Turn your spaces into places

The preview for Microsoft Places has been available for some time now. However, it took a while for all the features to work.

All in all, it is a bit fiddly to activate and set up the preview. The steps are described in the following Microsoft articles:

• Activate Microsoft Places in the tenant:https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/deployoffice/places/deployment-guide-for-places
• Set up buildings and floors: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/deployoffice/places/get-started/quick-setup-buildings-floors
• Set up desk pools and workspaces: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/deployoffice/places/setting-up-desk-workspaces-in-places-finder

Frank Carius has put it all together in one article: https://www.msxfaq.de/cloud/funktionen/microsoft_places.htm Thank you for that!

And of course Copilot in Microsoft 365 will also be able to work with the data from Microsoft Places. The data is stored in the backend in Exchange Online and is therefore available to Copilot via the Microsoft Graph. Prompts such as the following can then be realized by users.

• I need a room in the office in Berlin to meet Oliver on August 9th. What are the possibilities?
• Show me the available desks in the office in New York at Time Square for September 17. Please also list which desk has which equipment.

Source and further details on Microsoft Places, Copilot and Teams Rooms: AI brings new life to flexible work with Microsoft Places

Microsoft Places also offers new possibilities completely independently of Copilot. The feature is also integrated into Outlook, for example. There, the Places Finder is available in the Outlook calendar to schedule meetings:

In order to activate and use the preview of Microsoft Places, one of the following license packages must be available:

• Microsoft 365 Business Basic
• Microsoft 365 Business Standard
• Microsoft 365 Business Premium
• Microsoft 365 or Office 365 (E1, E3, E5)
• Microsoft 365 or Office 365 (A1, A3, A5)
• Microsoft 365 Frontline Worker (F1, F3)