Microsoft Teams is an all-in-one collaboration and communication tool, continuing to play a significant role in remote working environments. Microsoft Teams is the fastest growing app in Microsoft history, but has seen even more significant growth due to the need for remote working during the coronavirus pandemic, with daily users rising from 44 million in March 2020 to 75 million in April 2020. It’s also no secret that Microsoft have heavily invested in the app and are continuing to invest in its integration with other Office 365 and third-party apps. 

So what makes Teams so successful in the world of remote working? 

Essentially, Teams allows users to collaborate on projects together through integration of popular Office 365 apps (including Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint and OneDrive) and third-party apps, whilst also offering instant messaging, voice calls, video conferencing and screen sharing, therefore incorporating all the essential apps and features to maintain productivity.  Teams is also available from any device, so working remotely means that users can have same working capabilities as they would in the office.

Conferencing features within the app help users to embrace online meetings. Team members who can’t join meetings can watch later or search the automatically generated transcript for important information due to call recording. There’s also chat options within a meeting, meaning that during meetings, especially with larger numbers, the speaker can answer questions without interruption. Most recently, Microsoft have increased the number of video feeds which can be viewed within an online meeting, therefore allowing a more engaging approach throughout calls. 

Using Teams means you can keep notified and up to date on projects without being cc’d into any emails. There’s no need to go back and forth in Outlook as you can share and collaborate on documents, spreadsheets, files and presentations in real time, increasing productivity across the organisation.  

Furthermore, there are no restrictions to sharing within Microsoft Teams. You can also separate projects by channels and categories, therefore organising your workspace. ‘Teams’ can be set up for any topic, and within those teams’ are channels. Channels are sections within a team where conversations can be organised. Documents can be shared within a channel and conversations can be had between team members. Privacy can be set for each team and each channel, therefore if you’re sharing confidential information such as budgets and financials, these teams and channels can be viewed by only those necessary. Within channels, tabs can also be set up to keep information organised and prioritised.  

As mentioned, it’s not only Office 365 apps that can be integrated within Microsoft Teams, therefore if your business has received any engagements or responses on digital channels, this can be shared through Teams due to third-party app integration and responded to quickly through easy instant messaging, proving extremely efficient when a fast response time is critical. 

If you would like to find out more about Microsoft Teams, contact our teams of Microsoft experts today.