Microsoft Teams is more than just a glorified Skype replacement. In fact, since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of daily Teams users has skyrocketed from 32 to 145 million. Not bad for an alleged panic buy.
So, what exactly keeps businesses investing in the platform?
Well, unlike a novelty face mask, there is far more to Teams than a cheap gimmick and many organisations are only now beginning to realise what they have in their toolkit.
Want the inside scoop? Here’s how to get the most out of your Microsoft Teams experience.
1. Improve your Outlook
In early 2020, Microsoft released an update that allows users to share their Teams conversations as Outlook emails. What’s more, you can do this directly from the platform itself. Simply choose the message or channel you want to send, click the ‘Share to Outlook’ function, and customise your email before it goes out.
2. Power up your app experience
It’s a well-worn mantra: developing and launching apps takes time, experience and more than a slice of your annual budget.
But with the Power Apps Studio that story is quickly being rewritten. Now you can create and edit apps directly within Microsoft Teams, making it possible to share scenario-specific tools without ever leaving the platform. We can attest to this, having developed our own apps YourSpaces and Live.
From October 1st 2021, Microsoft will reduce the licensing fees for Power Apps by 50%, making them much more accessible to small and medium size businesses.
3. Stay in-sync across your business
Teams isn’t a lone wolf. Its integration with the rest of the Microsoft 365 ecosystem and third party apps such as ServiceNow and Adobe Sign make it easy to sync any shared file with a PC or Mac. Built on SharePoint, Teams allows you to see previews of more than 320 file types and save important documents directly from any message or collaboration.
4. Automatically update company membership
Tired of manually removing users from your Teams experience? If you’re a company with fewer than 10,000 seats, use the platform’s ‘Org-wide team’ function to keep membership up to date. Since this feature is linked to your Active Directory, it will automatically add and remove users as they join or leave your business.
5. Collaborate directly and in real-time
The shift to remote working means fewer opportunities for staff to workshop face-to-face. Fortunately, Teams makes long distance collaboration simple, with features such as Microsoft Whiteboard and Office 365 integration. Users can either work together directly in-platform or open syncable files in their desktop apps.
6. Automate tasks using Teams app templates
Bots love the jobs you hate. Whether its repetitive tasks such as scheduling meetings or something a little more bespoke, you can create a bot to suit your needs. Thanks to Graph APIs, Teams bots also enable you retrieve and send information instantly, saving you hours of sourcing and searching for elusive files.
While there many things worth leaving behind back in 2020, but Microsoft Teams is definitely not one of them.
By taking advantage of features such as Power Apps, not only will you soothe the aches of remote working, you’ll also increase collaboration, efficiency, and productivity across your organisation.
Are you making the most of your Teams subscription?
At Akari, we ensure that businesses make the most of their M365 licence. If you want to make the most of Teams why not book one of our Microsoft funded workshops. These workshops help you realise the value of Microsoft technologies in your business, gain real value from your investment and transform the way you work.
In particular, we think our workshops on enabling frontline workers, Teams apps and solutions, hybrid meetings and modernising communications would be of interest.
No matter what one you pick, we'll work with you, on your timeframe to deliver the results you need.
If this sounds of interest, fill out our Fully Funded Workshop Request Form or get in touch today.
