7 Microsoft 365 Tools for IT Professional and Admin Training

A lot of people are familiar with Microsoft software and have been using it for years. However, new products as well as updates are constantly being rolled out. As such, it’s important to educate yourself on all the new features that are available in order to optimize the user experience. Microsoft 365 (M365) has plenty of amazing features that can vastly improve how you operate. And there are several training tools available to help fully equip you with the necessary skills to run M365. It’s these tools that we’ll go over below to see just how they can help you.

Microsoft 365 via Video Hub

Poring over countless pages of documents can be a painstaking task for most people. It’s something that can very easily put one off from learning something. Fortunately, Microsoft 365 gives its clients a great alternative. With Video Hub you’ll get to do you learning through watching videos that will provide you with all the expertise you need. This platform contains over 150 technical videos about Microsoft technologies. Also, if you happen to have any questions, there are subject matter experts available to answer those for you. By using Video Hub, you will undoubtedly enhance your learning experience and gain new skills.

Instructor-led courses for Microsoft 365

To further sharpen your skills, Microsoft also has courses available that are taught by experts. Depending on your preference, you have the choice of taking the course online or in person. Moreover, the courses are taught by Microsoft Certified Trainers so you can be certain that you’ll be receiving a quality education. In addition, the web page comes with a filter so you don’t have to browse over a hundred courses searching for what you need. You get to pick the material that you want to learn and focus on that only. So whether you’re a beginner or advanced, an administrator or a developer, there are courses available for you.

Microsoft 365 Certification

The tools mentioned above can help you on your journey to get certification. For a lot of people, this is the goal as it will help to improve your prospects. Microsoft certification shows that you are keeping up with recent technological advances as well as the requirements that come with various roles. Similarly to the courses above, the certifications page also has a filter that will point you to the material that you need. Doing these certifications will boost not only your productivity as an individual but your value to your organization as well. Additionally, these certifications have great potential to advance your career and prepare you for future possibilities.

Online providers

Apart from Microsoft, you can also find online service providers that can provide you with the training you need. Having alternative options gives clients a lot more convenience as well as the choice of how they want to proceed with their learning. These courses can help individuals to get an in-depth understanding of the administrative capabilities of Microsoft 365. And the key thing here is to search for courses that are led by Microsoft certified trainers. Otherwise, you may end up receiving training that will not be recognized in the future. 

Microsoft Learn

Microsoft Learn is an exciting sandbox-based learning platform that enables people to learn about various technologies. By putting everything together in one place, Microsoft makes IT professional and admin training a whole lot simpler. All you need to get started is to set up a Microsoft account if you don’t already have one. It’s a very simple process that just requires you to fill in your details. Another great benefit that you get from this platform is the fun aspect of the learning process. Things such as points and trophies awarded for reaching certain goals serve to add a little fun to the learning process.

Learning paths and modules

Microsoft offers various learning paths and modules that are designed to fully equip you with the knowledge you need. You’ll find close to 300 options available on this particular web page. So this is an area that will provide you with step-by-step guidance to mastering Microsoft products. With some of these having no prerequisites it means that you can select a learning path or module and jump straight in. You’ll need to dedicate a couple of hours to learning the material but you can do it at your convenience. If you’re looking for efficient learning platforms then this is what you need.

YouTube tutorials

In addition to the Video Hub that you get from Microsoft, you’ll find that YouTube is also a rich source of learning material. In fact, Microsoft has the vast majority of M365 videos that can be found on YouTube. The advantage of using this platform is that you get to learn from various individuals. Although some may not be Microsoft certified trainers, they can still provide you with a great learning platform. Sometimes all you need to understand a challenging concept is for someone to explain it in a slightly different way and it’s as if a light has been switched on. Without a doubt, YouTube can be a valuable learning tool, if used with discretion of course.   

Equipping yourself

Technology is moving at a very rapid pace that makes it difficult to keep up with. And because of that pace, it’s not always feasible to physically attend classes or seminars to learn what you need. Fortunately, for Microsoft 365 users they get plenty of tools to provide them with adequate training. These tools allow you to enhance your skills at your own pace and gain Microsoft certification. All of which you can achieve in the comfort of your own home. Whatever you need to learn is potentially just the click of a button away.

MCT Program Update: Office365

We are super excited to announce that MCT Software & Services subscription now includes a non-trial version of Office 365 Enterprise Developer. Many of you have been waiting for this for a long time and we have made it happen for you. Office 365 is no longer a one year free trial version. This is effective immediately.

