Earlier this year, IT leaders around the globe were forced to reprioritize their roadmaps, resources, and budgets to equip employees for remote work practically overnight. Suddenly, the use of video communications skyrocketed. People adjusted quickly to moving meetings online, but one of the most notable challenges driven by the shift to remote work has been to maintain the personal connections that come from the ad hoc and serendipitous conversations that happen in the physical office. 

In fact, studies show¹ that a person’s voice is the signal that builds personal connections and creates clarity, which is why actually speaking with colleagues and customers is more important now than ever. The use of Teams Calling has skyrocketed as well, with Teams users making over 650 million calls in October, up 11 fold over March of this year. And on average, calls are just one-fourth the length of a typical meeting, making calling a quick and efficient way to reconnect and collaborate. 

Today, we’re announcing several enhancements to Teams Calling that make it easier for organizations and their employees to strengthen connections and create new ones with just a quick call.

Get more out of every call, with a rich calling experience

Calling alone is a great way to reconnect and quickly share information. However, when you integrate calls with different modes of communication, they can act as a productivity force multiplier. We’re introducing several ways to create a more powerful and streamlined calling experience.

• Streamlined calling experience: Teams is the hub for chat, collaboration, meetings, apps, and workflows, and the enhanced Calls app brings the most important calling elements—the dial pad, call history, voicemail, contacts, and settings—into a single location, making it easier to stay connected in the flow of your work.
• Save call recordings in OneDrive and SharePoint: Call recordings are a great way to keep track of the ad hoc brainstorming that often happens on a call. Now, Teams Admins can take advantage of the tight Teams and OneDrive or SharePoint integration and elect to make OneDrive or SharePoint the default recording storage location, in lieu of Stream. This new capability provides powerful capabilities such as sharing with external guests, quicker access to transcripts, and greater storage capacity. Learn more.
• CarPlay support: Placing and receiving calls in the car will soon be easier than ever, thanks to CarPlay support for Teams Calling. With CarPlay, you can use your vehicle’s built-in controls to operate Teams, including using Siri to place and answer calls.
• Spam identification: Spam calls are frustrating, disturb the flow of work, and make you less likely to answer calls from unfamiliar phone numbers. Using advanced industry techniques, Teams will identify potential spam calls so you can feel confident answering incoming calls. Additionally, Teams will digitally attest outgoing calls to prevent these calls from being rejected by external recipients. 
• Transfer calls between mobile and desktop: Teams makes it easy to place and receive calls from several different endpoints, including desktop and mobile devices, but sometimes you need to move locations or devices to finish your call. Starting in early 2021, you will be able to shift your calls between your mobile and desktop endpoints with an easy-to-use interface on the Teams app.
• Call merge: Calling users can bring multiple different one to one calls together to combine conversations and simplify multiple conversations. Call merge is now available for both PSTN calls and VoIP calls.
• Low-data mode: Whether you want to preserve data or are just in a location with a poor or limited network connection, sometimes it’s helpful to limit the amount of data you’re using during a video call or meeting. Starting in early 2021, users will be able to adjust their settings in Teams to cap the amount of data that will be used during video calls and establish different settings based on network availability (cellular, wifi, or always).
• Enhanced reverse number look-up: With automatic reverse number look-up, you’ll see the name of the caller at the time they’re calling and in your activity feed and voicemail.

Provide advanced calling needs for your business

Some parts of the business require additional calling capabilities and workflows. Whether that’s keeping mission-critical operations running or resolving key customer issues, Teams supports a broad range of needs across your business with help from these new capabilities.

• Voice enabled channels: A new collaborative calling capability enables teams to integrate call queues into a specific channel, allowing for collaboration and information sharing before, during, and after the call. For example, IT or HR help desks can now be managed from a channel so available team members can answer the call, and easily share information about service tickets. Starting in early 2021, Teams users will have the option to create new channels that are voice-enabled, to start using this feature in preview.
• Certified Contact Center solutions: Resolving a customer call in contact centers is often a team sport, so it’s important to quickly identify and reach the right colleague. Contact center solutions can use presence and user APIs to seamlessly integrate with Teams, allowing agents to find the right colleagues to assist. Now, contact center providers can apply for Microsoft certification of their solutions, to provide customers with the confidence needed to manage important customer interactions. Learn more about the certification program and specific solutions that are undergoing certification, many of which will be complete in early 2021.
• Resilient calling: To support the most critical conversations in the event of an outage, the new Survivable Branch Appliance (SBA) allows users to place and receive PSTN calls even in the event of a network outage. This SBA will be available in preview this month to certified Session Border Controllers (SBC) vendors, allowing SBCs to link with the Teams client in the event the client cannot reach the Microsoft Calling network. 
• Call transfer ring-back: While call transfers can be useful to connect the right people, making sure that calls remain connected during the process is critical for a great caller experience. Now Teams users can rest assured that when you transfer an important call, it will not disconnect just because someone on the other end is unavailable. If the transfer recipient does not answer the call, the call will ring back to the person making the transfer.

