M365 Roundup, July 2022: Shared Channels Go Live and Yammer Starts Becoming Viva Engage
TL;DR
- Teams shared channels reached general availability in July 2022, using B2B direct connect to let external partners collaborate in a channel without tenant switching.
- The Microsoft Partner Network becomes the Microsoft Cloud Partner Program on October 3, 2022, organized around six solution areas, with Gold and Silver status eventually retired.
- Microsoft recommends moving off the V1 Exchange Online PowerShell module with MFA to the V2 module (v2.0.5) before support ends, with retirement set for December 31, 2022.
- Viva Engage replaces the Communities app in Teams in late August 2022 without changing underlying Yammer services, licensing, or admin controls.
- Teams users receiving a one-on-one chat from an external user now get an invitation to accept or block, with the ability to block at any point afterward.
July 2022 is heavy on collaboration news: shared channels finally hit general availability, Excel landed inside the meeting window, and Yammer began its slow rename. For admins, the quieter items matter more, including a PowerShell module retirement and the first concrete dates for the partner program overhaul. Admin items first.
The admin column: a module retirement and a program rename
Exchange Online PowerShell with MFA heads for retirement (end of life)
If you still use the Exchange Online PowerShell module with MFA, described in the V1 module documentation (opens in new tab), Microsoft recommends moving to the latest GA version of the V2 module (v2.0.5) to avoid needing service or support that is no longer available after August 31, 2022. Retirement lands December 31, 2022.
The partner program gets its new name and date (major changes)
On October 3, 2022, the existing Microsoft Partner Network (MPN) becomes the Microsoft Cloud Partner Program. Longer term, legacy competencies and the Gold and Silver partner statuses stop being valid (late 2023). The new program is organized around partner proficiency in six technology areas:
- Data & AI (Azure)
- Infrastructure (Azure)
- Digital & App Innovation (Azure)
- Business Applications
- Modern Work
- Security
More information: Solutions Partner overview (opens in new tab) and the Partner Center dashboard (opens in new tab). There is a lot to unpack here; we cover the full program analysis in a dedicated post.
OneDrive sync health reports add macOS (new feature)
The OneDrive sync health dashboard now supports macOS devices in addition to Windows, with both high-level and detailed views of sync health across the organization.
Rollout: generally available.
Unassign Teams policies in bulk (new feature)
The new Unassign policies in bulk feature in the Teams admin center fetches all users directly assigned to a selected policy and removes the assignment in batches of up to 500 users at once, so users fall back to the correct effective policy via group assignment or the Global (org-wide) default. The operation can take a while; progress shows in the Activity log, and results are visible in the Manage users tab.
Rollout: late August.
Teams: shared channels lead seven updates
Shared channels reach general availability (new feature)
Powered by B2B direct connect, shared channels let parties inside and outside an organization work as one extended team in a channel without tenant switching. With shared channels you can:
- Collaborate with members who are not part of the team in which a channel was created
- Give both parties a gateway to share files, hold conversations, meet, and review documents in a secure and deliberate way, without switching tenants
- Keep your flow of work, since external shared channels appear alongside your organization's channels
- Use the full suite of Teams collaboration capabilities with external partners in other Azure AD orgs, exactly as with internal colleagues
Video clips in chat (new feature)
Record and send a short, lightweight video message in chat instead of plain text. Currently available in Teams (Free) and Essentials purchased directly through Microsoft.
Rollout: public preview in August, generally available in September.
Collaborative Annotations (new feature)
All meeting participants can draw, type, or react on top of content being shared in the meeting, using a toolset powered by Microsoft Whiteboard. During desktop screen sharing with Annotation mode enabled, attendees see the Annotations toolbar and can start marking up the shared screen to drive discussion.
Rollout: generally available.
Digital Contact Center Platform (new feature)
The Microsoft Digital Contact Center Platform equips contact centers to engage customers across voice, video, and digital channels, built on Dynamics 365, Teams, Power Platform, and Nuance, the newest member of the Microsoft family.
More info: Introducing the Microsoft Digital Contact Center Platform (opens in new tab) and the Inspire session video (opens in new tab).
