware 

In the event of a cyberattack, malware, or data breach, not only is your data at risk, but it can also cause damage to your hardware such as PCs, Servers, and more. In addition, the repair or replacement of hardware can be very costly.

Fines and penalties

Legal and regulatory requirements seem to be constantly changing, which can be very overwhelming for a business owner. However, business owners must comply with these rules and regulations, and when they don’t, they are subject to fines and penalties costs.

Damage to reputation and loss of customers

When a company falls victim to a cyberattack, their customer data is often compromised, leading to a loss of customer trust, which leads to customers taking their business elsewhere. Data breaches also hurt attracting and obtaining new customers when the news is public.

High costs

In the event of a cyberattack, an SMB is likely to experience downtime, damage to hardware, fines and penalties, damage to reputation and loss of customers, and more. Each of these consequences has its own cost, and sometimes it is enough for a business to close its doors for good. Forbes states that the average cost of a single data breach on an SMB is $149,000. Additionally, 76% of SMBs have experienced a cyberattack in the last 12 months.

We’ve said it before, and we will say it again: It is no longer a question of if your business will be the target of a cyberattack, but when. Can you afford the consequences of a data breach?

Working with a Managed Service Provider can help you better secure your network and prevent cyberattacks from happening. To learn more about our managed services, visit our website or reach out to Sydney Ellison at sydneye@nowmicro.com.

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Top 4 Windows 11 Interface Updates

Microsoft has launched the all-new Windows 11, bringing users some much-needed improvements and updates. Take a look at the top 4 interface updates on Windows 11:

Overall Interface

The Windows 11 interface will soon rival the design world’s beloved MacOS interface. Features include a cleaner, minimalist design with rounded corners and light, pastel shades.

Start Button

Since Windows 95, the Windows Start Button has always been in the lower-left corner. On Window’s 11, it will now be placed at the bottom center of the screen. This is one of the most significant changes in interface and navigation, allowing the start button to be more visible.

Taskbar

When Windows 11 first rolled out, users found the taskbar not as configurable as Windows 10, and some customization needed to be done. Since then, Microsoft has made some changes making the taskbar more manageable. For example, users can decide whether the taskbar shows more of their chosen pins, recommendations from the software, or the default combination of both. Users can also view the full taskbar on 2nd or 3rd monitors and choose the size of the taskbar.

Microsoft Teams Integration

Microsoft Teams is essential for productivity with the continued importance of remote work. Microsoft Teams will be located in the Windows taskbar, allowing the app to be more integrated than before. This is comparable to Apple’s FaceTime app in macOS, where launching video calls is easy to navigate. As always, Microsoft Teams will be available on Mac, iOS, Android devices, and Windows PCs.

Now Micro is ready to deploy devices that are compatible with Windows 11 for your organization. Visit our website or reach out to our Senior Systems Consultant and Windows expert, Jon Anderson at jona@nowmicro.com to learn how you can integrate Windows 11 into your network.

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Users: Your largest and weakest attack surface

October is Cyber Security month! When you exclaim that this month’s focus is security to most admin and IT stakeholders, you’re likely to receive a chuckle or an eye roll. They know the truth of the matter. Our mindfulness of security can’t be limited to a singular month. 

It’s an ongoing process that literally never ends.

Who then is Cyber Security month for? I’ll give you a hint. They interface with your organization’s data, devices and services daily and often don’t regard security as their first or even third priority. You got it; Cyber Security month is all about making your users more aware of the threats your organization faces.  

We often spend a lot more time discussing our plans to harden servers, implement new identity security policies or protect our users’ credentials with MFA. Don’t get me wrong, those things are essential in today’s world, but it’s hard not to notice a gap in those strategies. That gap is the users.  

Most experts estimate that 70% – 90% of malicious breaches start with or include some form of social engineering. Our users are every organization’s largest attack surface and softest target. Bad actors know this and are increasingly aggressive and cunning in their attempts. Every user holds something a bad actor would like to get their hands on. 

Take a user who doesn’t need access to any data or systems but needs email to communicate. If that user leaks credentials, it can still be a treasure trove for a bad actor in the form of a global address list harvest or intel derived from exfiltrated emails that allows them to refine and target spear-phishing attempts. When we read about a large breach in the news, we often picture a group coordinating an attack to launch all at once when it’s far more likely that attack started very small and happened over time.

So how do we go about hardening our users? It would be nice if we could just apply a patch or update their firmware, but a more tactful approach is needed. We believe that process is three-pronged.

Communication

Your organization culture around communicating anything IT-related is very important and often overlooked. 

