How to Customize Your Microsoft Teams Group Chat with Custom Avatars

Microsoft Teams has rolled out a new feature that enhances the personalization of group chats. Now, every member of a group chat, including external users, can change the default group avatar to something more meaningful. This new capability aligns perfectly with the adage that an image is worth more than a thousand words.

Customize Microsoft Teams Group Chats Avatars

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What’s new for Microsoft Viva – March 2024

March was a bustling period for the Microsoft Viva suite, marked by a series of updates and announcements that promise to enhance the experience for both administrators and end users.

In March, Microsoft Viva introduced several updates, particularly for Viva Connections, aimed at improving the experience for both administrators and users. Additionally, Viva Engage and Viva Learning received updates that shouldn’t be missed. We’ll cover these changes and how they can benefit your interaction with the Viva suite.

Microsoft Viva updtes

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Exploring Copilot for Microsoft 365 in Teams with João and Rene – Part 2

Welcome back to our in-depth exploration of Copilot in Microsoft Teams. In the previous article, Rene Vlieger provided a comprehensive overview of what Copilot is, the prerequisites for integrating it into Microsoft Teams, and the benefits it brings to the table.

Building on that foundation, today’s post explore the practical applications of Copilot for end users and explain how administrators can manage and refine what is shown in Copilot. This ensures that your organization maximizes the value of your investment in Copilot licenses.

Copilot in Microsoft Teams

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What’s new for Microsoft Viva – February 2024

Employee experience is not a thing of the past, despite the buzz around Copilot. In fact, Microsoft Viva is constantly evolving to provide the best tools and solutions for your work and well-being. In this blog post, I’m reviewing the latest updates and features that were released in February 2024, covering all modules.

You will be amazed by the number of improvements and enhancements that Viva has to offer. There are more than 50 updates across the suite. Viva Engage now supports Article post type, which allows you to create and share engaging stories with rich media and interactive elements.

Another big change that happened in February was the retirement of Viva Topics. This does not mean that Viva Topics was a bad product or that Microsoft is giving up on knowledge management. On the contrary, Microsoft is investing all the AI initiatives around Copilot.

Microsoft Viva updtes

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How Copilot for Microsoft 365 in Microsoft Teams can boost your productivity and collaboration

Have you ever wished you had a personal assistant who could help you with your online meetings, take notes, answer your questions, and provide you with useful insights and tips? Well, now you can, thanks to Copilot for Microsoft 365 in Microsoft Teams.

Copilot is an AI-powered companion that integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Teams and enhances your meeting experience. Copilot is always listening and looking to make sure you don’t miss any of the information going on in the call. Whether you need to catch up on something you missed, ask a question, or get a summary of the key points, Copilot is there to assist you.

Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365 in Microsoft Teams meetings

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How to Show or Hide Copilot from Your Chat List in Microsoft Teams

If you are a licensed user for Copilot for Microsoft 365, you want to make sure that you are taking full advantage of the investment your organization made in you to give you access to this fantastic tool. Copilot is an AI companion that can assist you with various tasks such as information, conversation, and content creation.

Copilot in Microsoft Teams is available as a personal application but it also appears as a conversation in chat and you can use it from both locations. Despite being available in two different places, they provide exactly the same functionality and if you have it pinned to the sidebar as I do, you probably don’t need it to take valuable real estate space in the chat application.

Microsoft Copilot in Microsoft Teams

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How to Enable or Disable Share Any Window from the Taskbar in Windows 11

Windows 11 introduced a feature that allows users to easily share a window while in a meeting in Microsoft Teams by clicking on a share button directly from the taskbar. This experience was built to prevent you from jumping back and forth between applications and is extremely useful when sharing individual windows instead of the entire screen.

However, some users may not see this handy feature and may think that it is related to the new version of Microsoft Teams. Well, this is not true and the option can be enabled or disabled on the Windows settings. In this blog post, I will show you how to do that.

Share any window from Windows 11

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How to save the decorated background images generated by Microsoft Teams Premium

Microsoft Teams Premium is a new subscription that enhances the existing Teams features with more options that make Teams meetings more personalized, smart, and secure.

One of the most amazing features in Teams Premium is Decorate your background, a new creative background effect in Teams that makes meetings more enjoyable and personal by using AI to transform your meeting background. This feature allows you to seamlessly merge your physical and digital spaces, enabling you to change the appearance of your physical meeting room for each call. This technology allows for easy room makeovers, adding virtual plants, or festive decorations for special events, all without the need for an extreme makeover to your room.

Microsoft Teams Premium Decorate background

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How to Add a Watermark to Your Microsoft Teams Meetings

If you want to share sensitive or confidential information during your Microsoft Teams meetings, you might want to use a watermark to prevent unauthorized screenshots or recordings. A watermark is a subtle image that shows up on the meeting window, without blocking the view of the content. It displays the email address of each participant, so they know that the meeting is protected.

Microsoft Teams Watermark

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How to Use Elgato StreamDeck With the New Microsoft Teams

Do you want to supercharge your Microsoft Teams meetings with handy shortcuts that are just a few clicks away? If you do, then you might want to check out Elgato StreamDeck, a customizable controller that lets you create and execute actions with a single tap.

One of the coolest features of StreamDeck is that it integrates with Microsoft Teams, the popular communication and collaboration platform. With StreamDeck, you can control your Teams meetings with ease, such as muting/unmuting your microphone, turning on/off your camera, raising/lowering your hand, sharing your screen, and more.

Use Elgato StreamDeck with the new Microsoft Teams

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I've been working with Microsoft Technologies over the last ten years, mainly focused on creating collaboration and productivity solutions that drive the adoption of Microsoft Modern Workplace.