New on Microsoft AppSource – Office apps

by Contributed | Dec 22, 2023 | Technology

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

We continue to expand the Microsoft AppSource ecosystem. For this volume, 52 new offers successfully met the onboarding criteria and went live. See details of the new offers below:

Get it now in our marketplace
	AdvAIsor: AdvAIsor from Tendencias Consultoria Integrada is an AI tool for text creation, proofreading, and translation. This LLM-powered add-in for the Microsoft Office suite brings enhanced proofreading and translation experience for your documents, with maximum integration. Through a docked dashboard, get quick, easy, and dynamic access to all features with just one click.
	AI Perfect Assistant for Microsoft 365: Powered by ChatGPT, AI Perfect Assistant from OOO enhances Microsoft Word and other Microsoft 365 applications to help users with tasks such as ghostwriting, translation, and summarizing text. With AI Perfect Assistant, you can generate stunning PowerPoint slides, reply to messages in Outlook and Teams, craft elegant documents in Word, and more.
	aMail: From Asite Solutions, aMail is a Microsoft Outlook plugin and add-in that connects your inbox and the Asite Cloud. This customizable email management tool enables users to save emails and attachments in project folders on Asite, providing a secure and central filing cabinet for project-related correspondence.
	Anagrams by Frameable: A simple yet competitive word game for Microsoft Teams, Anagrams by Frameable presents a team-building activity for before meetings get started or any time during the workday for engaging activity between coworkers. Combine letters to guess the word blanks collaboratively, competitively, or just on your own.
	Atlan: Get effortless metadata enrichment and lineage impact analysis in bulk with this Atlan Technologies add-in for Microsoft Excel. This integration allows you to document descriptions, certifications, ownership, tags, and announcements for columns and any list of upstream or downstream assets right from Excel and sync it all to Atlan with a single click.
	BlueCargo: This AI-powered add-in for Microsoft Outlook analyzes and recoups per diem fees directly from your inbox. After a user opens a per diem invoice attached to any email, BlueCargo analyzes the invoice, audits your per diem charges, and finds any potential savings. BlueCargo includes templates for presenting supporting evidence in dispute emails.
	Blueink: Blueink is a secure, cloud-based e-signature solution that allows you to prepare, send, track, save, and download important documents and contracts for electronic signatures using Microsoft Teams. Blueink’s certificate of evidence provides a detailed audit trail of the entire signing process, including the document, the signers, and the IP address of the signer.
	Carousel Pro: Prakash Software Solutions’ Carousel Pro elevates your Microsoft SharePoint experience with interactive storytelling through eye-catching animations and seamless integration. With this powerful tool, you have the freedom to infuse life into your site’s homepage and other pages, effortlessly engaging your audience and delivering information in a captivating format.
	ClearContract: ClearContract offers AI-powered contract analysis to help reduce legal risk, helping in-house counsel and contract managers analyze incoming contracts by highlighting missing clauses and clauses that are deviating from the market standard. ClearContract frees up time for legal departments while reducing and streamlining contract risk.
	Corcentric Platform Add-in for Word Online: This Corcentric add-in features contract clause libraries and template management to improve the editing workflow of contract documents in the Microsoft 365 online. version of Microsoft Word. Users can collaborate directly on files without having to download and re-upload to the Corcentric Platform, and changes will be integrated into the final negotiated contract.
	Data Simulator: Turn to Prakash Software Solutions’ Data Simulator for Microsoft SharePoint data testing and development. The SharePoint List View Data Simulator Command Set is your passport to a hassle-free, efficient data generation experience in which you can handpick columns, set record counts, define data types, and impose numeric boundaries.
	dokublick Add-In: Digital document management is made easy with this offer from Buhl Data Service. dokublick is an add-in for Microsoft Outlook that automatically stores all documents and receipts in digital folders, giving users an overview of documents and access from anywhere at any time.
	Domo: The Domo app allows you to find cards and datasets you have access to within the Domo platform. When discussing data in a Microsoft Teams chat or meeting, users can easily find and post Domo data without leaving Teams. Additionally, all KPI cards you post will display a snapshot of the data.
	Don’t Interrupt: From Hootware Limited, Don’t Interrupt is a powerful tool designed to enhance productivity and work-life balance while using Microsoft Teams. With a subset of our full features, users can easily enable or disable Don’t Interrupt and manage overrides directly within Teams.
	Donut: This offer from Donut Technologies makes strategic connections in Microsoft Teams to achieve common goals and better outcomes. Donut will pair everyone on the team and send a message prompting them to connect — they can open a chat or video call in Teams or find a time to meet using the Teams calendar.
