Microsoft Teams

Thanks to the COVID-19 Pandemic, remote work is here to stay. Even though we have long left the traumatic days of the lockdown behind (hopefully), the remote work culture doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. As such, platforms like Microsoft Teams have become increasingly relevant.

About Microsoft Teams

At first glance, Microsoft Teams appears to be a video conferencing tool. If that’s what you’re thinking, then you are partially right. It does offer video conferencing, but it also does a lot more than that.

We prefer to think that Microsoft Teams is the ultimate digital platform for work collaboration. It offers video conferencing, audio calls and chatting features. Beyond that, however, users can share documents and collaborate on projects all within the app.

The app is available on mobile devices, and you can use it on your tablets and computers.

Also, if you already use other Microsoft products like Outlook, Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Suite, then Teams is a no-brainer as it offers seamless integration with these other tools.

Features of Microsoft Teams

To be honest, it would be impossible to go through all the features of Microsoft Teams in this article. So, we’re just going to focus on the main features.

• Seamless collaboration

The beauty of this is that you can have real-time collaboration with your team. It lets you share documents, work on the same document at the same time, and get instant responses from your team. No more waiting around all day for a reply.

Also, you can collaborate with those outside your team by inviting them as guests. That way, your suppliers or clients can be brought in on a project or for a specific meeting.

• Flawless integration with Microsoft Suite

You can access your email directly from Teams. Oh, and did you know that you could create an email address for a channel so that you can forward emails directly to that channel? Again, Microsoft Suite is already part of Teams, so you can use Access and Word easily.

• Store files in channels or chat conversations

This feature allows users to store documents, audio and video files right inside Teams. You can also record your meetings and store them on Teams for future reference.

With Microsoft Teams,

• You can invite other users to a meeting
• You can also hold a live event like a PR event or a virtual conference
• You can also integrate with other third-party apps like Zendesk, Asana, Salesforce, etc.
• You can easily catalog and call up information with the search feature

There’s a lot that teams can do with Microsoft Teams, and it remains one of the strongest platforms for collaborative work. For example, Teams can work together using Microsoft Task Planner to assign and track tasks.

You can get the Microsoft Teams app from the Google Play Store, App Store, directly from the website or right here.

Are there alternatives to Microsoft Teams?

We’ll be frank with you. Theoretically, some platforms could be considered alternatives to Teams. These include Slack, Webex, Workplace and Mattermost, amongst many others.

However, none offers the same robust features and versatility that Microsoft Teams offers. Best of all, Teams has a free plan that lets you schedule meetings, share your screen and use the chat features.

Naturally, you would need to get one of the paid plans to enjoy all the features. But, if you’re not a company, and you want to use it to plan the family holiday, then the free plan is perfect.

We recommend Microsoft Teams for individuals and for businesses, no matter the size.