Category: Microsoft 365 General

Updated Android version requirements

If you use an Android device to access Office 365 apps such as Outlook, Word, Excel and PowerPoint then you need to ensure that you device is running at least v8.

 

This updated requirement will roll in starting on 23 May 2022.

 

All Microsoft apps are built to run on the current, plus two previous major releases of operating systems and this applies across Android, iOS, Mac OS and Windows.

 

Keeping your device operating system up to date will ensure continued usability and also ensure security and the availability of recent features.

 

Love your device – update it and keep it secure!

 

You can find the latest on all the requirements for devices and versions that are supported on Microsoft’s pages here.

 

OneDrive for Mac OS – Big Changes Happening NOW – February 2022

What is happening and why?

 

Apple is changing the technology that they use within their operating systems and as such Microsoft, along with all other cloud storage providers have to update their sync clients.

This means that the OneDrive sync client is going to change for Apple users, and has already started to for some.

For a while it means that there will be multiple versions in use depending on the version of the Apple OS that you are using.

ICT encourages you to update to the latest ICT supported version for your hardware at your earliest convenience to ensure that your system remains up to date with security and functionality patches and fixes.

The main change that you will see comes to the feature known as “files on demand”.

This is NOT a new feature, but the implementation and use is changing.

 

Who is affected?

 

Initially the changes apply to those with macOS 12 (Monterey).  If you use macOS 11 (Big Sur) or earlier then this doesn’t affect you.

 

The current version of Monterey (v12.2) is the last that will support the old technology.  The new Files on Demand feature is available for all versions of Monterey from 12.1 upwards.

 

What happens?

 

When you update your macOS to v12.2 or 12.3 your OneDrive sync client will also be updated automatically.

 

You will no longer be able to choose whether to turn on Files on Demand – it is mandated and will be on from the point of upgrade.  There is NO option to turn off Files on Demand.

 

How does Files on Demand work?

 

Instead of downloading the whole content of your OneDrive onto the local hard drive, or having to choose which folders and files you sync locally, the client creates what are called Symlinks.  Essentially these are like bookmarks or empty entries for the files and folders.

 

When you browse your local version of OneDrive the files and folders appear to reside ont he local disk, but in fact they are just pointers to the cloud stored versions.

 

When you open a file the OneDrive sync client kicks in and in the background it downloads a local copy.  Then it looks for changes to the file and sycns those changes as they happen.

 

This optimises disk space and is very useful for those with smaller storage devices – Solid State Drives (SSDs) are typically 1/4 of the size of traditional spinning disks but are used widely because they are much faster and provide much better performance and long term stability.

 

In Finder you will have the option to select a file or folder and then “Always Keep on this Device” or “Free up Space”.

 

  • If you choose to “Always Keep on this Device” then a copy will be stored locally and synced between the cloud storage space and your local drive.

 

  • If you have a local copy but need to free up space then choose the “Free up Space” option to return a file or folder to just being stored on the cloud and release back the local storage on the machine that you are using.

Screenshot of new OneDrive syunc client and notification of changes

 

What to do next?

 

If you are thinking about upgrading your Mac then use the following as a set of sensible precautions.

  • Update to macOS v12.3 at some idle or downtime. Don’t do it in the middle of an important job, just in case there’s a problem.
  • Update with a stable Internet connection.
  • Ideally do the macOS update at the end of the day and leave your Mac on overnight to give OneDrive a chance to update all the files and settings.
  • Backup before switching. Happily there’s already one or two backups in place.
    • OneDrive saves all deleted and changed files for 30 days.
    • Apple TimeMachine, if enabled, also has a copy of current and past files.
    • If you wanted to be very sure, make a separate copy of all your files, especially those in OneDrive storage.

 

Conclusion

 

Before you go complaining about Microsoft, this change is being forced on Microsoft and other cloud storage providers by Apple.

If you want more details then Microsoft have written a blog post about this and include answers to many questions.  I’m not going to duplicate what they have done elsewhere!

