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Important Notice - Microsoft Is Changing How It Processes Email

Wed, 16 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Microsoft is changing how it processes email and it could impact your business!

Here is why... Cast your mind back to a year and a half ago, you might recall that two of the largest email providers, Google and Yahoo, decided to crack down on unsolicited email (spam) by enforcing stronger email requirements for people sending larger quantities of email.

This was to crack down on people spoofing someone else’s email addresses to send bulk emails, which in turn forced organisations, who wanted to send emails to Google and Yahoo email addresses, to reconfigure their email settings to make them more secure.

The technical aspect of this is that the settings in DMARC, DKIM, and SPF all had to be configured by the senders. These are effectively settings that prove you are allowed to send emails for the email domain (the bit after the @ sign in your email address).

If these settings were not configured correctly, the email would be rejected.

In what was thought of as an unusual move, Microsoft didn’t join them in taking this approach to enhanced email security so people sending to Microsoft hosted emails did not have to pass these stricter security settings.

Microsoft has now announced it is playing catch up and will be requiring similar settings be configured for email senders to adhere to which will be enforced on May 5th, 2025.

Sender’s emails must comply with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC; otherwise, they will be routed to Junk and ultimately rejected if issues persist.

Senders need to ensure:

SPF: Sender Policy Framework (SPF) means the sending domain must pass by listing authorised IP addresses/hosts in the DNS zone file so the receiving email server can look up the sender and check that they are allowed to send email using that domain name.
DKIM: DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) means the sending email must have a digital signature setup to verify the senders identity, email integrity and authenticity must be validated.
DMARC: Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC) works by building on existing email authentication protocols like SPF and DKIM to verify the sender's identity and instruct receiving email servers how to handle emails that fail authentication. At least p=none and align with either SPF or DKIM (preferably both).

What does this mean for you?

If you are one of The Silver Cloud Business’s contract clients, we have already configured your email to comply with Microsoft's changes so when you send larger volumes of emails through Microsoft 365, it will already be setup before 5th May.

But do you also…

send out newsletters or bulk emails using a service like Mailchimp or similar?

If you do use one of these services, this also needs to be included in the configuration settings to ensure this is also configured correctly so your emails are still received by the intended recipients, if not, they will fall foul of Microsoft’s new policy on 5th May 2025.

If this affects me, does it affect other people?...

YES!!!, what this also means is that anyone sending emails to you, that have not set their email up to be configured correctly, may result in you not being able to receive their emails after 5th May, these emails will either end up in your email quarantine, your junk folder OR be rejected completely so you don’t get these emails at all.

PLEASE NOTE:… This is outside of our control, and we cannot bypass or create allow lists for your email contacts that are not complying with these security measures, this is something being enforced by Microsoft on ALL their email servers.

If you are unsure if your business uses any bulk mailer services to send out newsletters or such ask about in the business with your colleagues, if you do and want to make sure it will still work after 5th May, call us on 01722 411 999 and we can help verify it is setup or not, and if not, help you get it setup correctly.

Spread the word... The clock is ticking we wanted to give you the time to tell any of your existing email contacts that they might have to get their house in order if they want to keep sending you emails. This change will impact their ability to send email to EVERYONE not just you, so you will be doing them a favour if you notice their email is not coming to your inbox and is either ending up in quarantine or your junk folder.

Why not use this opportunity to add an extra layer of email security to your organisation as well...

The advantage of Microsoft implementing these changes means it is much harder to for people to spoof your email domain, but by deploying an additional security tool you can see how your email is performing and also see who is trying to impersonate you by trying to spoof you and use your email address. This tool will also help to boost your email reputational score by allowing you to see how your email is performing and make changes to the configuration. The higher the reputational score, the more likely your email will end up in the intended recipients inbox!

This tool not only shows you who is trying to send as you and what it is they are trying to send, it also shows you all of the services that use your email (such as Mailchimp) and how well they are working.

The tool helps with compliance and ensures your emails are delivered to inboxes, not spam folders. Here's why our chosen tool is so beneficial to our customers that use it:

Security: Protect your domain from email impersonation and phishing attacks.
Visibility: Gain complete control and understanding of all email activity using your domain.
Compliance: Ensure your organisation meets email security standards and policies.
Reliability: DMARC helps ensure your legitimate emails are delivered and reduces the risk of being blocked by email providers.
Actionable Insights: The tool provides detailed reports and analysis to help you understand your email environment and make informed decisions.
Easy to Use: the tool's platform is designed to be user-friendly and intuitive, even for those without extensive technical knowledge.

