Microsoft Loop at Ignite 2022

Today at Ignite, we’re excited to reveal the latest on Microsoft Loop to help teams think, plan, and create – together. Whether its organizing everything you need for your projects in one place with the Loop app or staying in sync and on track across Microsoft 365 apps with Loop components, Microsoft Loop helps teams collaborate and co-create more effectively.

 

Our announcements include:

• Loop app private preview
• Adaptive card-based Loop components developer preview update
• Loop components at new endpoints (Outlook for Windows, Word for the web, and Microsoft Whiteboard)
• New Loop component types (Polls and Q&A)
• Sensitivity labels and Data Loss Prevention (DLP) for Loop components
• Loop component customer story with Accenture

 

Loop app private preview

 

Ignite Sessions:

• Unlock new experiences across Microsoft 365 to lower costs and empower employees
• Re-energize your workforce in the office, at home, and everywhere in between

Blogs:

• Re-energize your workforce in the office, at home, and everywhere in between

 

An animated image of a person adding stakeholders to the page, editing the content, adding Loop components, and adding a new page with an external link in the Microsoft Loop app in private preview.

Last Ignite we shared the vision for the Microsoft Loop app; an app for teams to think, plan, and create - together.

 

We’re excited to announce that the Loop app is in private preview. We’re working with select customers to incorporate their feedback as we continue developing the app. In the private preview, customers can use Loop to work on projects collaboratively such as planning events, developing products, brainstorming sales campaigns, and more. The Loop app features workspaces, pages, and components (which sync across Microsoft 365 apps). 

 

If you’re interested in future updates, go to loop.microsoft.com to get looped in!

 

Adaptive Card-based Loop components (SAP)

 

Ignite Sessions:

• Ignite keynote
• Re-energize your workforce in the office, at home, and everywhere in between
• From low code to pro code: building and buying collaborative apps to power an evolving workplace

 

Blogs:

• AC-based Loop Components: Collaborate on live business data and project tasks
• Re-energize your workforce in the office, at home, and everywhere in between

 

An animated image demonstrating a request being approved in the Adaptive Card-based Loop component in Microsoft Teams and the same update syncing in Outlook and SAP S/4HANA Cloud.

At this year’s Microsoft Build, we announced our developer private preview for Adaptive Card-based Loop components. In the private preview, we’ve worked with several partners including, SAP, Zoho, Smartsheet, GitHub, Viva Sales, Decisions and Priority Matrix. We’re excited to reveal the progress that they’ve made with an example of SAP’s S/4 HANA cloud Loop component. Check out their story in the session: From low code to pro code: building and buying collaborative apps to power an evolving workplace and learn more about the scenarios being addressed with Adaptive-Card based Loop components.

 

Stay tuned for the end-user public preview coming early next year.

 

Loop components in more places (Word for the web + Whiteboard)

 

Ignite Session:

• Re-energize your workforce in the office, at home, and everywhere in between

Blogs:

• What’s new in Teams blog
• Re-energize your workforce in the office, at home, and everywhere in between

 

An animated image of a Loop component shared and updated across Teams, Outlook, Word for the web, and Microsoft Whiteboard.

• Loop components enable collaboration within the context of your communication apps in Teams chat and Outlook. We’re expanding on our vision to meet teams in the context of their work by bringing Loop components to Word for the web, Whiteboard and Outlook for Windows. In Word for the web, you can insert Loop components in your document to collaborate effectively within the app. You can insert a new component under the Loop component insert menu or using Microsoft Editor using Context IQ, which intelligently connects you with the information you need, where and when you need it.  If you’re looking to carry the conversation to another app, you can copy and paste the component into Teams chat, Outlook, or Whiteboard. All content stays in sync and updates in real time, regardless of where your teammates access the component. Loop components in Word for the web are rolling out to private preview by end of the calendar year.  The component types available initially include Polls, checklists, and task lists.
  
  
• Project teams have been leveraging Whiteboard to kick off ideation and Loop will now meet your team in the context of your collaboration. You can copy an existing Loop component and paste it into Whiteboard from Teams, Outlook, and Word for the web. Like all Loop components, changes made to a Loop component in Whiteboard sync across all the places that the component lives. The ability to copy and paste components in Whiteboard (web, Teams, and desktop) is rolling out to general availability by end of the year. 
  
  
• Carry the conversation from Teams chat into Outlook to meet your peers in their preferred communication app. Loop components are available in Targeted Release for Outlook on the web and in Insiders Fast and Insiders Slow for Outlook for Windows. We’re excited to bring Loop components across your preferred Outlook apps to general availability by the end of the calendar year.

 

New Loop component types (Polls + Q&A)

 

Every project team approaches collaboration differently, and we’re working to introduce more Loop component types to streamline collaboration. We’re introducing two new component types with Polls and Q&A: 

• Polls: Microsoft Forms powers our newest component, Polls, which enables you to content such as quizzes and word clouds that stay in sync across the endpoints they are shared in. Watch feedback populate in the component like magic as respondents reply in real time. The Polls component is rolling out to private preview by the end of the year in Outlook on the web and Word for the web.  

An animated image demonstrating a new Polls Loop component being added to an email in Outlook and people responding to the Poll.

• Q&A: Meeting chats and email inboxes today can become overloaded with back-and-forth responses to answer seemingly simple questions. The Q&A component collects answers to questions in real-time across your team, making it clear and easy to stay in sync on responses and add follow-up questions as necessary. Are there multiple opinions on a particular question? The Q&A component tracks who responds to each question in line, providing clarity on who responds to what. Q&A is in public preview in Outlook on the web, and it will be rolling out to general availability across Outlook on the web and Outlook for Windows by the end of the calendar year. 

An animated image demonstating a new Q&A Loop component being added to an email. People can add questions and answers to the poll.

 

Sensitivity labels and Data Loss Prevention (DLP) for Loop components

 

As Loop components span across more Microsoft 365 apps, we are introducing new security features with sensitivity labels and Data Loss Prevention (DLP) for Loop components:

An animated image demonstrating how to change a sensitivity label in a Loop component from general to confidential.

• Sensitivity labels enable users to assign a level of security for their Loop components to help ensure that sensitive information isn’t mishandled. Administrators can create specific labels for their organizations to enable their users to choose an appropriate label for their components, which can encrypt the component as well. Administrators also have the option to include a watermark to better convey the security level more clearly to those accessing the component. 

An animated image demonstrating when a Loop component is flagged for sensitive information when credit card information is entered.

• DLP enables administrators to set content and keywords that are automatically flagged across an organization’s Loop components. These banners notify users about potential sensitive data in a component to help people make informed decisions on sharing the content. 

 

Admins who already have these features enabled for Office files will automatically have their preferences applied to Loop components, cutting down on setup time. Both sensitivity labels and DLP will be in general availability for Loop components soon across any app that supports Loop components. 

 

Customer story: Accenture captures information quickly and easily using Microsoft Loop

 

https://aka.ms/Accenture_TeamsLoop_Video

 

Check out how Accenture has adopted Loop components in their day-to-day work to support collaboration across time zones and locations. Stay in sync and on track with Loop components in Teams chat today, and soon in Outlook, Word for the web, and Whiteboard.

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