Microsoft Places uses AI to find the best time for your next workday

Microsoft is trying to solve the hassle of coordinating with colleagues what time everyone will be in the office. It is a problem that has arisen with the increase in hybrid and flexible working following the recent Covid-19 pandemic, with workers spending less time in the office. Microsoft Places is an AI-powered app that’s in preview today and should help businesses that rely on Outlook and Microsoft Teams better coordinate time in the office.

“When employees arrive at the office, they don’t want to be greeted by a sea of ​​empty desks – they want to have face-to-face time with their manager and the coworkers they collaborate with most frequently,” says the vice president corporate AI at work at Microsoft. , Jared Spataro, in a blog post. “With Places, you can more easily coordinate coworkers and office spaces.”

Microsoft Places includes a dedicated location plan section where you can set and share the days you will use the office and see which days your coworkers are proposing to visit. Managers can set priority days for office plans, so if there’s an important event or team day, everyone knows about it. This location data will then be inserted into Outlook calendars, so you know when events are taking place in the office and when you have decided to attend.

Later this year, Microsoft also plans to integrate this entire experience into Microsoft Copilot. You will be able to ask the AI ​​assistant “which days should I go this week?” and you’ll receive a list of suggestions based on in-person meetings, when your coworkers plan to attend, and any team days or events. “You can ask Copilot to adjust your schedule based on this information – changing your work location to the office on recommended days and rescheduling in-person meetings,” says Spataro.

Microsoft Places will also have a location feature that will make it easier to book meeting rooms or shareable tables, and all of this will also be accessible in Outlook. You’ll even receive reminders in your calendar if you forget to reserve a room or desk for your workdays. Later this year, this full booking experience will also be available on Copilot, so the AI ​​assistant can automatically find and reserve spaces for your meetings.

Location data from Microsoft Places will also feed into other Microsoft 365 apps. If you’re working in Teams, you’ll see that colleagues are marked as nearby if they’re also in the office, and you can type @nearby to notify people who are in the office for an impromptu conversation or just to arrange lunch.

Microsoft will also allow real estate and facilities management employees to access a Microsoft Places space analytics feature later this year that shows how widely used a building is and which days are most popular with employees. IT administrators will also be able to better manage and adapt spaces or improve meeting rooms and shared meeting rooms. The dashboard appears to be focused on analyzing buildings and rooms, rather than offering managers another way to track individual employees.

Microsoft Places will eventually be part of Microsoft Teams Premium, which is currently offered for an additional $7 per user per month thanks to promotional pricing. (It usually costs an extra $10.) Teams Premium also includes an AI-powered smart recap feature, watermarking to prevent leaks, and many other additional features. You can sign up for Microsoft Places preview program here.