	ELIGO eVoting: ELIGO eVoting by ID Technology is a secure election management platform that digitizes and automates the entire process. Catering to public and private organizations, ELIGO eVoting meets legal requirements, ensuring legally valid election results. Microsoft Teams users will benefit from an integrated voting experience that’s secure and anonymous.
	Enjo: From Troopr Labs, Enjo is a full-stack generative AI toolkit purpose-built for support teams. After being added to Microsoft Teams, Enjo assists in the resolution of employee requests by deeply embedding generative AI capabilities into your existing support workflow. Enjo understands user intent and retrieves relevant information from across all knowledge sources to craft human-like responses.
	farBooking: From FAR Networks, farBooking helps users better organize their work, both remotely and in person, via Microsoft Outlook and Teams. Give your employees the ability to connect with colleagues, find spaces, desks, and resources, and increase productivity, all from one platform. A farBooking account is required to use this app.
	GanttPRO App: GanttPRO from DPM Solutions is an online project management tool based on Gantt charts that transforms work through seamless collaboration without having to leave Microsoft Teams. Intuitive and visually appealing, GanttPRO has a short learning curve so even new team members can start working on a project in 10 to 15 minutes.
	HGC UC Talk: From Deltapath Limited, HGC UC Talk allows you to call anywhere from Microsoft Teams with HGC Softphone or the HGC Mobile App. Outgoing calls launch the HGC UC Softphone or HGC UC Mobile App. A subscription to HGC UC Softphone or HGC UC Mobile App is required.
	HiHello Email Signatures: Email signatures from HiHello allow organizations to ensure that every email sent presents a professional and consistent brand experience. Admins can create custom email signatures and instantly deploy them to everyone at your company for a consistent, beautiful email experience.
	Jambo: Jambo for Microsoft Outlook enables fast and easy creation of new communication records for your Jambo projects, saving you time and effort. When you send emails, this add-in lets you easily log the interaction.
	JobPts for Outlook Add-In: Designed to seamlessly integrate colleague appreciation into your email workflow, the JobPts add-in for Microsoft Outlook lets you choose the recognition type, recipient, and message with just a few clicks.
	KeeperAI: The KeeperAI add-in for Microsoft 365, Teams, and Outlook enables you to build meaningful connections within your virtual workspace. KeeperAI does this by helping you understand colleagues’ personalities and soft skills. This add-in requires a KeeperAI account.
	Lexter.ai: The Lexter.ai assistant for Microsoft Word empowers lawyers with AI-driven features enabling them to optimize daily practices. Lexter.ai simplifies the creation of legal documents, saving time and effort, while also providing enhanced search capabilities within its internal document repository.
	Macroplot Link for Excel: Economists, macroeconomic analysts, and financial analysts can use Macroplot Link for Excel to easily import time series data FRED, New York Fed, BIS, World Bank, WITS, and ECB. It also supports national sources from Uruguay (BCU, INE, BEVSA, DNA), Argentina (BCRA, datos.gob.ar), and Brazil (BCB).
	Maileva: Available in French, Maileva by Docaposte supports fast preparation of shipments for La Poste, France’s universal postal service provider. Maileva can take care of printing, preparing, and delivering traditional mail to the post office or send your registered mail 100% electronically.
	mybrand.center: This add-in from RGN Brand Identity Services simplifies the selection and integration of uploaded and tagged assets from the mybrand.center application. With a paid subscription, users gain access to a beautiful library of branded images to effortlessly enhance Microsoft 365 documents.
	News Scroller: This web part by Prakash Software Solutions turns your Microsoft SharePoint site into an engaging, information-rich hub. Enjoy dynamic, customizable, and interactive new updates that will captivate readers.
	Overview by Frameable: This simple dashboard for Microsoft Teams surfaces your most important chats, channels, files, meetings, and ongoing calls. Save valuable time with a view of new messages, calls, and meetings, all on one page. Unlock total flexibility to add, move, or hide columns to fit your work style.
	Peliqan.io: Paliqan.io syncs your data from business applications such as CRM, ERP, finance, and accounting tools into Microsoft Excel, centralizing it into a data warehouse. Get a complete view of your customers, products, and invoices, and analyze further and build reports with just a few clicks.
	Pixel Art: This app from Digital Inspiration creates stunning pixel art using Microsoft Excel. Simply upload an image and watch as it’s transformed into a grid of colored pixels within your spreadsheet.
	ProFile – Large File Exchange: This solution from Mevitco lets you send and receive large files that aren’t suitable for email. It features integrated and self-updated antivirus protection, configurable file extensions, and native Microsoft Entra ID integration. There’s no file size limit, and transfers auto-retry when connections are lost.
