There has been exciting news this week! Avatars for Teams have a month when it starts to roll out for everyone, Microsoft Build dates & registration is open and also that Microsoft Loop App is coming to Public Preview – and how you can enable it to your users.
Avatars for Teams
Avatars for Teams are finally on the roadmap! While these have been in private preview for a long time, avatars are coming to everyone this spring! Rollout starts during May.
Microsoft Build 2023
What else is happening during May? Microsoft Build of course!
Dates for digital Microsoft Build are May 23-24 2023 but there is also Seattle in-person event that takes place between May 23-25. You can also join Pre-Day workshops May 22.
You can already Register for Build! Digital event is free to attend.
Loop application is coming to Public Preview
One more big news that got my eye in Admin Center. Loop application is coming to Public Preview very soon! This is happening already later during the current month (late March). On default Loop App is off, so admins need to go and enable the functionality for tenants. Loop App is off by default, because it does not yet meet all of Microsoft’s compliance capabilities. Regulated organizations will note that we (Microsoft) are still working on features such as eDiscovery, Sensitivity labeling, and others.
To prepare for the Loop App’s release, you can start by enabling it for your organization today, which will make it available the moment the public preview begins. The Loop app availability is controlled via Microsoft Cloud Policy. You can learn more about Cloud Policy here: Overview of Cloud Policy service for Microsoft 365
A good step-by-step instructions with details are found here. If you want to enable Loop App to your environment (you can enable it only to some of your users, you don’t have to include everyone) you can do that already today. You should create a security group with enabled users before progressing with Cloud Policy setup. You can use existing security group.
https://config.office.com/officeSettings/officePolicies
In Policies search for Loop
You need to Enable setting Create and view Loop files in Loop if you want to allow Loop App use. Not Configured means users can’t use it during Preview. Since you are setting this for Loop App users, set it to Enabled. Other two settings can be Not configured.
After that progress to create the policy.
Since I named the policy Loop App, I can see it in my tenant.
Once policy is set, it can take 90 minutes or 24 hours to be in effect.
If there were existing policy configurations prior to the change, then it will take 90 mins for the change to be reflected.
If there were no policy configurations prior to the change then it will take 24 hours for the change to be reflected.
Now I am ready for my tenant to start using Loop App when Public Preview is available later this month!
Vesa Nopanen - My Metaverse Day 
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