Office 365 Enterprise Developer includes:
• Exchange Online
• Flow for Office 365
• Microsoft Planner, Microsoft Teams
• Mobile Device Management for Office 365
• Office 365 ProPlus
• Office Online for Developer
• PowerApps for Office 365
• SharePoint Online for Developer
• Skype for Business Online

Office365 Recipient address rejected: Access denied

Funny thing happend……

For some reason new email accounts (older then 24 hours) and email aliases was not working properly within Office365.

External contacts was reporting:

tried to deliver your message, but it was rejected by the server for the recipient domain mydomain by mydomain.mail.protection.outlook.com

550 5.4.1 [<username>@<mydomain>]: Recipient address rejected: Access denied

Reason:

  • Accounts was is getting propagated in an accepted time frame (24 hours)

Issue:

  •  The affected accounts is unable to receive email from external contacts – emails are not getting delivered.

Resolution:

  • We changed the accepted domain to Internal relay to resolve the issue.
  • As a precaution we enabled Conditional Sender ID and NDR backscatter to avoid spam attacks.

Articles on Mail Flow for reference:

Exchange Online Protection Limits

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-in/library/exchange-online-protection-limits.aspx

How Office 365 does SPF checks for customer-to-customer mail

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/tzink/archive/2015/02/26/how-office-365-does-spf-checks-for-customer-to-customer-mail.aspx

Manage Transport Rules

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj657505(v=exchg.150).aspx

Transport rules

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-IN/library/jj919238(v=exchg.150).aspx

Configure your spam filter policies

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj200684(v=exchg.150).aspx

Submitting spam and non-spam messages to Microsoft for analysis

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-IN/library/jj200769(v=exchg.150).aspx

Advanced spam filtering options

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj200750(v=exchg.150).aspx

Spam email and Office 365 environment

http://blogs.technet.com/b/exchange/archive/2014/07/25/spam-email-and-office-365-environment-overview.aspx

Should you install Office 2016 32-bit or 64-bit?

There seems to be some doubt about Office 2016 when to install 64-bit version of office vs 32-bit

Limitations of the 64-bit version of Office

The 64-bit version of Office may perform better in some cases, but there are limitations:

  • Solutions using ActiveX controls library, ComCtl controls won’t work.
  • Third-party ActiveX controls and add-ins won’t work.
  • Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) that contain Declare statements won’t work in the 64-bit version of Office without being updated.
  • Compiled Access databases, like .MDE and .ACCDE files, won’t work unless they’re specifically written for the 64-bit version of Office.
  • In SharePoint, the list view won’t be available.

If you have specific add-ins that you use in the 32-bit version of Office, they may not work in 64-bit Office, and vice versa. If you’re concerned, check your current version of Office before installing the new one. Considering testing the add-in with 64-bit Office, or finding out if a 64-bit version of the add-in is available from the developer.

The 64-bit version of Office has some limitations, but is the right choice when:

  • You work with extremely large data sets, like enterprise-scale Excel workbooks with complex calculations, many PivotTables, connections to external databases, PowerPivot, PowerMap, or PowerView. The 64-bit version of Office may perform better for you.
  • You work with extremely large pictures, videos, or animations in PowerPoint. The 64-bit version of Office may be better suited to handle these complex slide decks.
  • You work with extremely large Word documents. The 64-bit version of Office may be better suited to handle Word documents with large tables, graphics, or other objects.
  • You’re working with files over 2GB in Project, especially if the project has many subprojects.
  • You want to keep the 64-bit version of Office that you’re already using. The 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Office programs aren’t compatible, so you can’t install both on the same computer.
  • You’re developing in-house Office solutions, like add-ins or document-level customizations.
  • Your organization requires Hardware Data Execution Prevention (DEP) be enforced for Office applications. DEP is a set of hardware and software technologies that some organizations use to enhance security.

 

Using a 3.Party IM Client with Office 365 or Lync?

Of course!

I’ve been using Pidgin for ages…

In Pidgin I’m able to run the following protocols

  • -XMPP (facebook)
  • Office Communicator (for Lync and O365)
  • Skype
  • Skype for Business
  • ICQ
  • ….. and lots more.. see the full list at Pidgin Thirdparty plugins

You should try it, if you like me prefer to keep your conversation history’s together and sorted.

