Teams is Microsoft’s popular alternative to other leading industry standards like Slack, Zoom, and Google Hangouts. Being fully decked out with video and audio conferencing capabilities, not to mention native integration with the broader Microsoft 365 software ecosystem, it is now one of the most important collaboration tools.
What is Microsoft Office 365?
Microsoft Teams is one of the many business applications included in the Microsoft 365 office productivity suites, formerly known by the names Office 365 Business or Office 365 Enterprise. While there are several different subscription plans to choose from, just as before, Microsoft Teams is one of the core components, along with Word, Excel, and SharePoint. In fact, Teams is even natively integrated with Microsoft’s latest operating system – Windows 11.
#1. Direct integration with Office 365
Since the core Microsoft Office applications have been setting the industry standards for more than three decades, most knowledge workers are highly familiar with them. Thanks to its native integration with the wider Microsoft 365 environment, Teams comes with a minimal learning curve. If your business already uses Microsoft 365, then Teams will naturally be your go-to remote collaboration tool, as it also offers direct access to email, OneDrive cloud storage, and Microsoft SharePoint.
#2. Compatible with nearly all devices
While Teams offers native apps for Windows, Android, and iOS, it also has a comprehensive web interface. This means it is accessible on virtually any internet-connected device, making it ideal for use in distributed workforces where employees routinely use their own devices for work.
#3. Collaborate with external users
Teams is often described as an internal collaboration tool, but this is not entirely accurate. It is now possible to invite external users to your chats simply by using their direct email – even if they don’t have Microsoft accounts of their own. This makes Teams suitable for collaborating with suppliers and clients as well.
#4. User-friendly threaded conversations
With Teams, it is easy to keep track of lengthy conversations with multiple participants thanks to threaded conversations. You can also create multiple chat rooms and channels and set the privacy and member settings individually for each one. Thanks to the included @ feature, you can also tag particular team members or channels simply by pressing the @ key and selecting the name. Those tagged will then receive a notification.
#5. Support for third-party applications
Microsoft is constantly expanding its integration capabilities with third-party providers, such as customer support platforms like Zendesk and project management tools like Asana. There are now hundreds of popular business apps and platforms that seamlessly integrate with Teams to streamline myriad routine operations.
#6. Enhanced productivity with bots
In especially busy collaborative environments, bots can help increase productivity. There are currently a couple of dozen bots available for Teams. They can perform a broad range of roles, such as answering frequently asked questions about Teams itself, polling your co-workers, or delivering scheduled reports from a wide range of information sources.
#7. Integrated business intelligence
The latest version of Teams now includes a new Power BI tab, allowing team members to find and track the data they need to carry out their daily tasks. Power BI is Microsoft’s integrated business intelligence solution, providing convenient access to paginated reports and insights. Thanks to deeper integration with Teams, users can now add these reports to chat channels, instead of having to refer them to another app.
#8. Simple and intuitive slash commands
Slash commands are single words preceded by the slash (/) sign, which you can use to quickly carry out specific actions. For example, if you’re going away from the computer, you can simply enter /away to change your Teams status. However, there are many more commands, which help you save time in everything from checking new mentions to viewing keyboard shortcuts.
Is Microsoft 365 worth it?
Microsoft 365 comes with various subscription plans for businesses of every size. With a wide range of affordable features and a proven track record as the world’s favorite productivity tool, investing in Microsoft 365 is a no-brainer for many organizations.
Charles IT provides expert guidance and dependable technology solutions, including tailored implementations of Office 365 Enterprise and more. Get in touch today to find out how we can help your business thrive in the digital age!
