What News did November Bring to Office 365 Applications?

For the second half of the semester, we have prepared another autumn news in Microsoft Office 365 applications. This time we will introduce how to collaborate in Whiteboard better, what functions the new Stream has, and why Office 365 will no longer be called Office.

8 Nov 2022

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Live Collaboration and Whiteboard Video Embedding

Two practical innovations have appeared in the Whiteboard application. It is now possible to collaborate live, i.e., with others in the team in Whiteboard's environment, even during a call. It is thus an ideal tool (not only) for brainstorming and various initial drafts and sketches. In the case of simultaneous cooperation, we recommend turning on the cooperation cursors for greater clarity. This makes it easier to see where someone is and what is he/she working on.

The second novelty is that it is possible to insert videos, web pages, or online files into the Whiteboard. It comes in handy in situations where you want to share a video, page, or image with others about the topic you're currently working on. Supported video sources include Stream, YouTube, Vimeo, Slideshare, and more.

Office 365 is Now the Microsoft 365

In terms of functionality, nothing changes for users; you can always find your favorite applications in the same place. The reason behind the name change is the shift from the original office suite installed on the computer to cloud services, which no longer include only traditional Outlook, Word, Excel, or Powerpoint but also several other applications. The name change will first be reflected in the web interface at o365.muni.cz, and at the beginning of next year in desktop and mobile applications.

Stream Application in a New Jacket with New Functions

The new version of Stream replaces the older version (renamed Stream Classic), which is slowly getting ready for application retirement. Videos are newly hosted on Sharepoint, and Stream serves as a player, adding some useful features. What can the new Stream do?

  • A thumbnail can be selected to serve as a preview of the video. You can thus replace an uninteresting preview image with another one, e.g., a preview of a presentation slide.
  • A text transcript can be generated for the recorded video (unfortunately, the Czech language is not supported at the moment), and subtitles can be uploaded.
  • It is possible to add a description to the video, which is helpful if you want to give viewers an overview of the lecture before watching it or if you want to add links to additional sources of information.
  • For longer videos, the option of "dividing into chapters" is useful - the viewer can easily select the parts that interest him. This is useful for longer videos such as recordings of lectures or conferences. You can easily share the link to the video at the desired time via the "Share" button.

E-mails can be Easily Dictated 

If you are tired of writing emails, try dictating them in the desktop version of Outlook. Although the Czech language is only available in test mode so far, voice recognition works well, including punctuation. If you're writing official emails, you might find helpful the sensitive phrase filter to add asterisks to rude words :) Transcription is online, so you need a stable internet connection and a microphone. If you don't see the microphone icon and the "Dictate" button in the desktop version of Outlook, make sure you're signed in with your school account and have the latest version of the app. Windows 10 or higher operating system is also required.


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