Microsoft Places is a new Teams app to help remote workers with in-office schedules and more

The COVID-19 pandemic sent most people who work in an office back home to work remotely. That allowed online meetings and collaboration services like Microsoft Teams and others to surge in popularity. However, with the pandemic now over, many companies are still allowing their employees to continue to work remotely, at least for some days of the week.

Today, Microsoft announced a new app for Teams Premium users called Places. In a post on the Microsoft 365 blog, the company stated Places is designed to help remote workers schedule when and where they work with their managers. it will also help those employees to set up when and where they can work when they do come into their offices.

The Places app will let remote employees set their location schedule with their managers, they will also be able to see the schedules of their fellow workers, It added:

Updating or adjusting your location is always available within the Places app, but it’s also accessible within your regular flow of work in the Outlook Calendar. With a click, you can adjust your schedule and access the peek card—which shows your closest collaborators who plan to come in and allows quick access to space booking—for more information.

The app will also have a feature called team guidance, This feature is for managers who can use it to indicate when their team members should be in the office and what goals they are expected to meet while in their office location.

Speaking of office locations, the Places app will include a Places Finder feature. It will be available in the Outlook app and will let employees search for the specific desk at their desired location in the office, complete with pictures showing what those desks look like. Other features for Places include a way to see if any of co-workers happen to be near you at the office.

Of course, Microsoft plans to put in AI-based Copilot features in the Places app. That will happen in the second half of 2024. It will use data from your company to find out what days are the best for coming into the office. You will also be able to ask Copilot to make changes to your schedule and more.

Microsoft Places is currently in a public preview testing mode. Businesses who want to try it out can sign up for the preview here. When it does become generally available it will be part of a Team Premium subscription.