One thing i’ve noticed, for some reason Office 365 (Lync or now Skype for Business) requires me to use a specific user agent(!) so….having problems getting it to work? Maybe you see:

Connection refused with error message
“You are currently not using the recommended version of the client”
“You have been rejected by the server: https://portal.microsoftonline.com/download/lync.aspx”

Cry no more!

Here is a list of user agents and versions you can emulate, and it works great! Just modify your connection profile, under advanced, type one of the following user agent values..

Version / Product User Agent values (as seen in the wild)
Lync 2013 and Office 365 UCCAPI/15.0.4481.1000 OC/15.0.4481.1000 (Microsoft Lync)
UCCAPI/15.0.4420.1017 OC/15.0.4420.1017 (Microsoft Lync)
Lync 2010 and Office 365 UCCAPI/4.0.7577.314 OC/4.0.7577.314 (Microsoft Lync 2010)
UCCAPI/4.0.7577.256 OC/4.0.7577.280 (Microsoft Lync 2010)
Office Communicator 2007 R2 UCCAPI/3.5.6907.206 OC/3.5.6907.206 (Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 R2)
UCCAPI/3.5.6907.0 OC/3.5.6907.0 (Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 R2)
Office Communicator 2007 UCCP/2.0.6362.111 OC/2.0.6362.111 (Microsoft Office Communicator)
UCCP/2.0.6362.97 OC/2.0.6362.97 (Microsoft Office Communicator)
Office Communicator 2005 LCC/1.3.5371 (Microsoft Office Communicator 2005 1.0.559.0)
LCC/1.3.5371 (Microsoft Office Communicator 2005 1.0.559.232)

Setup BPOS Active Directory synchronization

To synchronize your AD Domain with your BPOS environment, follow the steps below.

  • Log in on your Microsoft Online Services Administration Center, Click the [Migration] tab and then click the [Configure] button in the “Directory Synchronization” Section.
    BPOS Directory Synchronization
  • Read the  “Plan for Directory Synchronization” and check the checkbox, confirming that you read it.
  • Press the [Enable] button in step 2, to enable BPOS for the synchronization.
  • Press the [download] button in step 3. This will open a where you can download the synchronization tool.
  • Now you should install the synchronization tool, but mind the following restrictions:
    – Supported OS: Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2; Windows Server 2008
    – Can’t be installed on a domain controller
    – Can’t be installed on x64
    Powershell v1.0 has to be installed
  • Execute the file you downloaded in the previous step (dirsync.exe).
    – do not interrupt the installer
  • The installation is a Next, Next, Finish installation. You will be staring at a progress bar for quite a long timeinstallatie_ADSyncTool
  • After the initial install you can start the Configuration Wizard.
    Before you proceed be sure, you have the following things:
    – An user account who is an BPOS Administrator (probably the one you used to login with in step 1)
    – An Enterprise Administrator Account
    If you have these then the configuration is again almost, Next, Next, Finish.
  • At the end of the configuration, choose “”Synchronize directories now”
    – do not create any user object in your BPOS environment during this sync.
  • Within a few minutes, you can then view your imported users in your BPOS environment, they are all imported under the “Disabled User“ view (Tab [Users] > [User List], under view select “Disabled Users”).

From here you can now enable the users. A bit annoying is the fact that the list doesn’t use paging, you can only go 1 step through the list or to the end (or is that because I only had 2 pages?)

So now some things that are interesting to know:

  • The tool creates a service account named MSOL_AD_Sync. This will be a domain account with directory replication permissions on your AD.
  • A service will be installed on your ”sync station”.
  • The time needed for a synchronization depends on how many objects you have.
    500 objects will take about 5 min. to sync the first time, after the about 30 sec.
    1000 objects will take 10 min, after that 1 min.
    500o objects will take 45 min, after that 5 min.
    15000 objects will take 2.5h, after that 10 min.
    All depending on your bandwidth of course, for more than 20.000 objects contact Microsoft.
  • An uninstall of the tool, will not delete the MSOL_AS_Sync account, you have to do this manually.
  • The tool will sync every user in your complete forest, so whenever you must delete a domain in your forest this will impact your BPOS environment. To delete the domain, you must complete some “in-between” steps.
  • Every 3 hours there will be a scheduled sync.

This error will appear “049: LDAP injection characters were found in the user alias” if you have used invalid characters like & and !