New “frontline” Microsoft 365 options, Webinars introduced to MS Teams

“Frontline” Microsoft 365 licenses

Microsoft has introduced 3 new “frontline” Microsoft 365 SKUs:

• Microsoft 365 F5 Security ($8 per user per month)
• Microsoft 365 F5 Compliance ($8 per user per month)
• Microsoft 365 F5 Security & Compliance ($13 per user per month)

These are available as add-ons to Microsoft 365 F1 & F3 licenses and include “the majority of capabilities” from the E5 versions.

The “frontline” licenses are aimed at users within organisations who aren’t at a computer all day – Microsoft define them as staff:

“whose primary function is to work directly with customers or the general public providing services, support, and selling products, or employees directly involved in the manufacturing and distribution of products or services”

And they have been steadily increasing the range of products available in this space for a few years now.

Further Reading

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/licensing/news/new_f5_security_and_compliance_offer_for_frontline_workers

Microsoft Product Terms changes

Microsoft has announced they will no longer be producing the Product Terms document each month – February 2021 is the final one – and it’s being replaced by the Product Terms website. For those who find the current document a little overwhelming, the ability to filter the website might make it a more enjoyable experience!

The site layout is largely similar to the document and allows you to view previous months and also to compare them to the current terms. You can also download a copy of the terms for reference, although there’s no definitive statement that such a copy would over-rule the website should there be any discrepancies.

Further Reading

https://www.microsoft.com/licensing/terms/product/changes/all

Webinars come to Microsoft Teams

Webinar features are coming to Teams with customizable registration forms, attendee reports, new presentation modes and more being added from March onwards. For organisations that primarily use Microsoft technology, this will surely give cause to review whether you need the various SaaS based webinar platforms that you’re undoubtedly using at the moment!

Rather than being available via an add-on license, the new features are being added, at no additional cost, to:

• Microsoft 365 E3/A3/G3
• Microsoft 365 E5/A5/G5and will also be available in:
• Microsoft 365 Business
• Microsoft 365 Business Premium for up to 300 users.

This potentially presents organisations with an opportunity to cut out several duplicate SaaS subscriptions that have built up over the last 12 months.

Image by Geralt from Pixabay