	Rowsie AI: Rowsie helps you understand, build, and update Microsoft Excel modes with ease. Ask it anything about your spreadsheets, from model logic to deciphering complex formulas. Rowsie can craft formulas, clean up formatting, and even build new models from scratch.
	Seleam: This fixed assets management platform manages physical assets and consumables. By providing accurate tracking and reducing waste, Seleam helps enterprises optimize spending. Employees can even view and manage fixed assets assigned to them and request repairs, apply for new assets, and initiate asset handover.
	Sidekick: A companion app to the XOPS Control Center, XOPS Sidekick gives employees contextual notifications through Microsoft Teams channels from the XOPS platform delivering Autonomous IT. Sidekick gives you a heads-up for your action items and takes care of the rest.
	SigningCloud eSign: This solution from Securemetric Technology lets you securely sign and manage documents in Microsoft Teams. Sign documents from almost any device and keep track of the signing process. Once signing is complete, download a tamper-proof, digitally signed document via Teams.
	Simply Stakeholders for Outlook (Restricted): Simply Stakeholders from Darzin Software creates a comprehensive record of all your stakeholder engagements so you always know who important stakeholders are, and who has been meeting with and talking to them.
	Skills Copilot: Skills Copilot by Lake Union Solutions lets you record your professional skills, acquire new skills, and set career goals, it provides access to more than 98,000 skill definitions and 1.25 million job-to-skill mappings. Use it to find skilled coworkers, learn about different roles, and access training resources.
	SMS2GO: Send and receive SMS messages from Microsoft Outlook with SMS2GO by CIM-Mobility. It features message scheduling, templates, and the ability to send to users in more than 150 countries.
	Sortino: Investment bankers and institutional investors use Sortino to automatically build fully linked comparable companies analysis, DCFs, 3-statement models, and more. It extracts and analyzes data from many sources such as company financials, SEC filings, earning call transcripts, news, and market data.
	Squadify: More than just an opinion poll or engagement tool, Squadify analyzes, tracks, and develops teams to drive optimal outcomes in performance. It spotlights issues to remove barriers to team success quickly, and translates them into clear, actionable insights that enable constructive conversations and drive results.
	Swarm Phishnet: Swarm Phishnet from Autnhive is an integrated email and data transfer security platform that combines multiple layers of protection and verification to safeguard your communications. Its primary goal is to detect fraud and phishing attacks while protecting data during transfer.
	Tall Emu CRM: The Tall Emu CRM add-in lets you view, edit, and upload all your document templates directly into Microsoft Word. Give your business documents a cohesive, branded look and feel by editing logos, information, and layout.
	TR Legal Communication Hub: Streamline your team’s approval process with the TR Legal Communication Hub from Thomson Reuters. It enhances collaboration and efficiency with quick and easy approval management right in Microsoft Teams. Say goodbye to decision making delays and endless emails.
	Trusty: Trusty makes referrals easy, allowing any member of your organization to refer talent from their network or share personal referral links to boost your brand and communicate open positions. Trusty helps your recruiting team by automating many daily tasks like announcements, referral campaigns, and more.
	Viva Announcements to SharePoint Connector: Cloudwell’s solution will help you stay informed and updated with a seamless announcements experience, bringing announcements from Microsoft Viva Connections into your SharePoint intranet as a web part.
	VOXO Meet: Arrange online meetings efficiently with the VOXO Meet add-in for Microsoft Outlook. Designed for VOXO platform users, it automatically creates an online meeting room for every calendar event and email, no more manual scheduling or scrambling to set up online meeting rooms.
	Waybook: Waybook lets you bring all your training, onboarding, documentation, and best practices together in one place. Assign team members policies they’re responsible for and empower employees with a searchable Waybook knowledge base available anywhere using Microsoft Teams.
	WellB: The WellB platform infuses moments throughout the workday with curated content that empowers and rejuvenates. It brings together global content creators to provide desk optimized exercises, mindfulness tools, and more. The world of wellbeing is now available within Microsoft Teams.
	XM Fax (CA): Send faxes securely, directly from Microsoft Teams with XM Fax from OpenText. XM Fax eliminates mishandling of sensitive information by allowing users to manage document transmission without leaving Teams; no printing or device switching required. Faxes are encrypted, with centralized traceability for easier audits. Optional zero-retention settings further ensure document protection.
	XM Fax (EMEA): Send faxes securely, directly from Microsoft Teams with XM Fax from OpenText. XM Fax eliminates mishandling of sensitive information by allowing users to manage document transmission without leaving Teams; no printing or device switching required. Faxes are encrypted, with centralized traceability for easier audits. Optional zero-retention settings further ensure document protection.

