Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams is a collaborative communications app built for small businesses, large enterprises, and individuals like freelancers, clients, students, and teachers. Anyone who wants to work with others on files, especially those that use Office 365, can use Teams as the platform for getting the job done.
The app features VoIP, text, and video chat, alongside easily configured integration with Office and SharePoint, all inside a user-friendly interface. As a freemium platform, Teams allows workplaces of any size to share, meet, and work on files together in real-time through either a desktop app (for Windows/Mac/Linux), a slightly less functional web-based app, or mobile app (Android/iPhone/iPad).
At its core, Teams simplifies and categorizes all the various interpersonal interactions that need to happen in a business with employees that need to communicate digitally. Beyond the world of business, it can be used by just about any group doing anything that requires digital communication and collaboration.
The basic structure of teams begins when you create an organization. The people you invite to this organization (e.g., “My Classy Business”) are presented with different teams (e.g., Marketing, IT, Classroom #4), depending on how you manage permissions. In these teams, you (or users with admin access) can create public or private channels (e.g., Announcements, Project #21, Pop Quiz). Channels are where you can chat in organized threads, share digital files, and even collaborate on them in real time, depending on the integrations you’ve set up.
Microsoft’s Advisor for Teams simplifies the process of setting up your organization. Once you’re up and running, you can set up virtual meetings and conferences and start creating, editing, and sharing files from Office 365 or any file storage service you want to integrate. The third-party app integrations in Teams make it easy to set up any integration or service you might need.
Microsoft Teams has many core components that make it stand out from other collaboration software:
- Teams and channels. Teams are made up of channels, which are conversation boards between teammates.
- Conversations within channels and teams. All team members can view and add to different conversations in the General channel and can use an @ function to invite other members to different conversations, not unlike Slack.
- A chat function. The basic chat function is commonly found within most collaboration apps and can take place between teams, groups, and individuals.
- Document storage in SharePoint. Every team who uses Microsoft Teams will have a site in SharePoint Online, which will contain a default document library folder. All files shared across all conversations will automatically save to this folder. Permissions and security options can also be customized for sensitive information.
- Online video calling and screen sharing. Enjoy seamless and fast video calls to employees within your business or clients outside your business. A good video call feature is great to have on a collaboration platform. One can also enjoy simple and fast desktop sharing for technical assistance and multi-user real-time collaboration.
- Online meetings. This feature can help enhance your communications, company-wide meetings, and even training with an online meetings function that can host up to 10,000 users. Online meetings can include anyone outside or inside a business. This feature also includes a scheduling aid, a note-taking app, file uploading, and in-meeting chat messaging.
- Audio conferencing. This is a feature you won’t find in many collaboration platforms. With audio conferencing, anyone can join an online meeting via phone. With a dial-in number that spans hundreds of cities, even users that are on the go can participate with no internet required. Note this requires additional licensing.
- Full telephony. That’s right! The days of seeking VoIP vendors and overspending on a phone system are finally over. Microsoft Teams can completely replace your business’ existing phone system. Note this requires additional licensing.
