A new MS Teams is coming; getting ready for the upgrade

Are you ready?

Seriously, are you?

It’s coming. It’s almost here (or maybe it is, depending on when you are reading this).

Teams 2.0. No, not a full overhaul of the platform, but of the client.

Starting in January of 2024, the new Teams (aka Teams 2.0) will become the default client for all users. Then, after March 31, 2024, all users will be automatically upgraded to new Teams.

NOTE: For GCC Users, this change will happen in March of 2024. For VDI users, this change will happen in June, 2024

If you haven’t been preparing your users for the change, you may want to scramble and at least notify them of the upcoming change and what to expect. A simple email with highlights of the benefits will go a long way in helping smooth the process.

Users don’t like surprises (really, no one in business does) and the new Teams client is not a massive change from a UI perspective but there are differences and by letting them know ahead of time, you can save your Help Desk from being flooded with tickets.

Some suggestions on what to highlight in your email notification to your users:

  1. Performance – New Teams can join meetings 2x Faster and switches between chat and channels 1.7x faster.
  2. Flexible – When working in Multi-tenant situations (i.e. Guest Access), you can meet and chat with users inside or outside your home tenant. You also can receive real-time notifications when signed into multiple accounts.
  3. Simpler – Threaded conversations, interactive emojis, and improved meeting views all make using Teams easier.

If you are not ready and you want to control what is pushed to your users (until March 31, 2024), you can do this in the Teams Admin Center:

From there, you can modify your current policy, or you can create a new policy and apply it.

You can find out what features are changing at: What is changing in the new Microsoft Teams – Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Learn

One great way to help your user adoption is to pay attention to New Microsoft Teams – Microsoft Adoption.

If your head is still spinning or you just want to turn to the experts, feel free to reach out to us at sales@cloudrevolution.com!