For system administrators and IT administrators, Microsoft has released a significant update. The business has acknowledged that until the program is updated, certain Office functions will no longer be supported and will cease to function. The notification relates to Office Intelligent Services functionality and was placed on the Microsoft 365 Admin Center site.
For the curious, Office Intelligent Services includes the Read Aloud, Transcribe, and Dictate bundles in Microsoft 365 and Office, which are designed to increase user convenience. According to Microsoft, in order to continue using these capabilities, companies who depend on them must update to version 16.0.18827.20202 or higher.
The majority of these capabilities are primarily built into Word, but they also affect PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote.
The internet giant has stated that it is "upgrading the backend service" that underpins these capabilities, but it has not provided all the specifics. Therefore, it appears that Microsoft is making adjustments and enhancements to the Office Intelligent Service.
According to Microsoft, this has been classified as a "significant change" in situations where the upgrade's scope affects either the administrators or the users, or both. The good news is that administrators still have time to decide how to move forward because the features will remain operational until January 2026, which is approximately six months from now.
It writes:
"To ensure continued high-quality performance of the Read Aloud, Transcription, and Dictation features in Microsoft 365 Office apps, we’re upgrading the backend service that powers these capabilities. As a result, these features will no longer function on Office clients running versions earlier than 16.0.18827.20202 after January 2026."
Microsoft states that the program will continue to function normally if it has already been updated. You can view the announcement under message ID MC1127222 if you have access to the Microsoft 365 Admin Center interface.
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