Microsoft Teams is a cloud based collaboration work space which is part of MS Office 365. With MS Teams you and your employees can use MS Teams for business messaging, calling, video meetings and file sharing. Microsoft Teams was launched in March 2017. MS Teams has since then replaced Skype for Business Online in Office 365. New features are added to MS Teams on a regular basis. Tech-Wales gives you an overview of some new features and innovations. Some features are already available others will be beginning of 2020.
Customise conversations and experience with Teams
With private channels you can create channels for existing teams however these private channels will only be visible to selected team members. Simply create a channel and by selecting Private you can add selected users to join the channel. Very handy if a subject is only relevant to certain team members or when sensitive information is being shared.
The Multiwindow function enables users to multi task with pop out chats, meetings, calls or documents into separate windows. For example have one window with the conference call and another window with the documents relevant to that call so you got all your information available. Will be available early next year.
Other new features include messaging extensions like Polls and Surveys in Teams chat. This will enable you to get feedback on shared subjects or queries. Pinned channels will allow you to pin important channels so that they will always be on top of your teams list.
New integration between MS Teams and other Office 365 apps
It is now easier to share emails, tasks and files from Outlook in any conversation. Any email message including attachments can be moved into the conversation to share with the members. However it is also possible to share a conversation from Teams in an email. If you missed replies or messages in a Teams conversation an email is sent to Outlook enabling you to reply to the conversation from Outlook. This will be available to users early next year.
Personal tasks which have been assigned to you in MS Office 365 can be viewed within Teams. Users can use smart views to choose the view that works best for them. Examples are lists, boards, charts or schedules. This feature will be available early of next year.
For Yammer Microsoft have develop a new app for Teams making Yammer communities, conversations, and live events accessible within Teams. This feature will be available beginning of next year.
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Tools for more effective meetings in Teams
MS Whiteboard is now available and gives you a digital canvas or whiteboard to visualise your ideas or conduct a brainstorm session. This works just like a classic whiteboard but digital.
With the Live Captions feature members and users can view live captions and subtitles in up to six languages in addition to the spoken language. Presenters can select the six languages from a list of over 50.
Also available are new presenter and attendee controls to define presenter and attendee roles for any meeting. Designated presenters have full control over the meeting. An attendee wont have control over the meeting to ensure a centralised control of the meeting.
Firstline Worker access to MS Teams
With SMS Sign in Firstline workers can easily sign into Teams using their phone number and an SMS passcode for secure authentication. Global sign out will save time logging out of the apps used on their shift by enabling them to sign out from all the apps at once. These feature will be available early next year.
Other new features in MS Teams
Policy packages make it easier to assign policies to relevant staff members and ensure they have access to the Teams capabilities required. You can assign a policy package to users who have similar roles in your organisation.
Safe Links in Microsoft Teams is a security feature which protects Teams messages from harmful links in real time. When a UR) is shared in a private chat or conversation MS Teams will perform a verification of the web address and will alert users of any risk such as malware or viruses.
Tech-Wales MS Office 365 Consultancy
At Tech-Wales we are experts in MS Office 365 consultancy. We can set up and modify the Office 365 package so that Office 365 is tailor made and perfect for your organisation. We can also write applications and additional functionality for your Office 365 package. Feel free to contact us to discuss.