Simply making your users aware of the current threats and where to report them can go a long way to thwarting social engineering. Be consistent with your communications. Set up a shared mailbox so multiple crafting IT-related messages can appear as one unified voice. Apply templates to your emails, so the appearance is consistent. Be concise; not enough or too much information can be harmful. Stick to the who, what, why, and how of the threat. Don’t forget to include where a user should go to report social engineering attempts.

Training

This can mean different things depending on the size of your organization. In smaller organizations, it may mean taking 10 minutes during a company meeting to show examples of social engineering attempts. In larger organizations, it may mean contracting a professional trainer to speak to individual business units or even training leaders in those units to talk about threats to their teams.

Attack Simulation

The benefits of a simulated penetration test against our networks are obvious, but we can also apply this approach to our users. An attack simulation targeting your users with social engineering or a fake malware payload will not only give your organization an idea of its vulnerabilities but is also one of the best ways to raise your users’ awareness. The approach of an attack simulation with training and communication as a fast follow can grab your users’ attention far better than any of these components on their own.

How do I simulate attacks? 

Just like network penetration testing, there are plenty of tools to help you launch attack simulations and parse the data you receive.  

  • Microsoft 365 Defender P2 – If you happen to have Defender P2 or an M365/O365 A5/M5/E5 plan, you have a very robust set of tools for simulating attacks.
  • Choose from a wide variety of templated attacks that help target specific business units, just like a seasoned spear-phisherman.
  • Simulate malware payloads and malicious links with a variety of different delivery methods.
  • Automatically assign pre-built training modules to users that click malicious links or input their credentials.
  • Robust after-action reporting to help you know where to invest in training.   
  • Now Micro Security Awareness Training – If you don’t have Microsoft Licensing, you’re not out of luck, Now Micro has the tools to simulate attacks against your Microsoft or Google environments.
    • Phishing Security Tests
    • Automated Security Awareness Program
    • Security Hints & Tips
    • Automated Training Campaigns
    • Phish Alert Button (Ability to report & delete phishing emails)
    • Phishing Reply Tracking (Track if a user replies to a simulated phishing email & what information)
    • Industry Benchmarks
    • Monthly Email Exposure Check: Monthly reports show which email addresses are exposed on the Internet and are a target for phishing attacks

Recognizing the growing need to protect all your endpoints, including your users, is our focus at Now Micro.  If you have any questions or would like our help, visit our Managed Services page on our website.

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Are you prepared for IT threats?

Many things cause a business owner to have nightmares — at the top of the list is a computer failure that stops operations in its tracks. Unfortunately, no company is immune to the threat of data failure. Recently, for retail giant Target, the fear became a reality as nearly every register in all stores throughout the United States went down.

Fortunately, the system outage only lasted two hours. But, that two hours of downtime cost Target roughly $50 million in lost sales and caused their stock shares to drop by two percent. In reality, Target’s ability to go from a catastrophic outage to getting back online in such a short time is a huge accomplishment. With significant IT infrastructure in place to respond, the company could investigate the problem, determine that there had been no data breach, and reboot all systems to full operation quickly. For the company, assuring that no data had been compromised was vital. In 2013, a data breach affected 41 million customers and resulted in a legal settlement costing them millions.

How you protect your data is critical to the success of your business — no matter your size. For a health organization, your data includes detailed medical and insurance information. There are endless client files and records for law offices, financial planners have high-level access to sensitive financial portfolios, the list goes on. No matter the industry, data is critical. In many cases, data security methods are heightened by legally mandated regulations like HIPAA and PCI.

Be Prepared

So, how do you protect your company from cybersecurity threats and data failure? Target spends hundreds of millions of dollars each year. The key is to find an affordable technology partner who you can trust. As seen in the Target event, data issues and cyber attacks don’t only happen during business hours. You have to be prepared to respond 24/7. At Now Micro, we make it a priority to be available when the need for help arises. Our service desk technicians answer the phone live 24 hours a day. But that is only a tiny piece of your Cyber Security response plan. Most of our work occurs before disaster strikes. We help ensure that you have up-to-date systems needed to prevent an attack or data failure and back-ups in place when an attack occurs.

Your Industry Needs

Although all industries need comprehensive data and cybersecurity infrastructure, the needs vary depending on the types of data stored and industry-specific regulatory requirements. Here is a shortlist of how Now Micro customizes our services to serve the cybersecurity needs of different industries:

 Manufacturing

We protect your intellectual property — the core of your ability to be profitable for the long term — and put in place processes to ensure the reliability of manufacturing operations.

 Healthcare

HIPAA and other compliance requirements are critical in the healthcare industry. We address these needs and ensure brand protection, secure connectivity, and offer a unified security platform.

