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Microsoft Previews Organizational Messages for Windows 11 Users
Microsoft has released a preview of a Microsoft Intune "Organizational Messages" capability for IT pros, which lets them send notices to Windows 11 users, per a Thursday announcement.
The Organizational Messages preview is available within the Microsoft Endpoint Manager Admin Center portal. It works with the Intune November service release version 2211, which also features a new "Multiple Administrator Approval" capability.
The Organizational Messages capability comes with templates for "12 message types" that can be branded with an organization's logo. The messages aren't customizable, but a URL link can be added to direct users to further information, according to an
"Overview" document description.
Microsoft had initially described Organizational Messages back in October as part of its Ignite event announcements. It was created to help organizations with remote workforces that "needed better tools to onboard, connect, and engage their users," Microsoft had explained back then.
Message Display Options
Organizational Messages get displayed to users on the Windows 11 desktop in three ways. First, IT pros can set them to appear "just above the desktop taskbar," which might be used for important notifications, such as "a critical software update."
Second, messages can be set to appear in the Notification Center space on the Windows 11 desktop, which might be done for "optional updates" or training notices.
Lastly, messages can be included when onboarding new Windows 11 computers via the "Get Started App." The Get Started App is Microsoft's name for the initial PC setup experience that users see. These types of messages actually appear within the Get Started App.
IT pros get certain controls over the messages that get sent to Windows 11 users, such as the ability to repeat a message if it's not acted upon. They also get an overall dashboard view in the Microsoft Endpoint Manager Admin Center portal. The dashboard will show the message types that were sent and their status, plus the start and end dates of the messages.
Requirements and Roles
The Organizational Messages preview capability is just supported for "devices running Windows 11 version 22H2 and later," the announcement explained. No other supported operating system was mentioned. The devices getting messages have to be "Intune managed" as well, per Microsoft's "Overview" document.
The licensing required to use Organizational Messages is either "Microsoft 365 E3/E5, or Enterprise Mobility + Security E3/E5 and Windows 11 Enterprise E3/E5," per the announcement.
IT pros have to enable certain policies beforehand to start using Organizational Messages. To set up and schedule the messages, IT pros need to have Intune Administrator or Azure Active Directory Global Administrator roles.
Microsoft also created two new "built-in roles" that permit IT pros to set up messages under the Organizational Messages scheme. There's a new Intune Organizational Messages Manager role, as well as a new Azure Active Directory Organizational Messages Writer role.
About the Author
Kurt Mackie is senior news producer for 1105 Media's Converge360 group.