Microsoft has issued an important update for IT and system administrators. The company has confirmed that some Office features will lose support and stop working unless the application is updated.
The message was posted on the Microsoft 365 Admin Center portal and is related to Office Intelligent Services features.
For those wondering, Microsoft 365 and Office Read Aloud, Transcribe, and Dictate fall under the scope of Office Intelligent Services features that are designed to improve user experience. Microsoft says that companies using these features should update to version 16.0.18827.20202 or later to continue to have access to them.
Most of these features are built primarily into Word, but Outlook, OneNote, and PowerPoint are affected.
The company hasn't given many details, but says it is "upgrading the backend service" that powers these features.
The company calls it a “significant change.” The good news is that administrators still have time to work out how to proceed, as the operations will continue to operate until January 2026, which is about six months.
“To ensure continued high-quality performance of Read Aloud, Transcribe, and Dictation features in Microsoft 365 Office applications, we are upgrading the backend service that supports these features. As a result, these features will no longer work on Office clients running versions earlier than 16.0.18827.20202 after January 2026.”
For those with access to the Microsoft 365 Admin Center portal, they can see the announcement with the ID MC1127222.
Although the press releases will range from very select to rare, I said I'd pass...because sometimes the editors hide.