Stay connected with a portfolio of high-quality devices

Teams provides a great integrated softphone experience on both mobile and desktop, and a robust lineup of hardware options allow you to choose the right physical endpoints for your needs. From low-cost phones, to traditional desk and video phones, to Teams displays, there are options to fit every user and calling need. We’re excited to share a few new ways this device ecosystem can help you stay connected, no matter where you’re working.

• Teams displays: Whether you are working remotely or returning to the office, adding an intelligent companion device like the Teams display can revolutionize the way you work. A new experience now available on the Lenovo Thinksmart view, Teams displays integrate Cortana for hands-free productivity, use AI to help you stay productive and organized, and provide a dedicated device for your Teams collaboration needs. Learn more.
• Low-cost phones: To empower organizations to bring the best of Teams Calling to as many users as possible, we’re excited to bring low-cost phones to market with trusted partners Yealink and AudioCodes in early 2021. These devices integrate natively with the Teams phone app, bringing core Teams capabilities to life.
• Device as a Service: The new Teams Device as a Service offering provides flexible monthly payments, making it easier and more affordable than ever to get your users the devices they need. Simply navigate to the Device as a Service site where you can add devices to your cart and place an order in a matter of minutes. This service is currently available in the U.S., and availability for additional regions will be coming in 2021.

Do more with the power of partners

We have seen strong growth across our Teams partner ecosystem and have more than 300 specialized partners with calling solutions for Microsoft Teams, a 100% increase over the last year. These partners assist our customers with a wide variety of services and solutions including Direct Routing as a Service, deployment, adoption, devices, managed services, and network monitoring and reporting. Examples include our Partner of the Year award winner Continuant, and finalists Enabling Technologies, Communicativ, and Orange Business Services.

Continued commitment to Calling

These innovations are examples of our ongoing commitment to support spontaneous collaboration and personal connections that voice enables. We are honored and humbled to be recognized as a Leader in the 2020 Gartner Unified Communications as a Service Magic Quadrant. We will continue working hard to make Teams the most trusted and reliable voice solution available. Now more than ever, we all need a seamless way to stay connected with colleagues and customers, and with these capabilities, you can restore personal connections and manage the most critical calls for every part of your organization. Learn more about how Accenture, Australia Catholic University, ENGIE, and Tony’s Chocolonely are using Teams Calling to stay connected.

Lastly, with all these great capabilities coming to Teams Calling, it’s important to keep in mind that Teams Calling can be rolled out in weeks—not months or years—as Lumen (formerly CenturyLink) showed by rolling out Calling globally to over 40,000 users in 4 weeks. You can always reach out to your account team for more information, and the links below provide additional information and guidance.

• Learn more about Teams Calling on the Microsoft Teams Calling webpage.
• Get started with Teams for free.
• Get guidance and resources to get up and running quickly on Teams Calling with FastTrack.

¹ Harvard Business Review, “Type Less, Talk More ” (October 5, 2020)

The post Restore and maintain personal connections with new Microsoft Teams Calling features appeared first on Microsoft 365 Blog.

投資以在 Window 10 部署過程中協助您

隨著 Window 7 將於 2020 年 1 月 14 日終止支援，我們進行了投資，以協助您逐步取得 Windows 10 並保持最新狀態。

首先，我們以相容性為核心設計原則建立了 Windows 10 和 Office 365，並在 Windows 10 和 Office 365 中跨應用程式、增益集和巨集進行了投資，以確保您的環境在升級後仍如預期般運作。

Windows Autopilot 等工具可協助降低與建立、維護及載入自訂影像相關聯的成本與複雜性。電腦分析 (目前為公開預覽) 可提供情報，協助您就 Windows 用戶端的更新準備情況做出明智的決定。Office Readiness Toolkit 可協助您評估移轉至 Office 365 專業增強版的相容性。來自 Microsoft FastTrack 的電腦 App 保證計畫，提供了專用的工程資源，協助補救您在 Windows 10 和 Office 365 中可能遇到的任何應用程式相容性問題。

全新適用於 Windows 10 的 FastTrack 部署指導方針

有時您遇到的情況很複雜，甚至不確定從哪裡開始，或者遇到了移轉停滯的問題。有時候，您需要與專家對談以取得下一步的指導。今天，我很高興宣布推出新的適用於 Windows 10 的 FastTrack 部署指導方針就能做到。

透過 FastTrack，我們可以協助您制定技術計劃，判斷如何上線，以及部署新服務和/或使用者，並在部署時與您合作，充分發揮技術投資的最大價值。擁有 150 個以上合格服務或計劃授權的人，無需任何額外費用即可獲得此協助。

深入了解並開始使用

Microsoft 365 (包括 Windows 10 和 Office 365) 提供最安全的生產力體驗。我們致力於在每個步驟中與您一同合作。若要深入了解，請觀看我們的 Microsoft Mechanics 影片，然後登入 www.microsoft.com/FastTrack 以尋求協助並開始使用。

The post 透過全新 FastTrack 指導方針加快 Windows 10 部署 appeared first on Microsoft 365 Blog.

