One of the advantages of using Office 365 instead of a static copy of Office that is a one-time software purchase, is that you always automatically have the most updated copy of all the Office programs, like Outlook, Word, Excel, etc.
Whenever a new update comes out it can bring with it ways to significantly improve productivity, a boost in data security, or help you do something you’d been wishing you could do in one of the Office 365 programs.
Microsoft’s Office 365 is the most popular cloud service in the world and part of that popularity comes from the unique combination of cloud-enabled work productivity and collaboration apps included.
These are:
- Word
- Excel
- Outlook
- PowerPoint
- Publisher (PC only)
- Access (PC only)
- OneDrive
- Exchange (Business Premium)
- SharePoint (Business Premium)
- Teams (Business Premium)
It’s always fun to get a sneak peek at upcoming feature updates, so we’ve taken a look at the Microsoft 365 Roadmap for feature updates coming in 2020 for any of the apps included in Office 365 to bring you a preview of some of the most helpful.
Watch for These Updates to Office 365 this Year
From time-saving features like the ability to see @mention comments in notification emails to security enhancements that protect files automatically and analyze phishing threats, the updates to Office 365 coming this year include multiple enhancements to help your office run more effectively.
Improvement in Data Loss Prevention
Currently, you need to designate a file as sensitive in SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business for it to have additional security features applied if it hasn’t yet been scanned. An update planned for February 2020 will allow Office 365 Data Loss Prevention to treat all files in those applications as sensitive by default until the file has been fully scanned for sensitive information.
Updates to Sensitivity Labeling in Office & Office Online
Another security enhancement coming is the ability to manually apply Microsoft Information Protection sensitivity labels in the online versions of Word, PowerPoint, and Excel to properly tag documents for the security policy handling.
Another feature update is automatic sensitivity labeling being added in Office apps on Windows. The labels will be able to be applied based upon content inspection that’s already built into Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Outlook.
Next Steps Panel Added to SharePoint
To help those working in SharePoint team sites, Microsoft is adding suggestions for next steps to take based upon the activities people are doing in the app. This will be added in the in-service help area at the top of the interface.
More Details from @mention Emails
Have you ever received an email letting you know that someone @mentioned you in an Office file and wished you knew what they said without having to go into the file to look?
If so, you’re about to get your wish. A feature update coming soon will allow you to read through the comments that include your @mention from within the email notification.
More Insight into Phishing Campaigns in Office 365 ATP
The Advanced Threat Protection in Office 365 will soon have the ability to see details of phishing campaigns added. In a new campaign view, you’ll be able to see how a phishing attack progressed over time and the impact it had on your company. This feature will give security administrators important data that can help them better protect their networks.
More Scheduling Options in Teams
The scheduling form in Microsoft Teams is getting an update with added features. The new form will include things like:
- Better scheduling assistant
- Time zone picker
- Availability status on people and locations
- Option to add required and optional attendees
Safe Links for Phishing Protection in Office Online
As you see from the features already listed above, security is a big theme in the upcoming updates. It’s no surprise, because statistics show that in 2018, 62% of businesses experienced phishing attacks.
This next update is going to be an incredibly helpful one, because URLs to malicious sites are used much more often in phishing emails than file attachments.
Safe Links in Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection is being extended to Office Online, previously it had only been available in the Office clients on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android. Safe Links inspects a URL to see if its malicious, and if so, the user is redirected to a warning page rather than the dangerous website.
Free Stock Images Coming to SharePoint
Finding images that you can use in your SharePoint sites is going to be made much easier. Microsoft is adding free to use stock images that will be available to users through the SharePoint image file picker interface.
Two New Power Automate Triggers in Teams
Power Automate is an automation app that works with multiple Office 365 programs to save time by using triggers to execute various tasks automatically.
Two new triggers are being added for Microsoft Teams:
- A trigger action for when a new teammate joins, which could allow onboarding materials to be sent to them automatically.
- Ability to create a custom message action with the “for a selected message” trigger.
Both triggers can be built directly from within the Teams interface.
Make Full Use of Microsoft Office 365 with Help from Connect2Geek
Often companies are only using a small percentage of what Office 365 has to offer. Unleash the full power of your platform with help from Connect2Geek! We’ll optimize your workflows and help you get the most out of Office 365 for productivity, security, and more.
Schedule a free Office 365 consultation today! Call 208-468-4323 or reach out online.