Wednesday, October 26, 2022

Use/Manage Microsoft Teams Tag for better communication within the Group for targeted audience

What is Microsoft Tag and how to use the tag for proper communication within Teams?


Microsoft Tag is very useful to send communication to the targeted users in a larger group. You simply @mention a tag in your regular one and one chat message or in a channel message. The team can be added as an identification of the members for more efficient collaboration. 

The Team owner and Team members or Owner only can create a custom tag and assign them to categorize people based on their role, projects, skill or location, or even work schedule like a shift. 

After that tag has been assigned to the users, they can be used simply @ for specific users according to their tags.


There are two types of tags available in teams.

1. Custom tag.

2. Shift app can apply tags.

Suggested tag -

Organization's Global Admin or Teams Admin can create suggested tags at the TAC. You can only create max 25 suggested tags. When Team owner/member creating new tags they can use these if needed.





How to create Tags in Team ?

By default, the Teams owner has access to create tags in Teams. 

However, organization admins can change the settings to "Teams Owner & members" or "Disable" the tag option completely under "Teams Settings".


Select your "Teams Group" right click and select "Manage Tags" option or select "Manage Teams" and then go to "Tags" tab to create/manage your tags.

Create a new "Tag" for your requirement and add the members to the tag.

Once the tag is created you can start the conversation directly from the Tag , copy the tag to create new, Delete the tag.



Once the tag is created and assigned to the members of the Team, you can confirm by going to the members tab.

Note: - Same user can be member of multiple tags.





How Teams owner can manage the @mentions and tags in Teams: -

Though Teams Admin set tags can be managed by Owner and Teams members, as an owner of the Teams you have control to change them to "Teams owners" only option.

Also, you can manage the @mentions feature whether it's allowed to use in channel or not.


How to use Tags in Teams : -

There are different ways you can engage/communicate with users using @mention in Teams channel.

1. You can use the Teams group name to send communication to entire group members. 
2. Channel name.
3. Custom tags - target specific users in the group for better reachability.



Tag use case scenario's -


If you have Company wide Teams Group that has different group of users e.g IT Team, CyberSecurity, HR, Finance, Workstation Support, Managers, Directors etc. If you create a custom tag for IT team / managers, you can use Custom tag to target the communication to indent users. This helps no need to memorize the names of the each IT each / managers.


Wednesday, October 19, 2022

How to enable Teams preview channel (Channel 3.7) in Teams to validate the features before it released to everyone

Microsoft update policy allows following the office public preview to test the features before it gets released to the org view. Now, Microsoft Teams follows the same for inline updates for Office features.

Enable Teams Public preview features for users -

Login to Microsoft Teams Admin Center --->Teams Update policies ---> Edit the global policy if you would like to assign it to everyone or create a new update policy and assign the users to users.


There are three options for the Show preview features policy,

  • Follow Office Preview (default)
    • This default option will automatically enable Teams Public Preview features for any user enrolled in the Current Channel (Preview).
    • There are no additional actions required by the end user.
  • Enabled - 
    • This option enables Teams Public Preview - regardless of whether a user is enrolled in the Current Channel (Preview).
  • Not Enabled - 
    • The Teams Public preview feature will not be enabled/available to end users.















Enable Teams Review Channel via PowerShell -

Set-CsTeamsUpdateManagementPolicy -Identity Global -AllowPublicPreview Enabled

Create New Update Management Policy -

New-CsTeamsUpdateManagementPolicy -Name "Enable Public Preview" -AllowPublicPreview Enabled

Grant Update Management Policy to users -

Grant-CsTeamsUpdateManagementPolicy -PolicyName "Enable Public Preview" -Identity "Gengaiyan".


How to enable Teams Public preview features in Teams client -

You can enable the public preview updates on the Windows, Mac, and Browser clients by navigating to the "More option (...) and selecting "About" and selecting "Public preview". Once you select the public preview the client will start in ring 3.7.


How to enable Teams Public preview features in Teams client -

Beta Channel -

Ideal for early adopters and IT Pros who want to test features as they are being built. We look for bugs and regressions from this audience before releasing the features to the next channel. This was previously called Ring 1.5 and is available to participate Teams TAP customers and only under NDA and program requirements. This channel requires the most time commitment and is only available via self-customer nominations.

Private Channel -

Insiders in this channel will see more stable features for validation and piloting adoption. There will be faster updates and adoption help from Microsoft. Pre-release feature support is provided directly by Teams engineering. This channel was previously called Ring 3 and, like the Beta channel, is available to participate in Teams TAP customers only under NDA and program requirements.


How to validate if you are using Public preview or GA version -

If you see the "P" icon on top of your profile picture, it shows you are using the preview version.