Multi Factor Authentication

What is Multi Factor Authentication?

Multi Factor Authentication (MFA) adds an additional authentication step when authorising access to College resources.  Your college username and password provide a level of protection for access, but adding an additional factor that you control adds greater security.  By using MFA you have an additional control in securing your login.

Why is Imperial using MFA?

MFA is now enabled for all Imperial accounts (staff and students) to provide additional security and reduce the potential for account compromise.

How to do “easy” MFA

The best tool to enable easy MFA is the Microsoft Authenticator app available for Android and iOS (Apple) devices.

ICT encourage all users to use the Authenticator app.  Download to a personal or college device and use to authenticate your sign-in.  Provide a code from the app or choose to respond to “push” notifications (allow or deny the request).

If you have a suitable watch (Apple watch, Samsung watch or other connected device) you can respond directly to push requests from the watch interface.

ICT recommends using the app rather than a phone call or text message.  There are documented cases of “SIM cloning” to intercept phone calls and text messages.

Additional Support

There is more information and instructions on how to set up the authenticator app on the Microsoft support pages.

If you need additional help contact the ICT Service Desk using the Self-Service pages.

Office 365 Training – New Dates for 2021 / 22

Flipped open silhouette of a head with Office 365 app icons

 

New sessions are now bookable for the following Office 365 courses.

 

Getting Started with Office 365

This course covers the basics of Office 365 to help you get started and be confident using One Drive for Business, Office Online and to work with colleagues on shared documents.

Running at 10am on the following dates:

6 December 2021
5 January 2022
3 February 2022
1 March 2022
7 April 2022
3 May 2022
8 June 2022
4 July 2022

Click here to book.

Collaborating with Microsoft Teams

Do you want to know how to do more with Microsoft Teams, collaborating with your colleagues, working in a single multifaceted workspace?  Come and find out how to do more with Microsoft Teams.

Running on the following dates (usually at 2pm):

6 December 2021
5 January 2022
3 February 2022
3 March 2022 (10am)
7 April 2022
5 May 2022 (10am)
8 June 2022
4 July 2022

Click here to book.

OneNote

Join the OneNote training to find out how you can replace the paper notebooks, search for content and use the “swiss army knife” app that is included in your Office 365 subscription.  In addition to looking at personal Notebooks, the course touches on the use of Class and Staff notebooks for teaching and management purposes.

Spaces are available on the following dates:

9 December 2021
13 January 2022
15 February 2022

Book a place here.

Power Automate

This introductory course will help you get started with Power Automate – understanding the basics and how to build automation for personal productivity.  Automation can help with saving time and reducing errors by removing the human element from repetitive task processing.  Build it once, reuse the process time and time again in a repeatable method.

Courses are running on the following dates:

11 January 2022
11 April 2022
14 July 2022

Book a place here.

Webinars

Available on demand most Tuesdays from 2.45pm.

Learn about the new Webinar feature in Teams and attend the training so that you can then request the Webinar feature for your account.

Book a session here.

 

The New Whiteboard Experience

The New Whiteboard is available NOW in Teams, web browser and Android app.

 

Updated versions for the Windows app and for iOS devices are expected in late October.

 

You can find out about all the new features on this technical community post from Microsoft …

 

Welcome to the new Whiteboard! – Microsoft Tech Community

 

New or updated features include the new Sticky Notes and Grids, New templates for Whiteboards, Reactions, and easier “snap to” functions.

Microsoft Teams – Enabling Public Preview Features

A number of features are now being made available by Microsoft in “Public Preview” to ensure that the features meet the requirements and work as expected.

 

Public Preview gives Teams users the opportunity to try these new features before they reach “General Availability” for all users.

 

Imperial College staff can now enable access to Public Preview features in Microsoft Teams by clicking on the elipsis beside the user initials or profile photo, choosing the About section and clicking on Public Preview.

