Microsoft Places App to Launch with New Core and Premium Plans Next Month
Microsoft Places will hit general availability in November with new core and premium service plans.
Published: Oct 08, 2024
Key Takeaways:
- Microsoft Places will go out of preview in November, offering core and premium service plans.
- The Places app helps users set office hours, share locations, and coordinate schedules with coworkers.
- The Core plan will provide essential workspace management features, while the Premium plan will add advanced capabilities.
Microsoft’s new AI-powered Places app, which was released in preview earlier this year, is set for its official launch next month. The company has announced on the Microsoft 365 admin center that this app will become generally available with core and premium service plans.
Microsoft Places lets users set their office hours and locations while coordinating schedules with coworkers. With the dedicated Location Plan feature, employees can share when they are in the office and see their colleagues’ availability. Managers can assign priority days, and all this information is automatically synced with Outlook calendars.
Key features of the Microsoft Places core and enhanced plans
Microsoft will introduce two new service plans for its Places app: Core and Premium. The Core plan will offer all the essential features needed for customers to manage and utilize workspaces efficiently.
“As an existing customer, you will see an additional service plan as part of your Office 365 subscription: Places core. This service plan includes all core features such as setting up and updating location plans, viewing collaborators’ location plans, accessing peek card experiences, scheduling in person meetings, managing hybrid RSVP, and workplace presence related capabilities,” Microsoft explained.
The Places Enhanced plan offers all the features of the core plan as well as additional premium capabilities. Microsoft Teams Premium customers will be able to access enhanced features such as intelligent booking, Places Finder, Places Explorer, Places Space Analytics, and auto-release policies.
Licensing
Microsoft will integrate the new service plans into existing Microsoft 365/Office 365 subscriptions. The Places Core plan will be included in Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Business Standard, Business Premium, and Office 365 E1, E3, E5, and F3 plans.
Additionally, the Places Core plan includes some Teams-specific features for customers with Microsoft Teams Essentials, Enterprise, and EEA subscriptions. However, the enhanced plan will only be available for Microsoft Teams Premium subscribers.
Microsoft will start rolling out the new service plans to customers in November across all platforms. Microsoft Places core features will be automatically available within Office 365 subscriptions with minimal setup, while enhanced features will require more detailed additional deployment planning.