Microsoft has announced important licensing updates designed to simplify access to advanced collaboration, workplace coordination, and large-scale event capabilities across Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Places. These changes will take effect on April 1, 2026.
Expanded Access to Microsoft Places
Microsoft is broadening access to AI-powered workplace coordination features in Microsoft Places. End-user functionality will now be included in all licenses that provide calendar access in Outlook and Teams, including:
- Microsoft 365 E3, E5
- Business Basic, Business Standard, Business Premium
- Outlook 365 E1, E3, E5
- Exchange Online and various Teams licenses
Key Capabilities Now Included:
- Places Finder – Enhanced room booking with images, floorplans, room attributes, and available technology
- Improved event calendaring experience – Smarter meeting room discovery based on availability and capacity
- Places Explorer – Map-based workspace reservations and visibility into people, spaces, and activity within locations
This update enables organizations to scale workplace coordination without requiring additional premium licensing.
Teams Shared Space License (Renamed & Expanded)
The Teams Shared Devices license is being renamed to Teams Shared Space license, with expanded functionality
What’s New:
- Manage up to four desks per license
- Assign licenses to bookable shared spaces individually
- Enhanced desk booking and space management
- Space analytics for utilization reporting
- Integration with third-party APIs for spatial data and check-in signals
Customers using legacy licenses will transition automatically, with optional no-cost license adjustments to support expanded desk capacity.
Advanced Town Hall & Webinar Features Move to Teams Enterprise
Microsoft is bringing previously Teams Premium-only town hall and webinar features to Teams Enterprise users.
Newly Included Features:
- Streaming chat for large events
- Reactions during town halls and webinars
- Real-time event performance insights
- Branded meeting themes and email customization
- Enterprise Content Delivery Network (eCDN)
- Immersive 3D events
Updated Capacity:
- Up to 3,000 interactive attendees for Teams Enterprise
- 10,000 attendee view-only streaming
- New attendee pack add-ons scaling events up to 100,000 participants
What Remains Exclusive to Teams Premium
Teams Premium continues to offer:
- Advanced meeting protection
- Intelligent recap
- Advanced admin collaboration tools
- Teams Phone Queues app
- Enhanced Bookings and virtual appointment features
What This Means for Organizations
These updates simplify licensing while expanding access to advanced workplace coordination and large-scale event capabilities. Organizations can now unlock more value from Teams and Places without additional complexity while retaining premium functionality where needed.
For businesses evaluating their licensing strategy ahead of April 2026, this is an opportunity to reassess alignment between collaboration needs and subscription tiers.