Microsoft is trying to solve the hassle of coordinating with your colleagues when everyone will be in the office. It is a problem that arose with the increase in hybrid and flexible working after the recent covid-19 pandemic, with Workers spend less time in the office.. Microsoft Places is an ai-powered app that's in preview today and should help businesses that rely on Outlook and Microsoft Teams better coordinate time in the office.
“When employees arrive at the office, they don't want to be greeted by a sea of empty desks; they want to be face-to-face with their manager and the coworkers with whom they collaborate most frequently,” says corporate vice president of ai at the work of Microsoft. , Jared Spataro, in a blog post. “With Places, you can more easily coordinate between coworkers and office spaces.”
Microsoft Places includes a dedicated location plan section where you can set up and share the days you'll use the office and see which days your coworkers propose to come in. Managers can set priority days for plans in the office, so if there's an important event or team day, everyone knows. This location data will then be entered into your Outlook calendars, so you know when events are taking place in the office and when you've chosen to come in.
Later this year, Microsoft also plans to integrate all this experience into Microsoft Copilot. You'll be able to ask the ai assistant “what days should I go this week?” and you'll get a list of suggestions based on in-person meetings, when your coworkers plan to attend, and any team days or events. “You'll be able to ask Copilot to adjust your schedule based on this information: change your work location to the office on recommended days and reschedule in-person meetings,” Spataro says.
Microsoft Places will also have a search function that will make it easier to reserve meeting rooms or shared desks, and all of this will also be accessible in Outlook. You'll even get reminders on your calendar if you forget to reserve a room or desk for your office days. Later this year, this end-to-end booking experience will also be available in Copilot, so the ai assistant will automatically find and reserve spaces for your meetings.
Location data from Microsoft Places will also be rolled into other Microsoft 365 apps. If you're working in Teams, you'll see colleagues marked as nearby if they're also in the office, and you can type @nearby to notify people who are nearby. in the office for an impromptu conversation or simply to organize lunch.
Microsoft will also allow real estate and facilities management employees to access a Microsoft Places space analytics feature later this year that shows how used a building is and which days are most popular among employees. IT administrators will also be able to better manage and adapt spaces or improve meeting rooms and shared meeting rooms. The dashboard appears to be focused on analyzing buildings and rooms, rather than offering managers another way to track individual employees.
Microsoft Places will eventually be part of Microsoft Teams Premium, which is currently offered for an additional $7 per user per month thanks to promotional pricing. (Usually costs an additional $10.) Teams Premium also includes an ai-powered smart summary feature, watermarks to prevent leaks, and many other additional features. You can sign up for Microsoft Places preview program right here.
