The customer is always right! Microsoft already offers a handful of different channels for customers to file feedback for the company regarding its products and services.
Of these, the Feedback Hub is prime, having launched all the way back in 2016. Individual apps like Edge have their own dedicated mechanisms to send feedback to developers, which is then read and reviewed.
That said, one popular avenue that Redmond shut down earlier this year was UserVoice, which offered another way for users to voice their concerns to the company.
All good things come to an end, and all that.
Now, though, news has emerged that Microsoft is readying another feedback portal for Windows, Teams, and Edge, which will be available in preview later this year. Many of the products and services will be added right out the gates, but the forums for Windows will arrive sometime in 2022.
This information comes from Carl Knecht on Twitter, who posted a screenshot of an announcement that Microsoft made in the Admin Center that indicates that the software titan is preparing this new Feedback portal.
Remember how Microsoft was getting away from UserVoice and then didn't provide a great alternative? MC289676 "Announcing Microsoft Feedback Portal" for Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Edge @maryjofoley pic.twitter.com/nCQLc6i8P9
— Carl Knecht (@rialtus) October 6, 2021
The upcoming Feedback portal is a replacement for the UserVoice platform, as you may have guessed.
It will enable customers to submit feedback, comment on and upvote feedback posted by others, and receive status updates and responses from Microsoft — in other words, the latest feature set that is available on other feedback platforms.
Speaking of platforms, this new has its mechanism powered by Dynamics 365 Customer Service.
And though Redmond is yet to formally detail this new launch, the new Feedback portal is scheduled to become available globally before the year is out. Only the English language will be offered at first, other languages will be added later.
Another interesting bit of intelligence is that organizations will reserve the option to choose to provide feedback from their existing dedicated mechanisms within individual apps, in which case they can disable this new Feedback portal altogether companywide.