Enable Public preview for Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows -

Public preview is not enabled by default on the Rooms, but you can enable this feature via XML file.

<EnablePublicPreview>True</EnablePublicPreview>

Feedback to Microsoft -

Share the feedback with Microsoft if you find any glitches.

Can I use Microsoft Teams Room on Windows (MTRoW) device as a replacement for Surface Hub?

Microsoft Surface Hub has a unique use case for collaboration. Surface Hub comes in 2 different sizes (55" & 85") and it's an all-in-one device that combines hardware, software, and services in a flexible, dynamic, and easy-to-use package. 


It brings together whiteboarding, video conferencing and projection, and integrates seamlessly with Windows 10 Teams OS, Microsoft Teams App, OneDrive, and OneNote.

Surface Hub 2S is a purpose-built OS and simplified UI for admins/users for easy access. 

  • You can use the Surface hub for a coordinated meeting experience in a Teams meeting.
  • You can log in to OneDrive to access your files during the meeting. Once you exit the meeting it will automatically clear your files from the device for others to use.
  • Use whiteboard In-room or in meeting for brainstorming.
  • Use the Surface Hub device camera to focus room participants in addition to the front room camera.
  • You can manage the device in the Teams Room Pro portal.


Microsoft Whiteboard app built-in on the MTRoW -

Microsoft recently released a new update (check this) for MTRoW which allows starting the whiteboard in the room.





You need the touch-enabled screen for an in-room collaboration experience. This works similarly to the surface hub where you can use MTRoW full functionality for the meeting experience (audio/video/content sharing).

Note: - You can add another MTRoW device/room for a coordinated meeting experience.

Key differences -

- You cannot log in to OneDrive to access files. However, you can share the content from your laptop.

In my personal opinion, you can easily accommodate surface hub features on the MTRoW device.


Thursday, October 13, 2022

Analyze your Teams Direct Routing/Operator Connect PSTN calling details using PowerBI

Microsoft Teams stores Direct Routing, Calling Plans, Operator Connect, and Audio Conference Dial-Out call details. The report is stored for 7, and 28, or you can use custom dates to filter the data that you are looking for.


Today, there is no easy way to analyze these reports in TAC. However, you can download the report in CSV format and upload it to PowerBI to get a better analysis report.

Login to Microsoft Teams Admin Center and navigate to "Analytics and Reports" and select "Reports". In the report section select "PSTN and SMS Usage Report" / Audio Conferencing dial-out usage, generate the report, and export the report to CSV format.



Once you download the CSV file you can upload it to "PowerBI"


Once you uploaded the data, you can validate/confirm the dataset and required tables are available.





Select the bar chat for visualization and select "DestinationContext" on the y-axis and "Total Call Duration" on the x-axis (sum the total duration value).

Create similar visualization for different datasets e.g total call type by user location.


Audio Conferencing Dial-Out Usage report: -



Direct Routing Usage report: -


Operator Connect/Microsoft Calling Usage report: -




Wednesday, October 12, 2022

Implement these 7 items for successful Teams Development

 Do you want successful Teams Development for Real time media/Teams call quality for your 1:1 or Conference, please ensure below rule’s followed.

Kudos to Jonathan, Steenan!


1) Make sure the right ports and protocols are opened.

Subnets, 13.107.64.0/18, 52.112.0.0/14, 52.122.0.0/15, 2603:1063: :/39 and Ports: UDP 3478-3481 & TCP 443,80 are needed for Teams signalling and real time media traffic (Real time modalities: Audio, Video and Screen sharing).

Note: 52.122.0.0/15 is a smaller range you should review in your firewall. However this overlaps within the 52.112.0.0/14 range.


2) Bypass Proxy and deep packet inspection

Bypass both on-premises and cloud-based proxy and inspection services.


3) Implement VPN split tunneling to bypass Real Time media

This ensures direct connectivity between Teams clients and Teams meeting services.


4) Local DNS resolution for automatic selection of closest endpoints

Microsoft services have a global presence and use geo-based DNS solutions to load balance and allocate services closest to the endpoint. 


5) Ensure shortest path to the Microsoft Datacenter

Work with your ISP and make sure that the most direct path to the Microsoft datacenter is ensured,. This ensure real time media traffic enters the Microsoft managed network faster with fewer hops and points of failure in between. 


6) Apply both outbound and Inbound QoS where needed

This specifically applies for congested network paths. Make sure large file transfers does not impact your neighbors Teams call, by prioritizing the Real time media packets with DSCP marking. Inbound tagging is done on the ingress on predefined media ports. Outbound can be done with DSCP marking policies on the Teams clients.