讓我們來看看 2 月的新增功能。

預防威脅並安全地共同作業

新的功能與服務能協助您更完善地管理複雜的威脅態勢，並且安全地進行溝通和共同作業。

透過 Microsoft 威脅專家來延伸安全性小組的能力：我們稱為 Microsoft 威脅專家的新受管理威脅獵捕服務，能夠協助您主動獵捕威脅並辨識優先順序，以充分運用 Windows Defender 進階威脅防護 (ATP) 的效能。這個服務可讓您透過全新的 [詢問威脅專家] 按鈕來獲得世界級專家的協助，協助您克服艱難的調查挑戰。移至 Windows Defender ATP 設定來套用公開預覽版。

讓醫療保健專業人士能夠安全地進行溝通和共同作業：我們於本月推出了 Microsoft Teams 的全新功能，能讓醫療保健組織擁有安全的傳訊機制和共同作業工作流程。優先通知能讓臨床醫生專注於管理病患照護工作的緊急訊息。此外，我們將 FHIR 電子健康記錄 (EHR) 資料與 Teams 整合的功能，讓臨床醫生可安全地存取病患記錄、與其他小組成員聊天，甚至召開視訊會議，打造全方位的團隊合作中心。這些功能目前提供私人預覽版，請瀏覽 Microsoft 365 與健康頁面及合作夥伴網站，深入了解 Teams 和 Microsoft 365 如何提升醫療保健團隊的工作效率。

透過電腦 App 保證計畫和 Microsoft FastTrack 安心地移轉到現代化電腦和雲端：我們的電腦 App 保證計畫是來自 Microsoft FastTrack 的全新服務，提供 Windows 10 和 Office 365 專業增強版的 App 相容性服務。FastTrack 同時也能針對如何設定 Exchange Online Protection、Office 365 進階威脅防護、Office 365 郵件加密和資料外洩防護原則提供指導。這些服務現已於全球推出，免費提供給符合資格 (擁有 150 個以上基座) 的客戶使用。登入 Microsoft FastTrack 並完成要求協助表格來開始使用。

在手機上取得 Microsoft 帳戶安全性警示：現在您可以透過 Microsoft Authenticator App 來接收個人 Microsoft 帳戶重要活動的安全性通知。收到推播通知時，您可以快速檢視帳戶活動，並視需要採取行動來保護您的帳戶。Microsoft Authenticator 也能用於新增帳戶的雙步驟驗證，以增加安全性。若要開始使用，請下載 Microsoft Authenticator App 並新增您的個人帳戶。

輕鬆管理工作並擷取資料

新功能擴展了您存取所有 App 和檔案、擷取並轉換資料，以及新增工作內容的能力。

使用全新 Windows 10 版 Office App 來迅速開始工作：全新的免費 Office App 提供您使用並充分發揮 Office 效能的簡易體驗。任何人只要使用公司、學校或個人 Microsoft 帳戶登入，就可以使用帳戶來快速存取所有可用的 App，並存取相關檔案和文件。組織也能充分運用整合協力廠商 App 的能力，讓使用者能跨組織搜尋文件和人員，並為自己的品牌自訂體驗。Office App 可以從 Microsoft Store 下載，需要目前的 Windows 10 版本，且能與任何 Office 365 訂閱、Office 2019、Office 2016 和 Office 搭配使用。

從相片直接新增資料到 Excel：使用 Excel App，您可以在 Android 裝置上拍攝列印出來之資料表的相片，並將相片自動轉換成可於 Excel 中編輯的表格。這個新的影像辨識功能讓您不再需要手動輸入紙本資料。這項功能已在 Android 版 Excel App 上推出，並即將提供 iOS 支援。

在 Microsoft To-Do 的工作中快速新增相片和檔案：附加檔案和相片來新增工作內容，使其更容易執行。這項高度要求的功能現已於所有平台上推出，並於您的所有裝置上同步，讓您能夠隨時隨地處理附加檔案的工作。

其他更新

• 來自Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) 的全新一次性密碼 (OTP) 能讓任何使用者以任何帳戶進行共用和共同合作。
• Azure AD 現在支援來自 Workday 的自動化使用者佈建功能，可快速且有效率地建立身分識別，讓員工從到職的第一天就能存取 Microsoft 365 App 和所有其他重要資源。
• 從本月開始，Teams 傳統型應用程式將與其他 Office 365 專業增強版 App 一起安裝於新安裝中。
• SharePoint 移轉工具的更新能更輕鬆地將您的資訊移轉到雲端，其中包括可以移轉網頁組件、頁面和網站瀏覽等增強功能。

The post 2 月的 Microsoft 365 新功能：進階安全性和推動現代化的工作場所 appeared first on Microsoft 365 Blog.