Teams Adds Public Preview Channel

• Teams has added a new public preview option for organizations that want to evaluate upcoming features and changes.
• Access to feature previews could help organizations keep pace with Teams’ rapid cadence and test compatibility before broader rollouts.
• Client updates still must eventually be accepted to maintain connection to Teams.

Teams now offers a public preview option which can give organizations access to new Teams features before they are made generally available. This option is in addition to existing private previews that require an invitation from Microsoft and a nondisclosure agreement (NDA). Preview access can be essential in helping organizations test compatibility with existing systems and workflows, and in preparation of support resources. However, Teams continues to be developed and updated at a rapid cadence, and organizations have no choice but to eventually accept Teams updates.

The Importance of Early Access

Teams is updated with new features at a rapid cadence, which can create challenges for organizations concerned with providing support resources for their users and testing compatibility of new features. (For more details, see the sidebar “Teams Updates Often.”)