New to Sway—recording, closed caption, navigation, autoplay and view counts
Over the last few months, we’ve been on the ground asking users what features they would like to see in the Sway app. We heard all the ways you use Sway in your personal, school and work lives, and listened to tons of great recommendations on how we could make these experiences even better. As a result of this partnership, we’re proud to announce another round of updates from the Sway team.
Audio recording
The ability to add audio to Sways was the top request from educators—as students and teachers (among others)—love to express their ideas and thoughts in this natural and intuitive way. Now, you can record your voice directly in Sway web app to make your Sway more interactive and engaging.
For more information on how to record audio in Sway and what browsers support audio recording, please see “Record audio in Sway.”
Closed caption
With the Microsoft mission to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more, we continue to add features to improve accessibility. We are excited to announce that authors can now associate closed caption files with their audio recordings or audio files added from their local drive or OneDrive/OneDrive for Business. Office 365 authors can also associate closed caption files with any video files uploaded from their local drive or from OneDrive for Business.
First, add a new video or audio card to your Sway—by either uploading the content, recording it or adding the content from your OneDrive/OneDrive for Business account—and then expand the card using the Details button. Next, click the Add closed caption button at the bottom of the expanded card and select your closed caption file (.vtt format) and the language it is in.
When viewing a Sway that has a video with closed captions available, it is easy to simply select the option to turn closed captions on and the language of the closed caption they’d like to see.
Navigation view
Sways are now easier to navigate. Jump back and forth between sections or get a glimpse of the Sway content—all from the new Navigation view.
When you click or tap the Navigation icon (in the bottom-right corner), the Sway fades into the background and the Navigation view appears. Your Sway title, section headers, images and text collectively form an engaging and informative navigation view.
Here’s an example of the Navigation view in the Universe Sway:
Autoplay
You told us you wanted to automatically play and continuously loop a Sway for unattended cases such as billboards.
We’re happy to announce that, if you have an Office 365 subscription, you can now set your Sway to play automatically! If you are the author of the Sway, use the … menu on the top right to go to Settings and turn autoplay on. Additionally, you can autoplay any Sway you are viewing by clicking the Settings gear at the top right-hand corner of the Sway. In the Autoplay settings box, set the delay and then press Start. The Sway will now play automatically.
Once the Sway is playing, you can change the delay, pause or stop playback using the controls on the bottom-right corner.
View count
We also heard from our users that they want to know how engaged their audience is with their Sways. Now, authors can see how many people have viewed their Sway. We officially started the view count on March 13, 2017, so if you see “No data,” this means that the Sway has not had any viewers since that date.
We hope you enjoy using the newest features in Sway, and as always, we look forward to your suggestions, feedback and comments on our UserVoice page.
Publish your OneNote Notebooks with Office365 and this helpful Sway!
Working Parents Day
By Kelly Cronin
We asked our Managed Solution Team to send us pictures of what being a working parent really looks like. The response we got was somewhat unexpected, but was well put by our Cloud MarketPlace Manager, Mary Johnson, who said, "I don’t know that these are pictures of what it’s like to be a working parent because I don’t usually have a free hand to take a picture with." And it's true - an estimated 60.6% of families have both working parents. Work-life balance is a difficult task to manage for employees, employers, and their families. At Managed Solution, we have new flexible work arrangements, that give employees the opportunity to work part-time from home and part-time in the office. As a result, our team can have more balance between their work life and their personal life.
Whether it's being there for their first steps, picking them up from their first day of school, or watching their last soccer game, every moment is precious. Take a look at what our working parents treasure and appreciate every day:
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3 new Sway capabilities for Office 365 subscribers
In the 10 months since Sway’s general availability, we’ve seen great interest in our digital storytelling app, with millions of Sways created to date! We’ve seen music companies, design firms and small businesses use Sway for company presentations, client pitches and employee newsletters. We’ve watched teachers use Sway to advance student learning in dynamic and engaging ways in their classrooms. And Sway has become an easy and enjoyable way to share travel, dining and personal experiences with others.
We make sure to listen to the Sway community and continually add relevant and enjoyable experiences for you. As we work toward this goal, we are excited to release three new features for Office 365 consumer, work and education subscribers based on feedback we’ve heard from you. These features are now available in Sway on the web, and they will roll out to the Sway app for Windows 10 in the coming months.
