Posts by Joaoferreira

What’s new for Microsoft Viva – August 2025

The August updates for Microsoft Viva were focused on the communications apps. Viva Connections, Viva Amplify, and Viva Engage all received interesting improvements, but here are the ones that stood out for me.

First, Viva Connections is making it easier to keep up with SharePoint news, it will send weekly Microsoft Teams notifications reminding users of unread SharePoint news from the past week. These notifications link directly to the Unread tab in Viva Connections and are enabled by default, though they can be managed in Teams settings.

Another highlight is AI‑generated audio briefings for SharePoint news in Viva Connections. This feature requires a Microsoft 365 Copilot license and offers hands‑free playback.

There’s more to explore this month, so keep reading to see all the updates and how they can help you improve communication and engagement across your organization.

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By João Ferreira Sep 9, 2025 Microsoft Viva, What's New 0 Comments

What’s new for Microsoft Teams – August 2025

August was one of those months with updates in all major Microsoft Teams features. We got improvements to meetings, chats, and devices – but the one that really stood out was workflows triggered by emoji reactions. I know it sounds odd, but reacting with an emoji can escalate a support issue, or route a message to the appropriate channel.

Meetings can now share recap notes and follow-up tasks directly to SharePoint as a news post, chats got a new collaborative space for real-time collaboration, and iPad users finally have proper external audio device controls and camera switching.

These monthly updates keep rolling out whether we’re ready or not. Some are game-changers, others are just nice to have. Either way, it’s worth staying on top of what’s new – you never know which feature might end up saving you time every day.

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By João Ferreira Sep 8, 2025 What's New 0 Comments

What’s new for Microsoft Viva – July 2025

July delivered a substantial wave of updates for Microsoft Viva, with Viva Engage receiving the most significant attention. The platform saw multiple feature releases that will impact how organizations manage communities and recognize expertise.

Two key developments stand out from this month’s releases: the AI Audio Briefing feature for Viva Connections Mobile, which introduces personalized audio summaries for mobile users, and the self-nomination capability for Community Expert status in Viva Engage, which allows community members to request expert recognition rather than relying solely on administrator assignments.

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By João Ferreira Aug 9, 2025 What's New 0 Comments

What’s new for Microsoft Teams – July 2025

July delivered several meaningful updates that will enhance your Teams experience and productivity as you return to work after summer, including new accent color personalization options that allow users to customize the visual appearance of their Teams interface, an enhanced meeting join bar that provides seamless access to meetings you’ve RSVP’d to with direct joining capabilities and multi-meeting support, and intelligent recap features powered by AI that help users catch up on missed meetings with generated notes and follow-up tasks.

To learn more about these announcements and ensure you’re making the most of these productivity enhancements, continue reading for detailed coverage of each feature, including rollout timelines, admin considerations, and potential benefits for your Microsoft Teams environment.

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By João Ferreira Aug 8, 2025 What's New 0 Comments

What’s new for Microsoft Teams – June 2025

June was packed with announcements and new updates, and for the second year in a row I feel that after Summer Teams gets a significant leap to make everyone more productive when returning to work after the summer break.

The standout theme this month is breaking down barriers – whether it’s external collaboration, time management, or information organization. Microsoft is clearly addressing the pain points we’ve all been experiencing in our daily workflows.

My highlights this month focus on three features that will genuinely impact how we work: external file sharing capabilities, improved meeting time management, and better message organization. These aren’t just incremental updates – they’re solutions to real problems we face every day.

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By João Ferreira Jul 1, 2025 What's New 0 Comments

What’s new for Microsoft Viva – June 2025

June brought significant updates across the Microsoft Viva suite, with Engage, Insights, and Amplify receiving the most substantial enhancements.

The standout development this month is the Expanded Copilot in Viva Engage, which will transform the platform into a personalized AI companion. This feature will help users stay informed, discover relevant insights, and recall important information from past conversations and discussions. The rollout begins in July 2025 for Microsoft 365 Copilot-licensed users, so it’s worth reviewing your licensing setup and preparing your change management strategy now.

A quick reminder for those still using Viva Goals – Microsoft has added a data export option to help you transition your information to another system before the sunset. If you haven’t started planning your migration, this new export functionality makes the process more straightforward.

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By João Ferreira Jul 1, 2025 Microsoft Viva, What's New 0 Comments

How to Fix the Broken Connection Between Exchange Calendar and Microsoft Teams

Recently, I encountered an interesting connectivity challenge between Exchange calendars and Microsoft Teams. One day, everything was running smoothly when suddenly my Teams room devices began experiencing issues. If this sounds familiar, let me share the troubleshooting journey and solution that could save you considerable time.

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By João Ferreira Jun 17, 2025 Devices, Meetings 0 Comments

What’s new for Microsoft Viva – May 2025

May 2025 has wrapped up, and while we’re observing that familiar pattern of a slightly quieter release cycle for Microsoft’s employee experience platform, there’s still some valuable content to explore! The innovation continues, just with a more strategic and focused approach these days.

This month, Viva Engage took center stage with a comprehensive set of updates designed to enhance daily user interactions and overall platform usability. While the update frequency has moderated compared to Viva’s initial rapid deployment phase, the quality and strategic focus of these enhancements really stand out. For organizations invested in Microsoft’s employee experience suite, these May updates definitely worth your attention and consideration.

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By João Ferreira Jun 3, 2025 What's New 0 Comments

What’s new for Microsoft Teams – May 2025

May 2025 brought us some substantial updates that are set to significantly enhance your meeting management and collaboration capabilities. This month delivered two key features that address long-standing user requests and workflow challenges that many organizations have been navigating for quite some time.

The major highlights include the introduction of Lobby chat functionality and a comprehensive overhaul of external file sharing in chat conversations. These aren’t just incremental improvements – they represent meaningful solutions to real collaboration pain points that teams face daily. The external file sharing enhancement, in particular, addresses what has been a persistent challenge for cross-organizational collaboration.

I’m particularly impressed by how these updates focus on streamlining essential business processes rather than simply adding new features for the sake of innovation. Microsoft appears to be taking a more strategic approach to addressing genuine user needs and workflow inefficiencies. The timing couldn’t be better, as hybrid work continues to evolve and organizations need more sophisticated tools for both internal coordination and external partnership management.

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By João Ferreira Jun 3, 2025 What's New 0 Comments

What’s new for Microsoft Viva – April 2025

Hey there, Microsoft Viva users! April’s updates were surprisingly light this month – in fact, this is the shortest Viva update I’ve seen since I started tracking these monthly changes. It definitely makes me wonder about the future direction of Viva as a suite of products.

Most of the action this month happened in the communication applications – Viva Connections, Viva Amplify, and Viva Engage. I’m particularly happy to see more first-party integrations becoming available for Viva Connections, which should make the platform more useful for many teams.

This month also brought an important reminder that Viva Goals is being sunset at the end of the year. If your organization is using Viva Goals for OKR management, now’s the time to inform your users and start planning for alternative solutions!

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By João Ferreira May 6, 2025 Microsoft Viva 0 Comments