New Application in Office 365: Microsoft Teams

There’s a new application available in Office 365. It’s called Microsoft Teams. It comes with your subscription. Teams is one of several ways for people to do work outside of Outlook without necessarily being disconnected from what’s going on within your company. In short it gives people an environment to work within that connects them internally but shields them from the distractions of email, text, chat and the information overloaded world in which we now find ourselves.

This video is two minutes long and gives a quick overview, Microsoft style, of how big companies that you might know are using Teams.

 

OK, fine. So here’s what it actually does:

  • You create a team. It can be everyone in your company or a subset of people. You can also be a member of multiple teams at the same time.
  • Teams puts files, sharepoint, skype (text and video/voice), calendar and connections to the outside world that you choose to allow in, like a newsfeed.
  • Everyone in the team then works within Teams just like your world might revolve around Outlook now.

Here’s what it looks like:

Below you see that in the left hand column is a list of the teams that this person is a member of. You can think of these as departments or maybe even everyone in the company. It doesn’t have to be complicated.

Once you’ve selected a team across the top you see the tabs of information available to the team. A running chat, list of files, maybe a shared OneNote, a calendar, a tab that goes over to Sharepoint. It’s pretty flexible.

Microsoft Teams

 

Just like in Office 2016 when you open a file you can chat with others about it live and everyone can even edit it together too if you want to. Your permissions still apply so if someone in you team doesn’t have access to that file then they won’t see it.

Microsoft Teams

You can even bring in other Office 365 applications. Here’s Planner brought into Teams. Planner is another one of those many applications that are part of your subscription. Planner let’s tasks be assigned to members of the team.

Microsoft Teams

Probably most important to everyone is what the file structure looks like. We’ll it’s not super organized. It just a basic list, so there will be some need to archive files back into your folder structure. Teams is really meant to keep your people focused on what’s happening now.

Microsoft Teams

 

The answers to the two most common questions we get:

Q. What platforms does Microsoft Teams support?

A. Microsoft Teams runs on Windows, Mac, Android, iOS and web platforms. Yes, there’s an app for that.

Q. What level of security and compliance does Microsoft Teams support?

A. Microsoft Teams is expected to be Office 365 Tier C compliant at launch. This broad set of global compliance and data protection requirements includes ISO 27001, ISO 27018, EUMC, SOC 1 Type I & II, SOC 2 Type I and II, HIPAA and FERPA. Microsoft Teams also enforces two-factor authentication, single sign on through Active Directory and encryption of data in transit and at rest.

But wait there’s more!

There are getting to be many ways to achieve very similar goals. I found this handy comparison chart. Slack is in Red because it is not part of your Office 365 subscription. The rest of these are. Personally I’m not a big fan of Yammer. Something about the interface doesn’t appeal to me but I think that the rest are great. We can walk through them with you and help you decide which is going to be the best fit for your business.

Microsoft Teams

Remember, this is part of what you already own if you’re an Office 365 subscriber. It’s there waiting to be implemented. So when you’re ready let’s do it!

– Amy, president

About Harbor Computer Services

Harbor Computer Services is an IT firm servicing Southeastern Michigan. We work exclusively under contract with our clients to provide technology direction and either become the IT department or provide assistance to the internal IT they already have. We have won many awards for our work over the years, including the worldwide Microsoft Partner of the Year in 2010. We’re the smallest firm to have ever won this most prestigious award. Most recently we were recognized as one of the top 20 visionaries in small business IT by ChannelPro Magazine (2015). And in 2016 as the top Michigan IT firm for Manufacturing. There are a few simple things that make Harbor Computer Services the best choice for your business. •We are Professionals •We are Responsible •We are Concerned About The Success of Your Business

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