In late September, Microsoft will introduce a new feature for the Microsoft Teams desktop application on Windows. The new feature will allow users to open web links from Teams chats in Microsoft Edge, offering a unified web and chat side-by-side experience directly within the browser.

Only links set to open via a web browser will be affected. Links that are set to open in a client app or within Teams itself will continue to do so. This change will also only apply to Windows 10 and Windows 11 devices; there will be no impact for the Teams desktop application on Mac.

Eliminating the need to switch between applications to view web content and continue virtual conversations, the Teams chat window will appear in the Microsoft Edge sidebar when Teams web links open in the browser. The Edge sidebar will also show recent chats and allow users to initiate new conversations. Please note that no other Teams functionality will be available on the Edge sidebar with this upcoming change.

When Microsoft enables this feature, the Teams desktop application on Windows will automatically set Microsoft Edge as the default browser for opening web links. This will not affect a device’s default browser setting in Windows for other applications.

Users, however, will continue to have flexibility in selecting their preferred browser for opening Teams links and can decide whether they want to maintain the current link flow with browsers like Google Chrome or Firefox or opt into the new Edge-Teams experience at any time. To assist with this, Teams will offer a new setting configuration for enabling or disabling the feature: Open Teams on Windows > Settings > Files and links > Link open preference > Select desired browser from the dropdown menu.

With the new feature rollout in Teams for Windows, WSU users will be able to easily access, read, and respond to messages and shared web content without disruptive task switching. The new integration between Microsoft Edge and Teams will enhance workflow and help users stay engaged in collaborative conversations while browsing the web, facilitating a smoother virtual experience.

Tentatively scheduled in late September, there may not be additional advance notification prior to implementation. Information Technology Services (ITS) asks that you please review the following support documentation prior to late September to learn more about the new feature and best assist WSU users with this change when it arrives:

• Web links from Teams chats open in Microsoft Edge
• Allow users to manage the new feature
• Discover new ways to multitask with Microsoft 365 and Edge
• What’s New in Microsoft Teams, Chat embedded in Microsoft Edge browser

Please contact Crimson Service Desk via email at crimsonservicedesk@wsu.edu or phone at 509-335-4357 for any questions or concerns.

Due to high priority security alerts, please see the following Information Technology Services (ITS) maintenance process:

Date: Friday, Sept. 22, 2023

Start Time: 8:00 p.m.
End Time: 11:00 p.m.

The following work is being completed: Confluence security updates

All affected groups: All Confluence users

Duration of impact: Confluence will not be available during the maintenance window.

Necessary follow up steps: None

Questions? Please contact Crimson Service Desk at crimsonservicedesk@wsu.edu or 509-335-4357.

Due to high priority security alerts, please see the following Information Technology Services (ITS) maintenance process:

Date: Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023

Start Time: 3:00 p.m.
End Time: 6:00 p.m.

The following work is being completed: Jira DNS record will be updated to a new IP address and use the F5 as a reverse proxy.

All affected groups: All Jira users

Duration of impact: No service interruption is anticipated; however, users may be requested to re-authenticate when the DNS record updates.

Necessary follow up steps: None

Questions? Please contact Crimson Service Desk at crimsonservicedesk@wsu.edu or 509-335-4357.

On Friday, Sept. 29, Information Technology Services (ITS) will upgrade Jira to the Long Term Support release 9.4.9. Upgrading provides security, stability, and performance enhancements. This change will occur during the services’ regularly scheduled maintenance window of 8:00 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 29, to 8:00 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 1.

During this maintenance window, Jira will be inaccessible. Once completed, this change is expected to have minimal impact on users.

Leading up to this scheduled maintenance, users are encouraged to test the updated version of Jira at https://tstjira.esg.wsu.edu/. Please note that the data in tstJira will be different than in production.

If there are any questions or concerns regarding this upcoming change, please contact Crimson Service Desk at crimsonservicedesk@wsu.edu or 509-335-4357.

Please see the following scheduled Information Technology Services (ITS) maintenance process:

Date: Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023

Start Time: 1:05 a.m.
End Time: 3:05 a.m.

The following work is being completed: Canvas will be performing a brief maintenance and WSU users may not be able to access Canvas during the maintenance window.

All affected groups: All Canvas users

Duration of impact: Interruption is only expected to last up to fifteen minutes during the event, but the entire maintenance window may be utilized if needed.

All affected processes: Canvas access

Necessary follow up steps: None

Questions? Please contact Crimson Service Desk via email at crimsonservicedesk@wsu.edu or phone at 509-335-4357.

Information Technology Services (ITS) will perform unplanned maintenance on the Pullman Border firewall on Thursday, Sept. 7, from 4 a.m. to 6 a.m.

Although the entirety of this maintenance window is reserved for this work, ITS is expecting to see a complete internet outage lasting from 5-10 minutes around 4 a.m.

This maintenance has the potential of impacting internet services across the WSU system that may rely on any of Pullman’s infrastructure that will be worked on tomorrow morning.

Please contact Crimson Service Desk via email at crimsonservicedesk@wsu.edu or phone at 509-335-4357 for any questions or concerns.

Information Technology Services (ITS) received an emergency service request that will be executed on the Pullman Border firewall on Tuesday, August 22 from 4 a.m. to 6 a.m. No outage is expected during the two-hour maintenance window.

While no outage is anticipated, ITS is treating this with the utmost of caution.

Please see the following scheduled Information Technology Services (ITS) maintenance process:

Date: Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023
Start Times:  8:00 a.m.
End Time:  10:30 a.m.

The following work is being completed: ITS’ support vendor will be applying Critical Patch Updates to the myWSU environment. During this maintenance period, myWSU will not be accessible.

All affected groups: myWSU users

All processes affected: myWSU access

Duration of impact: Up to two and half hours

Follow up steps customers need to take: None

Contact: Please contact Crimson Service Desk via email at crimsonservicedesk@wsu.edu, phone at 509-335-4357, or online at crimsonservicedesk.wsu.edu with any questions regarding this scheduled outage.