 

Screenshot of how to enable Public Preview mode in MS Teams

If you choose to enable Public Preview then you should be aware that some features may be removed by Microsoft if they are not functioning as expected.  Preview is an advance option and not all your colleagues will choose to use this function.

 

ICT’s Service Desk may ask you to turn off Public Preview when asked to assist with fault diagnosis to eliminate preview functions as the cause of issues.

Office 365 Champions – Join the crew!

Here at Imperial we have a group of Office 365 champions.  We encourage all who are interested in sharing their knowledge and helping others to become a champion.

 

We don’t set hard and fast qualification criteria, nor do we limit the numbers – we want you to come and join, share what you do with Office 365 and how you use the tools in your area.

 

We have champions who are gurus in Power Apps, Forms, Power Automate, Teams, SharePoint and the common Office apps.

 

What’s in it for you?

 

A chance to join a group of likeminded staff (and students) who are happy to share what they are doing and how they use the tools to make life simpler, easier or more productive.

 

A pin badge – we have some specially made Office 365 Champions pin badges which we will distribute to our champions – you can add it to your work lanyard so that your colleagues know you’re one of our champions – that might mean you get asked some questions that you don’t know the answer to, but as a group we can solve most things!

 

 

 

Meet-ups (currently virtual, but we hope to have some “in person” sessions in the future) where you can hear about what others have been doing or even have a go at telling us what you have been doing.  If nothing else it’s a great place to practise those presentation skills in a friendly environment.

 

What’s your commitment?

 

Being a champion – being the mouthpiece for collaboration tools and telling people about the new features and ways in which they can use Office 365 to collaborate.

 

Being a first contact – your colleagues may come and ask you first about Office 365 features – it’s OK you really don’t have to know everything.  We are a growing community of interested people who help each other out.  You might know about Teams or Word in huge detail, while others will know about forms or bookings.  We have a team where you can find others who can help if you have questions that are outside your comfort zone.

 

Join Us.

 

Complete the form to sign up and join the other Office 365 champions around College.

 

Webinars in Microsoft Teams

Microsoft have recently launched the long awaited webinar functionality.

This allows users with the appropriate access to create meetings with a registration page, record the details of those registering to attend and to then see who has attended the session after it finishes.  You can brand the webinar registration page with a suitable banner image and add speaker names and biographies.

 

ICT have set the feature to off for all users as this is a specialist function and we want to ensure that anyone using the functionality has been appropriately trained.

 

To join a 1hr training session during August or September book a space by clicking here.

 

Once you have undertaken the training you can register to have the Webinar functionality added to your account by completing this form.

 

Microsoft Teams meetings allow for up to 1,000 active participants and up to 10,000 attendees in total using the webinar functionality.

Word – Track Changes

Have you ever shared a Word document and wondered which elements people are changing or adding?

 

When you share a document via your One Drive for Business or SharePoint you enable people to work on the original document without having to co-ordinate multiple edits at a later date (no more copying and pasting), but how do you know what has changed?

 

You may have come across track changes in the full version of Word – it has been available for a very long time, but it’s also come to Mac OS versions of Word and most recently to the Web and iOS versions of Word.

 

This means you can now see all those edits (and who made each one) and choose which ones to accept and which to reject.

 

There’s more information on Track Changes in Word within this Microsoft Support Page – just pick the right version of Word to see how to use Track Changes within that version.

Teams Meetings – Presentation Modes

Two new modes for presenting content and video into a Microsoft Teams meeting will be introduced during late August and early September.

What is available?

  1. Side by side mode – allows the video of the presenter alongside the content being delivered – similar to the effect that has been available in a live event.
  2. Reporter mode – superimposes the content over the shoulder of the presenter’s video in a similar fashion to that of a newsreader in a broadcast.

Meeting presenters:

  • Can customize the background image before starting the presentation
  • Can easily enable or disable the video feed during the presentation from the sharing bar

 

Timing

These new presentation features are rolling out now and will be available to users by mid September ’21 at the latest.