15 interesting features to use in Microsoft 365

Are you a lover of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Publisher or Outlook? Do you often use Teams and OneDrive or SharePoint? Check out these exciting new features of Microsoft 365!

1. Chat with yourself in Teams

Teams is part of daily business operations. From meetings to group chats, Microsoft 365 continues to update Teams to drive even more collaboration, with even an in-meeting gaming option. Recently, Microsoft announced new and improved Teams that makes Teams 2x faster while using only half the memory than before, increasing not only the performance of the application but also the user's workflow. .

You may notice a chat with your name appearing in the pinned section. This is an ideal space for you to save reminders, great for drafting, storing files, photos and screenshots, even taking notes during meetings.

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2. New Formatting Options in PowerPoint

PowerPoint proves itself to be dominant in terms of creativity. New design tools for shapes and graphics offer tons of customization options to create almost anything. The new Ungrouping capability allows an icon to be converted to a shape, further customizing the color, texture, and transparency.

3. Sync only what you need with SharePoint

Reduce unnecessary files on your hard drive with this latest feature update. Syncing Sharepoint (as well as Teams files) with your computer allows you to work directly in File Explorer and access files offline.

4. Video filters in Teams

This is not a new special feature. But for Microsoft 365 apps, this is an interesting move. The most you can do until recently is add background and blur focus. You can now enhance your video stream with new visual effects, like frames and styles, to enhance your meeting experience.

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5. Use your mouse as a laser pointer for better PowerPoint presentations

When in Presenter Mode, you'll see the laser pointer and drawing tool below the currently shared slide (Note: Only the presenter can point and draw on the slide). This feature has been part of PowerPoint for many years, but continues to be added to touch screen devices and Teams meetings.

6. Put the image in the Excel cell

Although Excel has had an image function for a while, using images in spreadsheets doesn't allow you to actually choose where to place the pictures. With this latest update, images can now be placed in cells with alt text. Additional image update capabilities include moving and resizing within cells, sorting, and filtering.

7. Record important meetings in Teams

In a world where there are many transcription tools to choose from, recording a meeting and plugging it into a completely different program can be a hassle. Luckily, Teams has a remedy for that! You can now record your meetings in real time. Text that appears with the meeting video, including the speaker's name and timestamp. This goes along with other recent translation and captioning features in Teams.

8. Summary of meetings with Outlook

Microsoft 365 is constantly listening to user feedback. And with many businesses operating globally, meetings are the lifeblood of collaboration. In an effort to reduce meeting fatigue and to further streamline collaboration, Outlook has been equipped with an update that brings meeting summaries to your calendar. With the meeting summary option, users can access key meeting elements such as files, transcripts, and recordings directly from the calendar event.

To access this feature, go to your calendar in Outlook and click on the past meeting. If there's a summary for that meeting, you'll find a link to the content of the meeting in the meeting details. All meeting participants will have access to the meeting summary.

9. Improve project management with Microsoft Planner

If you've never used Microsoft Planner, you're really missing out on one of the best Microsoft 365 apps. As an intuitive task management software, Microsoft Planner provides users with team collaboration and Tabular task organizer for simple project management, workflow organization, and centralization of all relevant information from files, emails, calendars, and conversations.

Microsoft Planner is included with Microsoft 365 Enterprise (E1, E3, E4, and E5), Microsoft 365 Business Essentials, and Microsoft 365 Business Premium and is designed to work with a number of different browsers. You can find Microsoft Planner in your Microsoft apps portal.

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10. Games for work in team meetings

Build a better connection with your colleagues with this new Teams feature! Constantly working non-stop makes people feel bored. Finding virtual opportunities to engage with colleagues is not easy these days, and Microsoft 365 recognizes the need for some midday breaks that can still be work-related without a feels like working.

The Games for Work app (developed by Microsoft Casual Games, Xbox Games Studio) lets you easily add games right where work happens - during Microsoft Teams meetings! This is definitely a fan favorite feature and will continue to be improved.

11. Create automatic summaries in Word

Instantly summarize documents with Microsoft Word Editor. This feature is currently only available online and is part of a number of new Artificial Intelligence (AI) integrations in Microsoft 365. To access the auto-generated summary, simply click the Editor tool in the tab Home and scroll down to Text Generation. Place the cursor in the document where you want to add a summary and click the button that appears in the Editor. The summary is based on the first thousand words of the document, and the tool is certainly still extremely new. But there are many reasons why a feature like this is useful.

For example, if you want to capture the essence of a long form report or are looking for a more concise way to shrink information for many people, this feature will do most of the work for you with minimal effort. minimum.

12. Vertical tabs in OneNote

Out of all the new features from Microsoft 365, this one seems simple but is also the most requested change. OneNote is already an extremely functional application. With pages, sections, and notebooks aligned on the left side, and cute color-coded little horizontal tabs disappear. To help simplify navigation and help OneNote look consistent across platforms like OneNote Web, Mac, and iPad, use the new vertical tab layout option to navigate through your notebooks, sections, and pages easier than ever.

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13. Set and achieve goals with Microsoft Viva

Microsoft Viva Goals is a simple approach to goal setting, it's a great tool to help create a persistent, purpose-driven workflow where employees align to achieve results. With the latest feature updates, Microsoft Viva Goals is now integrated in Teams, helping everyone in your organization understand their impact and stay a top priority.

The Viva Goals web app and Teams app allow leaders and employees to receive notifications about key goals and outcomes. In turn, the conversation around goal setting becomes an integral part of everyday conversations. Additionally, users can create, edit, and subscribe to OKRs directly in the Teams chat.

14. Better storage and security in OneDrive

Storage and security updates are always worth mentioning. This is because their impact benefits all of the features mentioned above and is why Microsoft 365 continues to set high standards for similar apps.

Specifically, Outlook email archives are now included with your OneDrive, meaning emails, calendar attachments, and pictures are safer than ever and easier to locate.

15. New AI Capabilities in Microsoft 365

AI is a very hot topic right now, and Microsoft 365 can't stay out of the game either. It was recently announced that Copilot, will begin to be tested in Microsoft 365 productivity and business applications suite. This new tool combines the power of AI models (like ChatGPT) with business data. and Microsoft 365 apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams.

Microsoft 365 is about unleashing creativity and enhancing productivity to make your work and personal life easier, while fostering some creativity in the process. It is clear that Microsoft is listening to the needs of those who rely heavily on its applications. And these latest updates are just a test of how these products can help improve the way we work and live. The whole goal here is a smarter approach, not a harder one. Similarly, Sherweb is committed to helping IT vendors and other resellers navigate these changes and continue to make the most of their relationship with Microsoft.

David Pac

Update 26 July 2023