Typical set up costs are £250.00 and an on going monthly fee of £2.00 per user / mailbox per month.

Please call us with any questions on 01722 411 999 or if you would like more information or to have the tool setup.

Tech Tip – Speed Up Microsoft Outlook By Using Quick Steps

Wed, 09 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Are there things you do in Outlook that are repetitive, such as filing emails from suppliers into an Invoices folder, or forwarding messages onto someone else with a block of standard text in it. Then Quick Steps can help you automate your work, potentially saving you a lot of time.

Why should you use Quick Steps?

Quick Steps are really good for automating repetitive actions or tasks, you can create short cuts to automate things like the following:

Forward on a message to another member of staff, including a pre-typed block of text
Sort and categorise emails sent from specific people of clients, flagging them as important
Move specific emails such as invoices into a finances folder

Here is how to use it:

Open Microsoft Outlook
Go to the Home tab
Find and click on Quick Steps
In the popup window that opens click on the Add Quick Step button (If you have more than one mailbox in Outlook, ensure you select the correct one from the drop down showing your mailbox names)
Give the Quick Step a name
Choose the action that the quick step should perform from the list
Add additional actions if needed
Add an optional description
Choose a shortcut, this is a key combination you can use to action the Quick Step
Save the Quick Step

Quick Steps can save a tremendous amount of time especially if you find yourself doing the same things with email again and again. Give it a go and see if Quick Steps helps you sort, organisation and automate using your inbox, especially if you have mundane, repetitive tasks that are time consuming and could be automated.

Tech Tip - Use Focus Mode In Windows 11 To Boost Your Productivity

Wed, 02 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Are there times when you need to really get your head down and crack on with work without getting distracted or disturbed by pop ups or messages getting displayed on your computer? Did you know there is a new feature in Windows 11 where you can put the computer into Focus Mode where it will suppress any distractions popping up on your computer for a set period of time.

Here is how to use it:

In Windows 11, click on Start, then select Settings
Click on System
Click on Focus (on the right hand menu options)
From here you can choose the settings which include
- How long you want Focus to run for (default is 30 minutes) and can be adjusted using the plus and minus buttons either side of the duration amount
- Decide if you want to show the timer clock in the clock application on the task bar showing how long you have left in focus mode
- Whether or not to hide the popup notification and badges that appear on the task bar
- Enable or disable application flashing on the task bar (an application may flash if it has a notification)
- Enable or disable "Do not disturb" when running focus mode
When you have set the settings and duration to your liking, click on the "Start Focus Session" button at the top of the screen
If you need to end the session early, you can either click on the Pause button or go into Settings, System, Focus and click the "Stop Focus Session" button

Give it a go, it is surprising how much more you can get done when in focus mode and not having your computer interrupt you with badges and popups.

Tech Tip - How To Transcribe A Microsoft Teams Call

Wed, 26 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Do you use Microsoft Teams to hold video and voice calls? Did you know you can get Microsoft Teams to transcribe your Teams call or video call, producing a recorded video and a document of the call transcript, attributing the text to each speaker during the meeting?

Here is how to do it:

First you must make sure you Microsoft 365 tenant has been configured to allow call transcribing to take place in Microsoft Teams.

NOTE: if you are unable to transcribe your meetings, call us on 01722 411 999 and we can help enable this feature.

You can enable transcription in one of two ways, either before the call takes place or in the call itself, below is how to turn it on both ways.

Turn on transcription before the call:
- Create a Teams call invite within Microsoft Teams, this gives you more options than if you create the invite from your Microsoft Outlook calendar, both will show in your Teams and Outlook calendar so it doesn't affect you by choosing the Teams client to make the meeting request.
- Give it a title, invite the attendees, set it as a Teams call and before sending the invite...
- Click on Meeting options, click on "Recording and Transcription", move the slider to enable "Record and Transcribe Automatically".
- Send the meeting invite.
- Hold the call, during the call, at the top left of your screen you will notice the red record light, you may also not see real time transcription on the right hand side of the teams call, but you can see transcription is taking place due to the record light.
Turn on transcription during a teams call
- Start a Teams call with your participants.
- At the top of the teams call, click on the More menu option, the three horizontal dots on the menu bar (...) .
- Select Record and Transcribe.
- Click on Start Transcription.

This will start the recording and transcription of the meeting but what it also does it turn off each participants camera and microphone and notifies them that the call is being transcribe, whilst also warning them that the call will be recorded so they must agree to this before they can enable their camera and mic, this way participants cannot be recorded against their wishes.