* DMC On Demand Tool * New Microsoft 365 Campaigns

by Contributed | Dec 21, 2023 | Technology

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

Digital Marketing Content (DMC) OnDemand works as a personal digital marketing assistant and delivers fresh, relevant and customized content and share on social, email, website, or blog. It runs 3-to-12-week digital campaigns that include to-customer content and to-partner resources. This includes an interactive dashboard that will allow partners to track both campaign performance and leads generated in real time and to schedule campaigns in advance

NEW CAMPAIGNS

NOTE: To access localised versions, click the product area link, then select the language from the drop-down menu.

• Product Area: Microsoft 365
  
  
  
  • Cloud Endpoints
  
  
  • Secure Productivity for Retail
  
  
  • Secure Productivity for Healthcare
  
  
  
  

MICROSOFT AI CLOUD PARTNER PROGRAM

The world and how we work are rapidly changing. The opportunities for Microsoft partners—whether you build and sell services, software solutions, or devices—are significant. The capabilities that are required by our customers are evolving, and our partner programs are changing to meet that demand.

The Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program is focused on simplifying our programs, delivering greater customer value, investing in your growth in new ways, and recognizing how you deliver customer value. Check out links below to learn more:

• Admins can sign-in to Partner Center to see how your organisation is progressing towards a Solutions Partner designation and see the associated benefits.


• Go to Training Gallery & Microsoft docs to learn about the requirements needed to attain a Solutions Partner designation.


• For more information visit the Microsoft partner website and Microsoft partner blog.


• Create a logo using Logo Builder

PROGRAM & GETTING STARTED RESOURCES

If you’re still new to DMC, you can find program decks with links to recorded demos here. This collection of resources expands all of our digital services.

FEATURES & FUNCTIONALITY 

If you’re just returning to DMC or just want a quick recap of the updates we’ve made, you can find them under ”Program Updates” of the Resources section in DMC, which can also be found by clicking the help icon on the top right.

In addition to English, the DMC user interface now supports additional languages. To update, go to your profile, click the edit button on the top right, and then select your preferred language from the drop down menu in the “your information” section.

CONNECT WITH US

If you’d like to speak with someone directly, please join our monthly office hours on January 4, 2024 (occurs the first Thursday of each month.) We offer morning and evening (PST) sessions to accommodate different time zones.

FEEDBACK AND SUPPORT

We’re always working on making DMC a better experience for you. If you have 5 minutes to review your current experience with DMC, we’d love to hear your thoughts. NOTE: All submissions are anonymous, so please reach out to us if you need support, or join our office hours the first Thursday of each month.   

Error Logs for Azure Database for MySQL – Flexible Server (Preview)

by Contributed | Dec 20, 2023 | Technology

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

We’re thrilled to announce the public preview of the Error Logs feature for Azure Database for MySQL – Flexible Server! This feature empowers you to gain direct access to MySQL error logs, significantly enhancing your troubleshooting capabilities and providing transparency and independence in managing your database environment.

