Ignite Live Blog – BRK3138 – Managing Client Deployments and Updates for Microsoft Teams

This post has been republished via RSS; it originally appeared at: Microsoft Teams Events Blog articles.

In a full packed room of hundreds of attendees Ori Kashi presenting the basics and news about Microsoft Teams Deployment.

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Client Options

IT Administrators can handle the Client Options on Desktop, mobile and Web via Policies configurated in the Microsoft Teams and Skype for Business Admin Center and via PowerShell.

The Microsoft Teams Desktop Client is a MSI for IT-driven installation per User, currently via a separate installation (Standalone .exe) and in the future soon via Office 365 Pro Plus monthly. The Desktop client is available for x86/x64 Win7+, OSX 10.11+. ; the 64-bit version is recommended.

The simple, low-touch installation is available as an MSI supports Group Policy, System Center Configuration Manager or some third-party deployment tools to install the Desktop Client on the Users PC. There are lable to configure the client via Group Policy or registry.

 

The mobile Microsoft Teams App for iOS or Android can be managed by policy enforcement and additionally via MDM solutions such as Intune. Moreover the User can download the Client via the Appstores.

The Web Client is available without an Installation and is automatically updated on a highest frequency but is limited on some features and functionality.

 

Microsoft Teams on Desktop

If your users and you use the Desktop Version you use the immersive and complete experience. The updates are in a high frequency and will be updated automatically before the Login process. This allows the use to use high quality audio and full-screen video or to share the screen via a Microsoft Teams Meeting.

Furthermore let´s have a deeper view into the MSI Installation and directories of the Desktop Client of Teams:

Microsoft Teams application installation directories are:

  • %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Teams
  • %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\TeamsMeetingsAddin
  • %AppData%\Microsoft\Teams

and the Update directory:

  • %LocalAppData%\SquirrelTemp

If you want to uninstall the Microsoft Teams Client, you can uninstall the Client in a classic way and Microsoft provides a clean-up Script you can find here: https://aka.ms/AA2jisb After an deletion of the Client, please delete the directory %localappdata%\Microsoft\Teams .

 

Managing Updates

If you plan and think about Managing Updates you have some challenges of change:

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The Microsoft Teams Client is always updated with no deferral for an optimized experience. It´s a full service for IT Administrators and Clients with security, performance, new features and quality improvements. If the Teams Client is too old to sign-in, Teams will be updates before the login. The Updates check period in the new versions of the Client is 15 Minutes post sign-in. When the Teams app has been installed the Updates the Client will be restart and the User will get a notification. This helps the User to switch from his other application back to Teams.

 

Improved release transparency

In a connection to be more and more transparency to the IT administrators, who handle the Microsoft Teams Client, you get more information via the Microsoft Teams & Skype for Business Admin Center.

One of the new information are the Release Notes of the different Client versions directly via the main page (Dashboard):

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Here you see the options to search of to scroll via the Release Notes of the different platforms:

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If you click on a specific release note you can grap detailed information included screenshots, features and bugfixes:

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Via the Admin Center and the Release Notes you can get information about how to managed the features and get External resources like from docs.microsoft.com:

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What’s coming:

This quarter you will get more options to managed Updates for the Microsoft Teams, so that the companies get the control about the Updates and when the Updates will be installed. This give you the chance to define stages for the installation. For example, you can define Office Hours, so that the Clients will be updated on free timeslots.

 

Conclusion

You get the greatest and latest Microsoft Teams Client via the Update Process. You will get every time in a weekly period the update with security, Bugfixes and new features like Meeting Recording.

 

Speaker Ori Kashi

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Principal PM Manager

Ori has been with Microsoft since 2011 and currently leads the team driving the manageability of Microsoft Teams and Skype for Business. His group focuses around the end to end lifecycle of the product for IT professionals. This includes toolsets to support the evaluation and pre-deployment phase, through management and operations, usage and adoption, and also including analytics and troubleshooting.

 

Resources

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Pictures (Session)

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