Rollout: TBD.
Excel Live (new feature)
Excel Live puts a shared workbook inside the Teams meeting itself: one click and everyone can edit in real time without leaving the meeting window. It supports Sheet Views, so each co-editor can sort and filter as needed without changing anyone else's view. Learn more here (opens in new tab).
Rollout: public preview in August.
External chats now arrive as invitations (new feature)
When a new one-on-one chat arrives from an external user, Teams users receive an invitation to accept or block. Users can also block an external user at any later point, revoking access to presence and incoming messages.
Rollout: mid-August, completing by early September.
Pop shared content into its own window (new feature)
Teams now supports popping out shared content, including screen sharing, PowerPoint Live, and Whiteboard, into a separate window during meetings.
Rollout: early August, completing by the end of September.
SharePoint: Word documents open in Review mode
When a document is shared with you for review, you now land in Review mode automatically. Review mode withholds full edit control; instead you add suggestions as comments or tracked changes, and document owners or collaborators with full edit permissions approve any incorporation of those changes. The change applies to Word documents shared on the web through OneDrive, SharePoint, or Word online.
Rollout: late July, completing early August.
Viva: time insights and a Yammer rename
Meeting category insights in the Viva Insights app (new feature)
Meeting categories in Outlook let users tag, label, and group calendar events. Meeting category insights, arriving in the Viva Insights app in Teams, shows how time is allocated across those categories, with data for the last 3 months, the last 4 weeks, and the next 4 weeks, all inside a new Effective meetings tab.
Future updates will add personalized insights and suggestions for meeting habits, plus shareable meeting plans for setting team norms.
Rollout: mid-August, completing by late August.
Viva Engage replaces the Communities app (new feature)
Announced by Satya Nadella at Microsoft Inspire, Viva Engage is the newest Viva app and directly replaces the Communities app in Teams, in the app bar and in the Teams admin center alike. No underlying Yammer functionality changes: on web, mobile, and desktop, Yammer.com and the Yammer iOS and Android apps remain the standalone experiences, admin controls are untouched, and the same network, home feed, and communities carry over. Custom re-branding done for the Communities app is respected, and a Yammer license is still required.
As part of this release, storyline posts enter preview; see MC402424, with storyline public preview in Yammer and Viva Engage beginning late August.
Rollout: late August.
Frequently asked questions
What changes for users when Viva Engage replaces the Communities app?
Functionally little at launch. Viva Engage shows the same network, home feed, and communities as Yammer, respects existing Communities re-branding, keeps Yammer.com and the Yammer mobile apps as the standalone experiences, and still requires a Yammer license.
What should you do about the Exchange Online PowerShell V1 module retirement?
Move any scripts and admin workflows using the V1 module with MFA to the latest GA version of the V2 module, v2.0.5 as of July 2022, to avoid running unsupported tooling after August 31, 2022, ahead of the December 31, 2022 retirement.
Can users block an external chat after accepting it?
Yes. The new external access invitation flow lets Teams users block an external user at any point, which revokes that user's access to presence and incoming messages.
Feature months hide setting changes
External access flows, sharing defaults, admin policies: every month some of them move. CloudCapsule scans 250+ controls per tenant in about 60 seconds so the changes never pile up unseen.
Run a free scan
Written by
Nick Ross
CEO · Microsoft MVP · Founder, T-Minus 365
Nick is not just a CEO, he's a respected thought leader and influencer in the MSP space. Tens of thousands of MSPs learn through his YouTube channel, T-Minus365. Nick has been honored as a three-time Microsoft MVP for his educational content; his expertise and influence are the backbone of our mission, ensuring that you are in the best hands when it comes to security.
Nick joined Pax8 in 2017, where he would ultimately oversee product management for PSA and Microsoft integrations. Following his tenure at Pax8, Nick has continued to demonstrate his leadership prowess as an executive at various MSPs, culminating in his most recent role at Sourcepass.
Nick holds a Bachelor's Degree in Business Management from Florida State University, as well as a Minor Degree in Entrepreneurship. In his free time, Nick is an avid hiker, reader, and fitness-junkie.
