Efficient team collaboration and communication plays a vital role in business growth. To make life easy for digital nomad entrepreneurs there are several tools available in free as well as paid versions in the segment. The goal of these apps is to track, collaborate, communicate and manage the team efficiently.
Developed by Microsoft Corporation in 2017, Microsoft Teams is an Office 365 subscripted collaboration for communication at the workplace. It has several features that support video meetings, app integrations and storage facilities that replace scattered communication techniques like email. It has come off as a competitor to collaboration tools such as Slack.
Some of the recent news on Microsoft Teams was that it had a bid of $8 billion dollars on Slack, but Bill Gates put that idea down and insisted on improving Teams and its integration with Skype for Business.
As of now, the least price on Teams is $5 per user/ month and the Plus plan costs $12.50 per user/month. There was no free version on the system till 2018, which was added as a rebuttal to the competition introduced by Slack.
So, for all the people asking, “What is Microsoft Teams?” we have some introductory features for you!
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Messaging format
Teams is very well-known for its format of personal messaging and availability of a variety of emojis, GIFs and its own meme generator. This makes for enjoyable messaging techniques in the workplace.
With a particular URL, teams, organizations and members of a workplace can join in on a common platform of communication. It is usually extended through invitation links. There are also third party services that can provide information, i.e. services like MailChimp, Facebook, Big News, etc. Chats are threaded and thus, avoid scattering of information.
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Audio and Video Calling
Microsoft Teams has a conference for almost as many as 250 people. It has unlimited voice calling in all its plans. The efficiency of the calls is astounding, especially considering the number of people that are permitted on them. Android has the facility for both audio and video calls, whereas iOS has only audio calling. This feature of Microsoft Teams gives it a competitive edge over Slack.
A new feature that Teams is adding is Session Initiation Protocol which enables customers to link existing PBX trunks to Teams. Other features include voicemail, E911 support, speed dial and other audio and video facilities.
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Governance, Graphs and Grouping efficiency
E-discovery was a feature that was added recently to meet various acquiescence requirements. Apart from this, Graph is a foundation that assists in finding relevant information and sharing the same. With the use of Office 365 suite, separate categories of internal and external users can collaborate. These are efficient techniques of transferring information through a global networking collaboration tool.
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Bots for assistance
With up to 24 different bots that help in improving functionality, Microsoft Teams has a great support background.
It has T-Bot for general enquiries, WhoBot that is more advanced with an AI Graph, Polly Bot for polling the workers, StatsBot that accesses resources like SalesForce and Google Analytics and Grow Bot which allows progressive exchanges between co-workers.
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Clients
Microsoft Teams provides service to Windows, MacOS, Ios and web clients. It can also be operated on Firefox, Internet Explorer 11 and Microsoft web browsers.
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Integrations
The integration of apps is an important aspect in communication systems. Team’s competitor Slack had introduced this type of software integrations.
A hardware integration of Teams is Surface Hub 2, which was released recently as a display or whiteboard service for meetings. Software integrations include apps like Asana, Trello and Zendesk which ensures smooth workflow in an organization.
Teams launched The Microsoft Teams App Studio to enable developers and businesses to structure apps using all the features provided by Teams.
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Customizable
Microsoft Teams invests thoroughly in the customizing aspect of workplaces. They have greater extensibility and open APIs available for different needs of different teams. It has connector models similar to those as Exchange, which provides notifications and updates from third-party services like Twitter and GitHub. There are specific tabs provided for additional features to add in Activity logs, scheduling meetings and creating event reminders.
There is also the availability of Microsoft Teams Developer Preview permitting developers to expand Microsoft Teams.
Recommended Read: Best productivity apps for entrepreneurs
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Security Teams Provision
Since Teams is a global platform for communication, having firm security provisions and co-operation compatibilities. EU Model Clauses, ISO 27001, SOC 2, HIPAA, etc. Data is protected by encryption. Backed by Office 365, Teams has the Admin console operating the security provisions.
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A hub to promote teamwork
We know that the advantage Teams have over other business communication systems is that it has its foundation in Microsoft. This ensures a detailed and exhaustive experience of the facilities provided by the Office 365 suite. It gives leverage over tools like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, Planner, Power BI and Delve.
Teams also provide full accessibility to Microsoft Graph and its efficient utilization can help groups and teams to spread insights, awareness, and intelligence in all places. The cross membership facility of Teams makes it easy for groups and organizations to move from one collaboration tool to another. This ensures the preservation of data in the transfers that are conducted.
So, we hope we’ve come to a basic understanding of what is Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams is an Office 365 subscripted function that has inclusivity of several plans, i.e. business, non-profit organizations, education, and enterprises. With the advent of specific improved features in Teams, competitors like Slack and Atlassian Stride are facing a tough time gaining edge. This all makes Microsoft Teams a dominating player in the market. A lot of organizations prefer an off-site work mode that usually increases productivity.
Having known all the highlights and features of this collaboration tool, one can easily understand whether Microsoft Teams fits their business requirements. After all, there is no bigger obstacle than poor workplace communication.