Note: The Server Logs feature, including Error Logs, is available for all new servers created after November 14^th, 2023. For existing servers, this feature will be made available after their next scheduled maintenance estimated to be performed in January 2024.

Key Benefits

Key benefits associated with the Error Logs feature include:

• Efficient troubleshooting: You can maintain MySQL error log files under Server Logs feature and download them for up to 7 days, enabling efficient issue identification and resolution.


• Enhanced security: You can use Error Logs to proactively detect and respond to unauthorized access attempts, failed login attempts, and other security-related events.


• Increased transparency: Enabling exposure of MySQL error logs in the Azure portal allows for a user-friendly interface to monitor your workload and troubleshoot issues.

Enabling the Error Logs feature:

To enable the Error Logs feature, perform the following simple steps:

1. In the Azure portal, navigate to your instance of Azure Database for MySQL – Flexible Server.


2. On the Monitoring tab, select Server Logs.


3. On the Server Logs page, select the Enable and Error Logs checkboxes, and then select Save.
   
   

    

   
   

Alternatively, you can enable Error Logs by configuring the following server parameters via the Azure portal or Azure CLI:

• error_server_log_file: This server parameter, when set to ON, allows you to expose error logs as downloadable files from the Azure portal and Azure CLI.


• log_output : Setting the value to FILE will enable the Server Logs feature on your MySQL flexible server. 

Conclusion

Gain enhanced transparency, troubleshoot with ease, and proactively secure your database environment by leveraging the Error Logs feature. You can learn more about the feature, including limitations during public preview, in our service documentation.

We invite you to explore and provide your valuable feedback as we continue to refine this feature. If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to leave a comment below or reach out to us at AskAzureDBforMySQL@service.microsoft.com.

Happy troubleshooting!

Moderating content in Viva Engage

by Contributed | Dec 18, 2023 | Technology

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

Viva Engage enables employees to engage in meaningful dialogues, build network, and share insights on relevant organizational topics. In today’s hybrid work environments, Engage plays a key role in fostering a sense of belonging. Engage also empowers leaders and communicators to reach and engage employees, at scale, by bringing organizational news into the apps people use every day, including Outlook and Teams.

Balancing open dialogue with respectful and professional conversations is a priority for our customers, and they frequently seek guidance on the best ways to use Viva Engage’s governance capabilities, particularly for global and diverse workplaces. Viva Engage offers both employees and admins tools to ensure conversation and discussions remain focused, respectful, and conducive to knowledge-sharing. These moderation tools in Viva Engage can support an effective forum where employees trust the information shared and feel safe sharing their knowledge and experiences. Viva Engage admins can enable tools that help ensure balance between empowering employees to share perspectives and maintaining the organization’s code of conduct and usage policies.

Let’s delve into how moderation tools in Engage are designed to enhance and sustain a professional and connected community. These moderation tools are broadly categorized into content level and community level tools.

Content moderation

Content moderation is key to driving conversations that are respectful and are compliant with the organizational guidelines. The following tools provide mechanisms to moderators to monitor, review, and take corrective action as applicable on all content posted in Engage.

Keyword monitoring

Viva Engage provides an option to the admins to monitor keywords and to be alerted when a message contains the words that match defined keywords or regex expressions. When a message containing a keyword match is posted in Engage, an email alert is sent to a designated mailbox with the link to the message. The response team can then review and act on content that if it reflects a violation of expectations, guidelines, or policies. Admins can set keywords or RegEx format to monitor content for.

Example scenario: Contoso is planning to announce a major merger, a topic that requires careful internal communication and monitoring due to its sensitivity, legal regulations, and potential for rumors.

Feature in action: Prior to the announcement, the IT department at Contoso sets up keywords for monitoring (within network admin settings) for terms related to the merger on Viva Engage. This measure is taken to immediately flag any discussions that mention these keywords. When an employee posts a message containing any of the monitored keywords, an email alert is sent to the designated mailbox. This allows them to review the conversation in near real-time and address any misinformation or inappropriate discussions quickly. The use of this feature helps Contoso maintain control over the narrative around the merger, ensuring that internal discussions remain accurate and aligned with the company’s communication strategy.

Viva Engage also offers an enhanced version of keyword monitoring, through integrated support for Communication Compliance policies in Microsoft Purview. Refer to Communication Compliance section in this blog to learn more.