NOTE: a meeting will only be transcribed and take place if every participant has agreed to be recorded. It also means if a participant doesn't agree to be transcribed, they cannot participate in the meeting and will be an inactive member of the call, in other words, the can hear and see the meeting, they just can't take part, so no speech or be video is recorded from that person.

Hold the meeting as you would normally, the meeting organiser will also be able to see the meeting transcribed in real time in the meeting chat window on the right hand side of the call window.

When you finish the meeting, the video file and a document of the transcription will be saved into the meeting chat window in Team.

Microsoft CoPilot takes it to the next level

Did you know you can supercharge your call transcription by using Microsoft CoPilot AI?
Not only can you ask CoPilot to transcribe you meeting, you can also ask it to create you a meeting summary, create action points for attendees, it will even go so far as to list out anecdotes that happened in the meeting itself, so it can even distinguish between work and personal commentary in the meeting and separate those out as well.

Below is a CoPilot meeting summary (with some data redacted with xxxxxxxxx to remove personal details) from a Teams call to give an idea of how powerful it is:

Summary of the Meeting:

Introduction of Transcription and Copilot:

Speaker A explained the transcription feature in Teams and the capabilities of Copilot to summarise meetings and generate bullet points. He noted that AI-generated output might not be fully accurate and to check content after it is created.
Speaker C and Speaker B discussed the visibility of the transcript and how Speaker A, as the meeting owner, can share the content at the end.

Demonstration of Copilot Features:

Speaker A demonstrated Copilot's capabilities in Microsoft Edge, Word, and PowerPoint, showing how it can generate content quickly and accurately.
Speaker C expressed interest in using Copilot for presentations and xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx meetings, noting its potential to save time and improve productivity.

Licensing and Costs:

Speaker A discussed the licensing model for Copilot, including the ability to transfer licenses between users and the one-year commitment required.
Speaker B provided details on the pricing and subscription options for Copilot, including discounts for nonprofits.

Personal Anecdotes:

Speaker C shared updates about her granddaughter and her plans to xxxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx.
Speaker B and Speaker C discussed personal matters, including family updates and plans for a lunch meeting in xxxxxxxxxxx.

Action Items:

Speaker A to send written instructions on how to use the transcription feature in Teams and Word.
Speaker A to summarise the meeting using Copilot and send it to Speaker C.

If you would like more information or help with Microsoft Teams, Microsoft CoPilot or even both, please call us, on 01722 411 999, where we can arrange a demonstration, help with configuration and setup, licensing and supporting you moving forwards.

Tech Tip - How Monitoring And Maintenance Keeps Your Computers Secure

Wed, 19 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

I was at a seminar once, where the speaker was talking about nipping a problem in the bud, deal with it whilst the problem is small, rather than let it grow and become more complex. He used a really good metaphor of describing a monster destroying a city, he asked if it would be easier to stop the monster when it was small, a baby, or would it be easier to let it grow big and try to stop it then whilst it is on a rampage destroying the city.

We all piped up it would be easier to deal with it whilst it was small. You may be wondering why I am going down this rabbit hole, what has this got to do with computers?

It's simple really, computers also suffer from problems, which, if left unchecked, can also grow into monsters that are much harder to tackle than if they were caught when they were small. This is why The Silver Cloud Business offers management and monitoring for our customers.

Management that allows your environment to be kept up to date, ensuring that software is current and that security patches are being applies to plug any vulnerabilities that hackers might exploit.
Monitoring that allows computers to be scanned to ensure their hardware is functioning correctly and to make any tweaks or replace anything that is failing before it becomes an issue, for example, we can detect if a hard disk is going to fail soon and can replace it before it fails and loses all its data, making it a far easier problem to resolve before it has failed than after.

The Silver Cloud Business offers two levels of monitoring and management, Basic and Premium.

Basic Management and Monitoring

This is where the computer hardware and the software they run are monitored and managed, patching industry standard applications from Microsoft and making sure the hardware is running as it should, making sure the hardware is running as it should, without any components failing.

Premium Management and Monitoring

This is a more comprehensive service, which covers off the computer hardware and software, with more comprehensive software management, encompassing all software deployed on your computers , but also encompasses the network infrastructure with vulnerability scanning at the perimeter (penetration testing) as well as Microsoft 365 vulnerability and configuration scanning, which also ensures your computers are compliant with Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus, making and maintaining accreditation easy for your business.

These are very simplified descriptions of our monitoring and management service, if you would like more information, please call us on 01722 411 999 and we will happily provide more detail and a demonstration of how the service works.