7) Exclude important Processes from anti-virus and / or Data Loss Prevention scanning services.

Teams.exe excluded prevents excess CPU load when making calls effectively slowing down the overall performance of your client and thus impacts the overall media call quality.

Language Interpretation in Teams Meeting

What do you mean by language interpretation in Teams Meetings?


Language interpretation is the process of managing voice communication from one source language into one or more output languages in real-time during the meeting.

Language interpretation allows professional interpreters to convert what the speaker says into another language in real-time, without disrupting the speaker's original flow of delivery. This simultaneous interpretation will lead to more inclusive meetings, where participants who speak different languages can fully collaborate with each other. 

There are many 3rd party solutions available to integrate with Teams e.g KUDO multilingual solution, which will have integration through API and join meetings as a BOT and professional interpreters can use that tool to join the meeting and perform real-time.

Now Microsoft supports the same functionality within the service with no extra cost.

Enable language interpretation: -

Now meeting organizers can enable language interpretation under the meeting option and choose whose language they want to translate it to. You can add multiple interpreters for multilingual as well.



Once the organizer joins the meeting, you will see a similar pop-up (this option is only available if language interpretation is enabled) and you can choose the language.



If you missed the above pop-up, you can still access it under "More Option" and select "Language interpretation".


Choose the language you want to interpret to and confirm.


You can also promote any attendees in the meeting to a language interpreter, Right click on the participant name and choose "Make an interpreter".




Note : - Language interpretation option is not available for End-to-End encrypted calls.

Tuesday, October 11, 2022

Call Routing Rules in Teams for Unassigned number routing to individual users or Auto Attendant

Microsoft recently released a new feature in Teams Voice to handle the "Unassigned number" whether it's for Microsoft Calling Plan, Direct Routing, or Operator Connect numbers called "Routing Rules".

You can configure the Routing rules to route the calls either to individual users, Custom Announcement, Teams Auto Attendant, or Call Queue Voice applications.

  • Login to Microsoft Teams admin center, go to Voice > Phone Numbers
  • Click the Routing rules tab, click Add
  • Give the rule a name, and a description, and specify the evaluation order for the rule.














There are 4 types of rules you can use based on your use case to route the unassigned numbers.



Route Single number to Person:-


Currently, you can only assign a single DID number for a person in Teams. If you need to assign a second number there is no option unless the SBC call routing is used to manipulate the number before routing to Teams.

Now, I see this is a very good option to assign a secondary number to the user. 

Create a rule, select the "Single Number" option under the select a rule option, and in the condition, enter the unassigned number in E.164 format in the routing option select "Person in organization" and select the "User" you want to route the call if the incoming called number matched and click "Save".



Route the number starting with /Ending with option:-

You can configure the called number to either Starting with or ending with an option and route the call to Announcement, Voice application (Auto Attendant /Call Queue) or even to a single user (perhaps the front desk.


Configure Routing rule with Advanced setup option:-

You can use regex rules to configure your advanced routing rule setup and route the calls.




Configure Routing rule for Phone number range:-

Do you have a range of unassigned numbers either from Operator Connect, or Direct Routing you can configure the routing rule and route the call to a custom announcement or voice application etc.


Test the call routing rules:-

Once you created the routing rules, you can validate the rules are working as expected.

  • Login to Microsoft Teams admin center, go to Voice > Phone Numbers.
  • On the Routing rules tab, click Test number.
  • Enter a phone number directly or click Select a number and select one of your unassigned phone numbers from Operator Connect, Microsoft Calling Plan.
  • Select Test.



Monday, October 10, 2022

How to access MTRoW Room Console to control Mic/Speaker Volume /Video and Layouts


How does proximity join work in Microsoft Teams?

Proximity join works in conjunction with Bluetooth and a feature built into Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR), known as Bluetooth Beaconing. When you join a scheduled Teams meeting from a Teams client it uses Bluetooth to find a nearby MTR. 

How to enable Bluetooth beaconing?

Login to Teams Room Settings on the console, Select Devices, and Enable "Enable Beaconing".


How to access MTR Room Console on the mobile?

Option 1: -

Connect your mobile phone to the local network via Wi-Fi and join the scheduled Teams meeting from your mobile client, Select the "More join option" and then select "Join a meeting room".



The mobile will connect to the room system without audio (disabled).


Now you will "Remote Console", Click on it.


Now you can able to control the room layout, Video option (On/off), Microphone (Mute/Unmute) and Turn-On/Off closed captions finally, you can able to control the room volume.

When you click "Disconnect the room" it will exit the room from the meeting.




Option 2: -

You can join the existing meeting from your mobile, select and hold the MTRoW room name from the participant list, and select the "Control room system" option on the pop-up to manage the room.