Small and Midsize Businesses

Each small and midsize business has its own unique needs, with expense management a key factor. Therefore, we provide affordable options, giving you access to the same level of expertise that large companies have at their disposal.

Retail

In a retail operation, the ability to continually process transactions without hiccups is critical. We help you ensure the reliability of your POS system while also assisting with compliance needs.

Law & Finance

Legal and financial institutions/advisors need to secure sensitive data and are subject to intense compliance regulations. We help ensure all needs are met and a backup system in place to allow recovery in the event of a data attack or failure.

Ready to Serve

Information technology and cybersecurity are overwhelming topics, but they don’t have to be. Click here to learn more about our comprehensive IT and Cyber Security services. Give Now Micro a call today, and we can work together to define a plan that meets your needs so that you can relax knowing that your business is well cared for.

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Notable Microsoft Teams Announcements!

The Most Notable Microsoft Teams Announcements of 2020 (through Oct) 

The later part of 2020 has seen a flurry of updates, previews and announced roadmap items for Microsoft Teams.  Let us look at the announcements that are likely to have the most impact. 

HealthCare: Virtual Rounding and Care Coordination 

2020 has been a stressful time for health care professional across the globe.  From exposure risks to PPE shortages, healthcare providers are turning to technology to provide solutions.   Microsoft has answered this call by announcing Virtual Rounding and Care Coordination.   

Virtual rounding, a Teams app that aims to reduce exposure while health care professionals do their daily checkups on their patients.  The goal is to limit contact to infected or vulnerable patients by leveraging portable carts equipped with video screen, mics, camera’s, and speakers.  This allows healthcare professionals to maintain distancing when physical presence is not needed for diagnostics or treatment. 

Care Coordination, which began its private preview October 1st, allows healthcare to aggregate patient data, provide care plans and test results and communicate with each other regardless of physical location all in a HIPAA compliant platform.  The introduction of Teams for care coordination aims to improve efficiency while minimizing exposure. 

SharePoint home sites for Teams   

The SharePoint home site experience announced in 2019 allows organization to create a new or migrate their existing intranet sites to SharePoint.  With the increasing ability to embed your organizations apps and resources into Microsoft Teams many organizations are hoping Teams will be come the single pane of glass for all needs.   

So why create a home site to serve as your organizations intranet if it will detract from all the work you have done in teams?  

Enter the SharePoint home site app for Teams.  This home site app allows you to deploy your intranet home site through the Teams client. 

The announcement came to us in September 2020 and we are eagerly awaiting release details. 

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-sharepoint-blog/innovations-for-workplace-communications-and-employee-engagement/ba-p/1696149

Teams Breakout Rooms 

Many in person conferences and events will include a keynote or introduction meeting that all attendees are present for before breaking into smaller groups for more granular content.  Recreating this experience virtually has proven difficult.  Microsoft Teams breakout rooms hopes to simplify this experience.  

Teams Breakout Rooms will allow meeting organizer to split attendees into smaller groups and bring everyone back together without the need to drop and rejoin multiple meetings.   

The announcement for Teams breakout rooms came to us in July and we hope to see previews or general availability before the end of 2020. 

Microsoft Teams Breakout Rooms feature rolling out in preview

Advanced Communication Add-on 

2020 has seen an interesting race to provide more attendees, more features, and more video feeds between collaboration platforms.  The majority of normally in person conferences, large presentations and even college orientations have been converted to virtual events.  2020 more than ever has created a need for very large virtual events.   

Microsoft’s answer to this need is the advanced communications add-on.  At release, the advance communication add-on increased the maximum attendees for Teams live events to 20,000.   

Features coming later this year include: 

  • Teams meeting maximum members increase to 1,000 
  • The ability for a Teams meeting to have up 20,000 overflow participants in a view only meeting experience 
  • Custom Lobby Branding 

To take advantage of these features, the organizer of the meeting/live event will need the advanced communication add-on currently priced at $12 per user/month.  Attendees DO NOT need the add-on. There is also a 60-day trial available through the admin center. 

Considering this new and not quite yet saturated market, I would expect to see more feature announcements coming soon. 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/teams-add-on-licensing/advanced-communications#:~:text=%20Advanced%20Communications%20provides%20enhanced%20calling%20and%20meeting,across%20meetings%20for%20your%20internal%20and…%20More%20

Custom Meeting Layouts 

If you are looking to make a good impression on clients or impress you coworkers with your big presentation, Microsoft may have given you a secret weapon.  Teams custom meeting layouts allow you, the presenter to customize what attendees are seeing.  Microsoft Ignite gave us a preview of new tech allowing you to overlay the presenter on a PowerPoint slide.  Who knows, maybe someday virtual meetings may look more professional than traditional in-person meetings with half the effort!