Learn more about keyword monitoring.

Report conversation

Additionally, Viva Engage provides the capability to allow the employees to report any message that they find to be inappropriate. Every reported conversation triggers an email to a designated mailbox with the link to the message that was reported. The response team can then review and respond appropriately to the reported post. Enabling employees to report conversation empowers them to actively contribute to maintaining a positive and respectful environment, ensuring that any concerns are addressed promptly and effectively.

To use report conversation capability, it must be enabled in network settings by network admins for the tenant.

Example scenario: Within a discussion in one of Contoso’s communities, an employee comes across a comment that they find disrespectful and not in line with the company’s values and communication guidelines.

Feature in action: The employee decides to use the ‘Report conversation’ feature in Viva Engage. By reporting the comment, they trigger an alert that is sent directly to the moderation team through the designated mailbox. The team promptly receives an email with a link to the reported message. The team reviews the content quickly and after assessing the comment, the moderation team takes appropriate action in line with Contoso’s policies on respectful and professional communication.

Viva Engage also offers an enhanced version of report conversation, through integrated support for Communication Compliance in Microsoft Purview. Refer to Communication Compliance section in this blog to learn more.

Learn more about how to set up and use report a conversation.

Note: For both keyword monitoring as well as report conversation capabilities, an alert is sent to an email address. We recommend using a shared inbox or email-enabled Microsoft 365 group to allow more than one stakeholder to respond to alerts. We recommend that organizations designate a response team and empower them with guidelines and procedures to ensure that response is programmatic and compliant with organizational policies, applicable laws, regulations, and agreements.

Communication Compliance

Communication Compliance, one of the newest offerings within Microsoft Purview, is the central incident management tool to define compliance policies for content across multiple Microsoft’s products, as well as receive, review, and respond to all communication that is reported to be non-compliant in regard to established organizational policies.

In Communication Compliance, designated admin roles can define multiple policies (such as sensitive information, profanity, keywords etc.) and apply to multiple Microsoft products including Teams and Viva Engage. When content published in Viva Engage is found to have matched a policy (or be in violation), it triggers an incident, surfacing it in the appropriate Communication Compliance policy dashboard. Designated investigators can then review such incidents and take one of many available actions from within the tool. This further complements Engage’s keyword monitoring capability, through application of stronger and smarter policies for automated content moderation.

Admins can also leverage Communication Compliance to review user reported conversations in Engage. This replaces the mailbox-oriented process with a more streamlined incident management experience. Starting mid-December 2023, we are rolling out the integration with Communication Compliance for user reported conversations in Engage worldwide, which will continue through CY24 Q1. (Refer to this blog for more details).

Learn more about Communication Compliance and its licensing requirements.

Close a conversation

Closing conversations in Viva Engage disables any further comments or replies, but allows continued reactions (e.g. “likes”) to the root post or existing replies. This helps contain the conversation. While closing a conversation, we recommend that the moderator post a final message before the conversation is closed.

Example scenario: Contoso recently hosted a successful company-wide virtual innovation fair. The event’s community thread on Viva Engage was active with excitement, discussions, and feedback. As the event concludes and the conversations naturally slow down, there’s a need to formally close the discussion while retaining the valuable insights shared.

Feature in action: To neatly wrap up the event conversation, a community admin at Contoso utilizes the ‘Close Conversation’ feature. This action prevents new replies, while still preserving the thread as a record of the discussions and feedback. Before closing, the admin adds a thank-you note that informs employees where they can find more information.

The following roles can close a conversation:

1. Community conversations

a. Community admins can close any conversation in a community.
b. The conversation’s author can close conversations they started.

2. Storyline conversations can be closed by the storyline owner.

Learn more about closing a conversation.

Move a conversation

Occasionally, someone posts a conversation in a community where it doesn’t belong. A conversation can be moved from one community to another to ensure that conversations stay relevant to the purpose of the community. Moving a conversation notifies the conversation author and adds a reply that the conversation was moved.

The following roles can move conversations:

Communities conversations:

• Anyone can move a conversation to a community where they have permissions to start conversations.
• Community admins of a restricted community can move a conversation into the restricted community.
• Network admins can move any conversation between any communities.

