Following on from the blog last week covering the setup of Avatars, the next question naturally becomes - what ability does the org admin have, if any, to review those Avatars once they have been created? This may not seem like that big a deal at first. After all, you would think that people ought to choose something sensible and have the freedom to have a bit of fun right? Sounds good. At least on paper. But we've been here before. We've been here with the Snapchat add-in. And with the Teams custom backgrounds. And with OBS. And even to some extent with the use of emoji's. And when it comes down to it, it's not about personality or whether the admin is either a jolly old fellow or a killjoy. It's about protecting users and the organisation from content which could be perceived negatively by others, which damages or is noncompliant with the brand or puts the users in a sensitive situation. Sure, I may come across as overcautious, even hawkish and I get that. But during the pandemic I - for example, have personally seen someone outside my org use a background of an intensive care ward saying they felt like it was immersive. Moreso, I have also seen others in the wider community use backgrounds such as the Rhodesian flag, or - let's say - very questionable Manga content. So yeah, I think its important. Real important. So today we'll see how Avatars can at least be reviewed by the Teams administrator with a view to using those app permissions in future. And since this isn't a very long subject at present, we'll also throw in how to disable end-user product surveys in Teams 2.1. for good measure because, well, a partner asked me how to disable them this week. Again you would think that users would sensibly put in constructive feedback like you or I and give measured and fair feedback on the pros and cons of the product. Sounds good. At least on paper. When a user gives caps-lock, f-bomb laden monologues, or one liners loaded with sarcasm again this could be perceived negatively by others, which damages or is noncompliant with the brand or puts the users in a sensitive situation. So these are, in a sense, linked scenarios which we'll explore today
Tag: Teams Avatars
Teams Real Simple with Pictures: Setting up – and blocking – Avatars in Microsoft Teams
One of the things I find about blogs - at least when you write regularly over a long period of time is that there are subjects which just seem to fall off the radar. For all of the best intentions. For however cool those subjects are it just doesn't happen one way or another. They go MIA awhile, only to re-surface again when prompted. In my case this is typically in a conversation I have regarding a business need. Now, as I have explained previously, I don't take blogging seriously to the point that I have some kind of system for it. I don't write ideas down. I dont plan them out during the week. I'll just rock up and write it ad-hoc because that's what I enjoy. And over the past 4 years or so it's generally worked out well. So one such subject this week was the use of Avatars, with a customer of a business partner who was absolutely adament that they wanted to prevent a proportion, if not all of their users using avatars in Teams Meetings. It was an idiosyncratic, as opposed to a technical need. And that's ok. You don't have to justify it to me. It's valid. Many of us in the field who have used Avatars in Teams for some time know right out the gate that opinions and biases will vary, and whilst one person will see them as inclusive, allowing freedom from being anchored to the camera or having to dress up for groupthink, another will see them as inauthentic, breaking decorum and trivialising the serious matter of business. What do I believe? That isn't my place to say within this article. However, I did talk about Avatars a few times over the past year including at Microsoft Ignite. I should have done a blog sooner. But it went MIA. This is for a partner of that customer: how to setup - and block - the use of Avatars in Microsoft Teams. Your choice.
@Microsoft365Pro 