Office 365 – Office Telemetry – Part 2 – Telemetry Tools and Components

Hi All,

In last article we discussed basics about Office Telemetry. In this article we will discuss Office Telemetry Tools and Components.

Office Telemetry Tools: We can view telemetry data using following two tools

1. Telemetry Dashboard
   • Telemetry Dashboard is excel workbook that is configured to connect to a telemetry database
   • Shows consolidated view of Telemetry and Inventory data
   • IT Pros can create their own custom reports
   • This tool is installed with Office 2013, Office 2016 and Office 365 ProPlus
   • Telemetry dashboard requires Excel 2013 onward
2. Telemetry Log
   • Helps to diagnose compatibility issue on an Office client
   • Telemetry Log is installed with Office 2013, Office 2016 and Office 365 ProPlus
   • Telemetry Log connects to the local data store on the client
   • Telemetry log requires Excel 2013 onward

Office Telemetry Components:

1. Telemetry Logging
   • Telemetry Logging is built into Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook 2013 onward
   • Telemetry Logging monitor events for Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook 2013 onward
   • By default Telemetry Logging is disabled
   • We can enable Telemetry Logging by using Group Policy, registry settings, or from within Telemetry Log
   • The telemetry data can be viewed on the local computer by using Telemetry Log
2. Telemetry Agent
   • Telemetry agent monitors document and add-in usage for all office application in all office versions – 2003, 2007, 2010 , 2013 and 2016
   • Telemetry agent reports usage and inventory data for all office clients
   • Telemetry agent is supported on Windows xp and later versions of OS
   • Telemetry agent is built in Office 2013 and Office 2016
   • We need to deploy Telemetry agent on Office 2003, Office 2007 and Office 2010 clients
   • We need to enable Telemetry agent using Group Policy or the registry
   • Telemetry agent uploads data to Shared Folder
   • Requires domain membership
   • Telemetry runs as Scheduled Task
   • Uploads data to Shared folder
3. Group Policy Settings
   • Enable and Configures telemetry agent on each client
   • Are part of Office15.admx and Office15.adml
   • Group Policy settings are located under User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Microsoft Office <Version-2013/2016>\Telemetry Dashboard
   • We can download from the Microsoft Download Center
     • For Office 2013 : https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=35554
     • For Office Professional Plus 2016 and Office 365 ProPlus apps – https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/download/details.aspx?id=49030
4. Shared Folder
   • Stores telemetry data that is uploaded by Telemetry agents
   • Shared Folder is configured when we install Telemetry Processor component
   • Shared Folder available only on On Premises, there is no cloud support
5. Telemetry Processor
   • Telemetry Processor component uploads data from the Shared Folder to the Telemetry Database
   • Telemetry Processor component run as windows service – “Office Telemetry Processor”
   • Telemetry Processor component runs on Windows server 2008 and later versions
   • Can be run on Windows 7 and on later versions in test or in small environments
   • Can be installed on multiple computers for large deployments
6. Telemetry Database
   • Data Source for Telemetry data
   • Requires SQL Server 2005 and later versions
   • Can be run on SQL Express editions in test or small environments

In next part we will discuss in more details.

Keep reading, share your thoughts, experiences. Feel free to contact us to discuss more. If you have any suggestion / feedback / doubt, you are most welcome.

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