Why Microsoft Teams is perfect for Collaboration right now + Free E-Book

A Microsoft advert popped up on my social media yesterday.  It was discussing Microsoft Teams.  I'm not sure if they don't think I have teams yet (and have got the wrong social media advertising partner), or if they think that I am not using every feature I can and want me to play a little more?

If its option 1 then they are wasting their money... If it's option 2 then they may have a point.

Teams now has 20m daily active users – growing every day and if you use Office365 then you may already have free access to Microsoft Teams.  If not, it is certainly a time to ask your 365 admin (whether that's us or someone internally) for some help getting you going.  It really is a gamechanger for all those working from home right now.

We're carrying out regular customer service meetings with internal teams and clients, having regular Director catch-ups about Covid-19 and our wider team are collaborating as effectively as ever.

We are even having video meetings, chats and discussions with external clients through the Guest functionality (another thing which is slightly hidden but easily unlocked).

In essence, Microsoft Teams is an excellent tool for document storage, messaging /chats, sharing files, online meetings and screen sharing.

Key features (some you will know, and some you may not) include:

• Teams work seamlessly with Microsoft 365 so bring all those applications calendars and more into one hub.
• It is extremely easy to navigate, even if you only use a few of the features.
• Teams uses the social media mention feature we are all getting used to.  Try @paul for example if you want to directly mention a team member in an update. Even @team will receive a notification that they have been mentioned explicitly.
• Collectively collaborate on shared files rather than saving and sending around - version control is now a thing of the past.
• It works on your phone, your tablet, laptop and desktop PC's so you take your team wherever you go.
• Cyber Security is extremely solid with teams. Data is encrypted and your teams and channels can be public or private.
• It keeps your inbox clean.  Who needs an inbox full of replies to replies.  It doesn't just cloud your mind, but why store 15 of the same email when you can have one team chat.
• Chats and conversations cant fork off into different directions, cross-threading onto other email chains etc...
• Chats sit in teams in threads, which are super easy to navigate.
• Automatic setup of a sharepoint team site, a shared OneNote notebook, and a shared Plan come with every team's setup.
• Finding stuff is rapid.
• You can create dedicated channels of conversations, mini teams and workgroups and collaborate on different projects with exactly the right people.
• Your teams can now include vendors, partners, suppliers and clients.
• Dedicated email addresses for the channel are available, this means you can quickly and easily send an email to the team / channel members.
• Third-Party applications can be linked to teams to make it even more productive within your workspace
• For advanced users there are some very cool slash commands (I'll admit I've not used these yet but plan to start today) - see these at the bottom of this article
• Teams even has built in BOTS to help you - I'll let microsoft explain this one

So teams is great.... How do I get it you say!

If you don’t currently have free access to Teams then this can be set up quite quickly
Speak to your Orca Online Account Mananger today or call our sales team on 01903 866143

We've even got a free E-Book coming soon, so check back later for that.

As promised, here are the Slash Commands