Microsoft Places overview - Microsoft Places (original) (raw)
Microsoft Places is an AI-powered workplace app that supports flexible work. It helps organizations reimagine flexible work with AI, enables employees to connect more easily in person so that they can make the most of in-office days, and optimizes space management with occupancy and utilization data.
Places features are directly embedded in Teams and Outlook so they can be used in the flow of work.
Microsoft Places also adds support for individual desk booking to Microsoft 365.
Most Places features depend on a fully established hierarchy of buildings, floors, and rooms/workspaces/desks. Go to Configuring buildings and floors for more information on configuring this hierarchy.
Licensing requirements
Supported user licenses
Users with one the following plans can access Microsoft Places:
- Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Standard, Premium
- Microsoft 365 or Office 365 (E1, E3, E5)
- Microsoft 365 or Office 365 for Education (A1, A3, A5)
- Microsoft 365 for frontline workers (F1, F3)
- Microsoft Teams Enterprise
- Microsoft Teams Essentials
- Microsoft Teams standalone
Core features
These features are available to all users with one of these plans. Some features need to be explicitly enabled, as described in the Configure Places section of this guide.
- Work plans and workplace presence
- In-person events and hybrid RSVP
- Workplace check-in
- Book room and workspaces (also known as desk pools)
- Desk assignment
- Places Management portal (requires specific permissions described here)
- Places explorer
- Places finder
- Places analytics (with some limitations. Also requires specific enablement described here)
Premium features
The following features used to require a Teams Premium license. As of April 1st, 2026, these features have shifted to a per-space licensing model:
- Individual desk booking shifts from a per-user to a per-space licensing model. To ensure a smooth transition, customers with active Teams Premium subscriptions continue to enjoy premium features until renewal.
- Auto-release requires rooms and desks to have a space license.
- Occupancy reports in Places analytics requires rooms and desks to have a space license. Other analytics features don't require any other license.
Supported space licenses
- Microsoft Teams Room ("MTR"), which can be used on meeting rooms.
- Microsoft Teams Shared Space ("MTSS"). This was previously called Microsoft Teams Shared Device and is renamed to Shared Space for clarity. This license can be used with BYOD rooms, common area phones, and now with individual desks.
- Microsoft Teams Shared Space – Single Space ("MTSS-SS"). You can acquire 3 free MTSS-SS licenses for each purchased MTSS license. MTSS-SS licenses can be used with BYOD rooms or individual desks, but not with common area phones.
| Space type | Places features | License required |
|---|---|---|
| Room | Autorelease, Occupancy reports | MTR, MTSS or MTSS-SS |
| Individual desk | Booking, Autorelease, Occupancy reports | MTSS or MTSS-SS |
Note
If you use an MTSS license for a Teams common area phone, you can’t use the 3 free MTSS-SS licenses for rooms or desks. If you use an MTSS license for a BYOD room or an individual desk, you can use the 3 free MTSS-SS licenses for 3 more rooms or desks. Refer to the FAQ section for more details.
After assigning a Microsoft Teams Shared Space ("MTSS") or Microsoft Teams Shared Space – Single Space ("MTSS-SS") license to an individual desk and the desk mode is Reservable, it can take usually up to 24–48 hours for the license assignment to fully take effect across Microsoft Places experiences. During this period the desk may not immediately appear as bookable, and features that depend on a space license (such as desk booking) may not be available. If you don’t want to wait for the change to take effect, you can manually trigger a refresh by updating the desk mode:
- Set the desk mode to Unavailable.
- Save the change.
- Set the desk mode back to Reservable.
- Save the change.
This can speed up license application by refreshing the desk configuration. However, when a desk is set to Unavailable mode, all scheduled bookings for that desk that have not yet started will be canceled.
AI features
AI-driven features such as Copilot room booking require a Microsoft 365 Copilot license.
Transition period for individual desk booking
- Before April 1st, 2026: users needed a Teams Premium license to book a desk. Space licenses were ignored.
- Transition period, starting in April 2026:
- Users with a Teams Premium license obtained before April 2026 can book any desk, and can continue to do so until renewal.
- Other users can only book desks with a Microsoft Teams Shared Space license.
- At the end of the transition period: users can book any desk with a Microsoft Teams Shared Space license. Teams Premium licenses are ignored.