Add passwords to Sways
Previously, Office 365 work and education customers have been able to limit sharing of Sways at the organizational level, so that only people in your company or school can view your creations. Starting today, all Office 365 subscribers can add an extra layer of privacy by setting passwords for your Sways. This ensures that only people with the password can view your work presentations, school reports or travel journals.
Enjoy enhanced content limits
We received numerous requests to be able to put more text, photos and other content in your Sways. And our own data shows us that our Office 365 subscribers typically create longer and more robust Sways with higher amounts of videos, tweets and other embedded content. So we’ve worked to increase the content limits for Office 365 subscribers so you can create longer-form works with more multimedia to convey a richer story in the boardroom, the classroom or your home.
Remove the informational footer in Sway
Finally, we’re enabling all Office 365 subscribers to remove the informational footer at the end of your Sway to help you achieve a more polished look. You can now tap the Share icon and uncheck the Show Sway branding in this Sway checkbox to create a more professional look for your creations.
The Sway team is excited to provide ongoing value to our Office 365 subscribers and will continue adding new, exclusive Sway features over time. To learn more about monthly updates released across the Office apps for Office 365 subscribers, check out the New to Office 365 in June blog post.
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4 Steps to Make Earth Day Matter with Office365
Earth Day is a powerful reminder of our responsibility to protect and preserve our planet. This year, let’s harness the power of technology to make a tangible impact. Microsoft Office365 offers a suite of tools that can help you and your team contribute to a more sustainable future. Here are four steps to make Earth Day matter with Office365.
1. Leverage Microsoft Teams for Virtual Meetings
Reducing travel is one of the most effective ways to cut down on carbon emissions. Microsoft Teams, integrated seamlessly with Office365, makes virtual meetings easy and efficient. By opting for virtual gatherings instead of in-person meetings, you can significantly reduce your carbon footprint.
- Action Step: Schedule all your Earth Day meetings on Microsoft Teams. Use features like screen sharing and collaborative notes to make your meetings productive and engaging without the need for travel.
2. Promote Sustainability with SharePoint
SharePoint is a powerful tool for creating, sharing, and managing content within your organization. Use SharePoint to create a dedicated Earth Day site where you can share sustainability tips, track your green initiatives, and encourage participation.
- Action Step: Set up an Earth Day site on SharePoint. Include resources on recycling, energy conservation, and how employees can reduce their carbon footprint. Encourage teams to contribute ideas and best practices.
3. Utilize OneDrive for Eco-Friendly File Management
OneDrive, part of the Office365 suite, offers secure cloud storage for your documents, photos, and files. By moving your documents to OneDrive, you reduce the need for paper and physical storage, promoting a paperless office.
- Action Step: Organize a digital declutter day. Encourage your team to move all non-essential files to OneDrive and delete or archive outdated documents. This not only saves paper but also improves file accessibility and collaboration.
4. Adopt Sustainable Practices with Microsoft Planner
Microsoft Planner helps teams organize tasks and projects efficiently. Use Planner to implement and track sustainability initiatives within your organization. Whether it’s reducing energy use, promoting recycling, or planting trees, Planner can help you stay on track.
- Action Step: Create a sustainability plan in Microsoft Planner. Assign tasks related to your Earth Day initiatives, set deadlines, and track progress. Celebrate milestones and encourage team members to share their contributions and ideas.
Bonus Tip: Utilize Microsoft Power Automate
For an extra edge, use Microsoft Power Automate to automate repetitive tasks related to sustainability, such as sending reminders for energy-saving practices or collecting data on waste reduction efforts.
- Action Step: Set up automated workflows in Power Automate to streamline your Earth Day activities. For example, create workflows to remind employees to turn off lights and computers at the end of the day or to track energy consumption and recycling efforts.
By integrating these Office365 tools into your Earth Day activities, you can foster a culture of sustainability within your organization. Small steps, powered by technology, can lead to significant environmental benefits. This Earth Day, let’s make a difference together, one click at a time!
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Sway Inspiration
Hope you're not working over the holidays, but if you are.... 24/7 On-Call Support will be available throughout the holiday to assist customers with any urgent support needs and can be reached at 858-429-3000 [Call: 858-429-3000] , Option 2.
For non-urgent issues, please submit a ticket by emailing helpdesk@managedsolution.com
We wish you a safe and enjoyable holiday season!
