Introducing Microsoft Places: Turn Your Spaces into Places

Microsoft has announced the public preview of the latest 365 innovation that further enhances how employees engage in remote virtual work.

Microsoft Places is the connected workplace product that intelligently surfaces moments that matter for in person connection and drives stronger connections between colleagues. It will be licensed as part of Microsoft Teams Premium.

Places brings new life to flexible work through AI, by unlocking closer connections between teams and colleagues, elevating an improved workplace experience, and driving confident decision-making related to space optimization.

Places features are accessible across surfaces you regularly use for coordination and collaboration, like Outlook and Microsoft Teams, so flexible work coordination and connection can happen within your normal flow of work. As the name suggests Places is intended to overlay virtual collaboration across the physical office, through collaboration features such as:

• Location Plans: Allow employees to share their proposed location schedule and see who else is attending in-person.
• In-Person Meetings: Easily communicate your intention to work together with an in-person meeting invite.
• Hybrid RSVP: Meeting participants can share whether they attend in person or remote.
• Peek Cards: Easily see who’s coming into the office and adjust your location plan, directly from your Outlook Calendar. Receive notifications to book space on days in office.
• Expanded Presence: Add location to your presence signal to indicate when you’re in the office or a particular office.

With Places, you can more easily coordinate across coworkers and spaces in the office. Places location plan allows you to set and share your proposed location schedule with coworkers while also viewing their plans. Microsoft Places hybrid scheduling will leverage common data signals from Outlook and Teams to allow you to view the week ahead and see when your co-workers and close collaborators are planning to be in the office.

You’ll understand the days with the most in-office attendance, allowing you to adjust your schedule to take advantage of valuable in-person connections. Intelligent booking will help you discover available spaces with the right technology to match your meeting purpose and mix of in-person or remote participants.

And you’ll get recommendations for the shortest commute times—with prompts telling you when to leave based on that day’s traffic and when your meetings are scheduled. With Microsoft Places, you can prioritize your time while maximizing in-person connections.