Example scenario: In Contoso’s retail workers’ community, an employee starts a conversation asking about employee benefits. While this may be a valid question, it would be more appropriate and could generate more focused discussion in the dedicated HR community.

Feature in action: Recognizing that the conversation is a better fit for the HR community, a community admin in the askhr community uses the ‘Move Conversations’ feature to transfer the entire conversation thread. This not only ensures that the conversation finds the right audience but also helps maintain the thematic integrity of both communities. The conversation continues in the new location, now with participants who are specifically interested in the topic. Moving conversation to a muted community will also ensure that non-members do not receive any content from it in their feeds.

Learn more about how to move or share a conversation.

Delete a conversation

When a message is deleted, it will:

• Be removed completely from the storyline or community if there are no replies under it
• Be replaced with a deleted message notice if there are replies under it

This applies to all conversation starters, comments, and replies.

Deleting a conversation provides the option to delete a particular message or the entire conversation from a community or storyline.

Deleting entire conversation thread (including the initial post and subsequent replies.)

• Only a network admin can delete an entire conversation thread. Upon deleting, the entire conversation will be removed.

Deleting a specific message

• Community admins can delete any message from any conversation thread within that community.
• Conversation author – one who authors the conversation starter can delete any message within that thread.
• Storyline owners – employees can only delete messages from a conversation on their own storyline.
• All employees – employees can delete their own message from within a conversation.

Note: While content deleted by users in Engage is removed from user-facing experiences, content will be retained in compliance with the organization’s data deletion and retention policies.

Example Scenario: An employee shares a photo of their children and the photo includes their address. The community admin spots this and informs the employee that they shared personal sensitive information, and it should be removed as per organizational policies. They can repost the image without including personal information.

Feature in action: The community admin sends a message to this employee, asking to repost the information without personal details. The employee goes ahead and deletes the post. Alternatively, the community admin could also delete the post. The user then goes ahead and makes another post, this time ensuring that the address is not included, and the post adheres to all organizational compliance guidelines.

Learn more about editing posts in Viva Engage.

Community moderation

Community-level moderation is essential for maintaining a focused and productive Viva Engage network, particularly ensuring that conversations within communities are true to the purpose, goals, and spirit of those communities.

Restrict community

Changing communities to ‘Restricted Communities’ restricts its members’ ability to start conversations in the communities. This limits the permission to start new conversations to only community admins (along with Network admins) in restricted communities. Members of restricted communities are also not able to move conversations to those communities. This capability is specifically useful to manage org-wide communities used for sharing important announcements.

Example scenario: Contoso’s “All Company” community is becoming filled with various employee posts, leading to important corporate messages being lost in the mix. This dilution makes it difficult for employees to identify and engage with critical organizational updates.

Feature in action: To tackle this challenge, the internal communications team at Contoso activates the ‘Restrict Posting’ feature for the “All Company” community. This means that only authorized individuals, like community admins and certain corporate communicators, can initiate new conversations. This shift dramatically cuts down the general post traffic, allowing corporate messages to stand out.

Learn more about restricting who can post within communities

Mute community

Muting a community ensures that non-members will not see that community’s content within their feeds or notifications. While individual users can mute any community for themselves, network admins can mute a community for the entire network, which restricts exposure of that community’s content in everyone’s home feed.

Example scenario: At Contoso, the diverse range of communities offers employees a rich and engaging experience. However, this can sometimes lead to an overload of notifications, especially from interest-based communities. For example, Jordan is part of the “Contoso Cooking Club” but finds that updates from this group can be distracting during busy workdays.

Feature in action: Contoso recommends that employees like Jordan use the ‘Mute a Community’ feature for managing their focus and productivity. Following this advice, Jordan decides to mute the “Contoso Cooking Club” community in Viva Engage. This action stops updates from the cooking club from appearing in his Home Feed and discovery emails, significantly reducing non-essential distractions.

Learn how to mute a community.

Additional recommended practices

In addition to content moderation capabilities in Viva Engage, organizations might also consider the following practices that can help foster respectful and open conversations, empowering everyone to contribute more, learn more, and achieve more.

Communicate policies, guidelines, and expectations

It is a best practice to inform and remind people of policies, guidelines, and expectations related to their use of Viva Engage. There are several ways to do so:

Viva Engage usage policy

When configured, the Viva Engage usage policy is shown to all users who visit Viva Engage. They must acknowledge the policy before being given access to Viva Engage. The usage policy is the best place to provided detailed information about policies, guidelines and expectations.

