What is Microsoft Team?

Microsoft Teams is a Microsoft-developed proprietary business communication platform that is part of the Microsoft 365 suite of products. Teams compete largely with Slack, a comparable service that provides workplace chat and videoconferencing, as well as file storage and application integration.

Microsoft Teams is your organization’s ultimate messaging tool—a workplace for real-time collaboration and communication, meetings, and file and app sharing! Everything is in one area, out in the open, and everyone can see it.

Microsoft Teams is a Microsoft 365/Office 365 collaborative workspace that serves as a single center for workplace interactions, collaborative teamwork, video conferencing, and document sharing, all in one unified set of tools.

According to Microsoft statistics provided in April, Teams launched in 2017. As a competitor to collaboration pioneer Slack, it grew to 75 million daily active users as the COVID-19 epidemic deteriorated. All major operating systems, including Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android, are supported.

Is there a free or premium version?

The answer is Both!

Microsoft Teams’ free edition has all of the capabilities employees would need to interact remotely and might be an excellent choice for small enterprises.

Free features include unlimited text chat and search, group video conferencing, one-on-one video conversations, 2GB of cloud storage per user (or 10GB for the entire team), and web-based versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote.

However, the free edition of Microsoft Teams lacks a few key security and administrative features that most organizations would want, such as enforced multi-factor authentication, single sign-on, and user management. Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Microsoft 365 Business Standard, and Microsoft 365 Business Premium are the three choices for upgrading your Microsoft Teams membership.

Microsoft 365 Business Basic costs $5.00 per user per month (£3.80/AU$6.90) and offers the option to arrange and record Microsoft Teams meetings, as well as increased file storage capacity to 1TB per user other security measures.

Meanwhile, Office 365 Business Standard costs $12.50 per month per person (£9.40/AU$17.20). It contains desktop versions of Microsoft’s well-known productivity tools (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and so on) as well as business software like Bookings, Invoicing, and MileIQ, in addition to the benefits of the cheaper plan.

Finally, Office 365 Premium has enhanced security and privacy capabilities, as well as more device management choices. This bundle will cost $20.00 per month per user (£15.10/AU$27.50) to run.

Here are some of the top perks of Microsoft Teams to consider for your firm if you are a business leader who hasn’t yet implemented a collaboration platform into your entire IT strategy.

Promote collaboration

The benefits of Microsoft Teams in the workplace have proven to be vital during this era of remote working since it includes a wealth of tools that allow employee cooperation.

The advantages of Microsoft Teams meetings are apparent, with audio and video conferencing among the platform’s most popular features. Meetings for several – even hundreds – of people may be planned with the press of a button, and participants can join from nearly anywhere, allowing crucial business tasks to continue on schedule without interruption.

Another element that improves organizational communication is real-time chat. Employees may quickly engage with one another about a specific project and obtain immediate replies to critical queries using Microsoft Teams chat.

Teams calling is a cloud-based phone system for businesses that includes complex features like call transfer, tiered auto attendants, and call queues. Employees can have their own DIDs and make calls from any data-enabled device, such as a desktop, laptop, smartphone, or tablet. Employees may also view their voicemails and transcriptions from any computer or mobile device.

Microsoft Teams’ file-sharing capability adds even another layer of collaboration to the mix. Employees no longer have to submit multiple versions of documents through email, which might result in version confusion or outmoded files, thanks to the ability to upload numerous document formats.

Furthermore, due to Microsoft Teams’ strong connectivity with Microsoft 365, there’s no need to jump between applications to work on Word, Excel, or PowerPoint projects because it’s all done right within the Teams platform.

Accelerate the digital transformation

Companies without a digital transformation strategy have undoubtedly encountered difficulties as a remote workforce becomes the norm, and frankly, the expectation for many employees. Investing in a robust collaboration solution like Microsoft Teams is a wonderful beginning for company leaders to start developing their journey to a digital workplace.

Because Teams is a cloud-based solution, data storage locations may be reduced and optimized for increased document accessibility.

Users may also share information and data much more easily with Microsoft Teams. Employees can work quicker and smarter by eliminating time-consuming processes thanks to its extensive feature set and digital capabilities.

Boost Connectivity

Because of its adaptability, BYOD policies have become standard in many enterprises.

BYOD allows employees to use their own gear to access the company’s enterprise system and data. Employees may readily access the essential tools to cooperate with their colleagues. If they use technologies, it will favorable to these regulations, such as Microsoft Teams.

One can download the Microsoft Teams program onto various devices, including laptops, desktops, and mobile phones

Increasing Productivity

Another advantage of Microsoft Teams in the office is its reliable connectivity. Employees may reply to customer messages and interact on essential business topics. It lets them do this without sending or receiving emails so that team members can get to their emails faster.

Get Data-Informed Insights

Company management may be afraid that the recent transition to remote working would reduce staff productivity, disrupting routine corporate operations. Microsoft Teams may also be used to measure employee productivity if that is something a company wants to do.

For each user, metrics like chat messages, planned meetings, ad-hoc meetings, screen-share time, and shared files are easy to track. Only the global administrator has access to the analytics and reporting experience. It offers information on how the company uses Microsoft Teams.

New business procedures require an establishment to encourage and increase staff productivity. It depends on how a company uses these insights — if at all.