Tech Tip - How To Get The Most Out Of Chatting with Microsoft Copilot

Wed, 12 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Microsoft Copilot is such a powerful tool, it is easy to use, but it is also easy to use it badly so you don't get the best out of it. In simple terms, there are various versions, free in Windows 11, Web, cut down version included with Business Premium or a fully licensed that fully integrates with Microsoft 365.

Copilot is Microsoft's AI (Artificial Intelligence) digital assistant and like all AI tools it uses Large Language Models (LLM) which is a machine learning model that means it uses vast amounts of data to perform natural language processing tasks. LLMs can generate, translate, predict AND summarise text. LLMs also means the AI can also answer naturally worded questions and perform other tasks, just by asking.

Copilot's interface can be accessed via the web, in the Microsoft 365 applications, via your smart phone, smart watch or tablet and it will run on Windows and MacOS. Some computers even now come with a Copilot key on the keyboard, making access even quicker and easier. You can type your questions or if your hardware has a mic, speak to Copilot to ask what you need help with. If you have it licensed in your Microsoft 365 tenant it can also search through all of the information you have access to, including SharePoint, OneDrive, Emails, Teams chats etc.

Whilst this can be really useful, it can also be dangerous, so be careful how you use it. If you are privy to sensitive information you don't want to share, Copilot won't know this, so it could, inadvertently, access and use information it shouldn't when you ask it to do things, for example HR records, salaries etc, that it could use whilst generating your output. This is why it pays to ask the right way with Copilot and to verify the output each time.

Here are some tips on how to ask the right way to get the most out of Copilot:

Start off simple - when you first start out using Copilot, ask a simple question to begin with
When you get your first result from Copilot, start to tighten the result by asking for more specifics
Keep narrowing the results bit by bit to refine the results further
When you get close to what you want, it is time to ask Copilot for more options, whilst you may be happy with the result, Copilot can always come up with more suggestions and improvements that you may not even have thought of
Examine the output, just to make sure Copilot hasn't overshared information it has access to inside your organisation, Copilot loves to be helpful, but it often can't differentiate between what it should or shouldn't use so ALWAYS check the output before you share with others. Don't abdicate responsibility to Copilot!

For a bit of fun I am going to get ask Copilot in Microsoft Word to help me write a letter to the local council about missing a bin collection.

First, I asked Copilot a simple question "help me write a letter to the council about missing our bin collection"

Copilot responded with:

Letter to the Council Regarding Missed Bin Collection

[Your Name]

[Address]

Dear [Council's Name],

Re: Missed Bin Collection on [Specific Date]

The non-collection of bins has caused inconvenience, as the waste has begun to accumulate, potentially posing a health hazard. Our address is [Your Address], and this issue has affected not only our household but also several of our neighbours.

I kindly request that an immediate arrangement be made for the collection of the missed bins. Additionally, I would appreciate it if the council could investigate the cause of this oversight to prevent future occurrences.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. I look forward to a swift resolution.

Yours sincerely,

[Your Name]

Next I asked it to be more specific, tightening my criteria with more information with the following "can you add that we saw the truck but they drove past our house as if they were instructed to skip our address"

Letter to the Council Regarding Missed Bin Collection

[Your Name]

[Address]

Dear [Council's Name],

Re: Missed Bin Collection on [Specific Date]

I am writing to bring to your attention an issue regarding the missed collection of our bins on [specific date]. Despite placing the bins out for collection as per the usual schedule, they were not collected. On that day, we saw the collection truck drive past our house as if they were instructed to skip our address.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. I look forward to a swift resolution.

Yours sincerely,

[Your Name]

Lastly I have asked it for the option "Could you make it less formal and more fun" just to show what Copilot would do to the output to change it up based on my options with the following result:

Hey Council, What's Up with Our Bins?

[Your Name]

[Address]

Hey [Council's Name],

Re: Our Bins Didn't Get Picked Up!

Just wanted to give you a heads-up that our bins didn't get collected on [specific date]. We had them out like always, but the truck just cruised on by as if our house was invisible!

Now, we've got a pile-up of rubbish that's starting to look like a mini landfill. It's not just us – our neighbours are dealing with the same mess. We're at [Your Address], in case you need to know where to send help.

Could you please arrange for someone to grab our bins ASAP? And maybe check out why the truck decided to skip us? We'd really appreciate it!

Thanks a bunch for sorting this out. Looking forward to seeing the truck back soon!

Cheers,

[Your Name]

The above output was generated using the fully licensed version of Copilot, if you would like more information or help getting Copilot up and running, give us a call and we can happily assist with your business or organisation getting the most out of Copilot.