It’s best practice to review and re-prompt employees to accept the usage policy yearly or as necessary when policy or guidelines have changed. Admins can remind people of the policy, reinforce its message, and require renewed acknowledgement by republishing the policy.

Providing links to the policy guidelines can also make it easy for employees to quickly reference them.

Example scenario: Over recent months, Contoso’s internal communications team observes a gradual shift in the tone and nature of conversations on Viva Engage. There is an increase in informal and off-topic posts in professional communities, leading to discussions and some instances of misunderstanding or miscommunication. Additionally, a significant influx of new hires unfamiliar with the company’s digital communication standards highlights the need for clear guidelines.

Feature in action: This shift prompts Contoso’s Engage administrators to take proactive steps by republishing the organization’s communication and usage policies on the platform. The republished policies are not only a reminder but also serve as a reorientation for all employees, new and old, about the expected professional conduct on Viva Engage.

The message includes comprehensive links to the full policy documents and an acknowledgment requirement, ensuring all employees have read and agreed to the standards. This action reinforces the importance of maintaining a professional and respectful tone in digital communications. It also serves as a gentle reminder to all employees, especially the new hires, about the organizational culture and expectations of online interactions.

Learn more about how to set up the usage policy.

Community information panel and pinned posts

Community admins can reinforce policies, guidelines and expectations to their community members. This can be as simple as sharing a link to the Viva Engage usage policy, or reiterating policies and making them relevant to the members of a community.

Usage policies can be communicated within the community’s information panel – including description, info, and pinned url sections. Community admins can also use a post or announcement to share the usage policy with community members. Community admins can pin the post to the top of a community to raise its visibility.

Example scenario: With a significant policy overhaul underway, Contoso needs to ensure all employees are informed of the changes and can ask questions.

Feature in action: The HR department creates a comprehensive announcement about the policy change and shares it in the “AskHR” community on Viva Engage. By posting it as an announcement, all community members receive a notification, ensuring immediate awareness. Additionally, to facilitate ongoing awareness, the HR department uses the ‘Pin Conversation’ feature. This ensures that the announcement remains prominently at the top of the “askhr” community feed, making it easy for employees to find and refer to the information anytime they visit the community. This approach not only guarantees initial awareness but also ongoing visibility of the policy changes.

Learn here how to create and customize community and pin conversations

Featured conversations

By featuring important threads, these posts (and their replies) appear directly in users’ home feeds, further ensuring that critical information reaches every employee effectively . This will help improving the visibility of essential updates and enhances the overall communication experience for employees, making it easier for them to stay appropriately informed.

Learn more about the ability to Feature a conversation

Dedicated communities to host conversations for all employees

Organizations often leverage official communities (such as All Company) to disseminate important information to all the employees. Leaders, internal communicators, and admins often prefer to restrict such communities to host relevant conversations. However, it is equally important to offer spaces for employees to have open dialogues on topics of mutual interest. Organizations can create communities that are dedicated to a particular topic of interest. These communities can serve as open spaces where employees can initiate and engage in conversations with peers who have similar interests.

Keeping these communities private will provide access to only community members to the conversations hosted. Additionally, muting the communities will also help ensuring that non-members will not receive any content from these communities in their feeds or notification. This way, access to content in these dedicated spaces will be provided as per the employees’ intent. Conversations in these communities, however, should be monitored to ensure that they are compliant to organizational policies, through Engage’s content moderation tools. (as described in previous section)

Wrap up

We hope that your organization takes advantage of these moderation capabilities to help admins understand how Viva Engage can be a transformative tool for organizations and facilitate open communications while upholding the organization’s values and standards. Successful moderation helps ensure an informed, engaged, and cohesive digital workplace, ultimately contributing to organizational success, employee satisfaction and employee retention.

Interested to learn from others? Freja from Vestas shares how they are working to make Viva Engage a safe space where people can share openly and honestly, building stronger connections and communicating more effectively. Watch this presentation from the 2023 Viva Engage Festival.

Stay tuned to the M365 Roadmap as we continue to innovate and evolve our capabilities to meet our customers needs for moderation.