Microsoft re-announces its Places work-scheduling app

Mary Jo Foley is the Editor in Chief at Directions on Microsoft. Before joining Directions, Mary Jo has worked as... more

In 2022, Microsoft announced plans for a work-scheduling app called Microsoft Places. That app was slated to be available in private preview in 2023. After going quiet about Places for the past year-plus, on May 13, 2024, Microsoft re-announced the Places app, which is now in public preview and will be getting a Copilot-integration boost later this year.

Places is intended to help employees optimize their in-office time for collaboration with coworkers and find work and meeting spaces, while providing employers with analytics to optimize facility usage

As Microsoft originally announced in 2022, the Places app is designed to work together with Teams and Teams Rooms Pro to provide occupancy and utilization insights. It also will work with Outlook and other Microsoft 365 apps to help customers schedule events, see who is close by and chat with people who are in proximity.

Microsoft officials said they plan to integrate Microsoft Places data with “Microsoft Copilot.” (I asked Microsoft to which of the many Microsoft Copilots they are referring, and a spokesperson verified that it’s Microsoft 365 Copilot.)

This Copilot integration will enable users to do things like understand which days are best for coming into the office; adjusting schedules based on this information; finding the best spaces for meetings, etc. Places Finder will be accessible from Outlook Calendar to help users search for rooms and desks and get other booking information. Places also will be able to use Teams’ bookable desk features so they can connect laptops to monitors and reserve work spots automatically.

Microsoft Places also will feature intended and actual occupancy pattern capabilities, which could help IT admins and real estate and facilities professionals to understand how their physical spaces are being used and help with space planning.

Places will be a Teams Premium feature

Microsoft Places will be generally available by the second half of calendar 2024, a spokesperson said when I asked. Microsoft officials said they plan to sell Places as part of Teams Premium, a subscription available for $10 USD per user per month which adds a variety of “premium” features to Teams that focus mostly on meetings and webinars. (Through June 30, 2024, Teams Premium is available for a promotional price for many customers for $7 per user per month.)

“Several customers have been asking ‘Where’s Places?’ and some have already gone to third-party facilities management solutions,” said Directions on Microsoft analyst Jim Gaynor. “But organizations that want this will need it for all their staff to make it effective. But making it part of Teams Premium at $10 per user per month — and even more with Copilot — is going to be steep for company-wide deployments.”

When Places was announced in late 2022, hybrid work solutions were a strategic focus for Microsoft as organizations began return-to-office efforts as the pandemic waned. The delay and lack of new information about Places until now is likely due to Microsoft’s change in focus to Copilot and generative AI.