Summary: Places feature and license requirements
| Feature | Description | Where | Old license requirement (before April 1st, 2026) | New license requirement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Work plans | Set your work location schedule in advance so coworkers know when you plan to be in the office or work remotely. | Calendar in New Outlook1; Calendar in Teams; Places app2 | Core | Core |
| Workplace presence | Update your work location to indicate you’re in the office and see who else is in the office that day. | Calendar in new Outlook; Calendar in Teams; Places app | Core | Core |
| Workplace check-in | Automatically check in when connecting to corporate Wi‑Fi or a supported peripheral. | Teams desktop app | Core | Core |
| In-person events | Request invitees to attend a meeting or event in person and see each person’s attendance mode and response in the event tracking pane. | Calendar in new Outlook; Calendar in Teams | Core | Core |
| Hybrid RSVP | Allow participants to indicate whether they plan to attend an in-person event in person or virtually. | Calendar in new Outlook; Calendar in Teams | Core | Core |
| Places card | View who’s coming into the office and quickly adjust your work plan directly from your calendar. | Calendar in new Outlook; Calendar in Teams; Places app | Core | Core |
| Places explorer | View people, spaces, and experiences across a workplace location in a single experience. | Places app | Teams Premium | Core |
| Places finder | Book rooms and desks with rich metadata such as photos, floor plans, A/V capabilities, accessibility, and more. | Calendar in new Outlook; Calendar in Teams | Teams Premium | Core |
| Places management | Manage Places properties, modes, and policies through a management experience. | Places management portal; PowerShell; Microsoft Graph | Core | Core |
| Individual desk booking | Allow users to select and book individual desks in advance for their day in the office. | Calendar in new Outlook; Calendar in Teams | Teams Premium | Space license |
| Autorelease | Automatically release reserved rooms and desks when they're unoccupied. | Rooms, desks, and desk pools | Teams Premium | Space license |
| Places analytics | Visualize intended and actual occupancy data for buildings, rooms, and workspaces. | Places app | Teams Premium | Occupancy reports require a space license |
| Quick book | Get room recommendations and quickly add rooms to meetings that don’t yet have one. | Calendar in new Outlook; Calendar in Teams; Places app | Teams Premium | Microsoft 365 Copilot license |
| Copilot room booking | Use Copilot to recommend rooms based on multiple factors and rebook rooms when meetings change or conflicts arise. | Calendar in new Outlook; Calendar in Teams | Microsoft 365 Copilot license | Microsoft 365 Copilot license |
1: New Outlook is currently available on Windows and on the web.
2: The Microsoft Places app is available on the web, and on desktop and mobile as a connected app inside Outlook, Teams, and the Microsoft 365 app.
Note
- In Exchange hybrid environments, Places features are only available for users with a mailbox managed in Exchange Online. Users with an on-premises mailbox can't access the Places app, Places finder, or other Places features such as work plans. These users can continue to use Room Finder in Outlook. To learn more about limitations on on-premises resource mailboxes, go to Set-PlaceV3.
- Work location settings aren't supported for users whose mailbox is hosted on Exchange on-premise. While the option to update work location is visible in Microsoft Teams, any changes made are only visible to the individual user and aren't shared with colleagues or reflected across the organization. For accurate presence and location sharing, we recommend migrating your mailbox to Exchange Online.
Frequently asked questions
**Does the license change affect existing Teams Premium customers?**Yes, but only after renewal. Customers who purchased Teams Premium before April 1, 2026 can continue using Places premium capabilities until renewal. After renewal, Places premium features will no longer be included in Teams Premium and will transition to per-space license.
**Is a space license required to book rooms or workspaces?**No. Users can continue to book rooms and workspaces (also known as desk pools) without any additional license. Furthermore, all users can now enjoy Places finder and Places explorer without any additional license. However, a space license is required to enable autorelease and specific analytics features.
**Do floors, areas, or buildings need a space license? What about assigned desks?**No. Licenses are only required for individual desks, and for autorelease and analytics on rooms and desks.
**Which space licenses are supported?**Individual desk booking requires a Microsoft Teams Shared Space License (formerly named Teams Shared Device license). See here for details. Autorelease and occupancy data in Places analytics require a Microsoft Teams Shared Space License or a Microsoft Teams Room license. See here for details.
**Can organizations enable Places finder only for specific user groups?**Yes. Admins can selectively enable Places finder using PowerShell. Once you’ve configured all buildings, we recommend enabling Places finder for all users in your organization.
**Is Room finder going away?**No. Room finder remains available and continues to be the default experience in the Outlook and Teams calendar. However, Microsoft recommends configuring buildings and maps and enabling Places finder for everyone in your organization.
**Do I need a space license for check-in?**No. Checking in to a building, a room, or a desk, doesn’t require any additional license. However, checking in to a room or desk prevents it from being autoreleased if the room or desk has a space license, otherwise the autorelease policy may be ignored.
More resources
You can find more resources here: