As the world responds to the outbreak of COVID-19, our thoughts are with the people affected and the medical and social care professionals working around the clock to help those most in need. At ESP, we’re working to do our part by ensuring the safety of our employees, striving to keep our customers functional and communicating by providing technology and assistance to help them do their best while working remotely.
When internal teams are spread out across different geographic locations, they use Microsoft Teams to collaborate efficiently and effectively – Microsoft’s chat-based work space integrated with Office 365 that is rival to the likes of Slack and Flock.
Although the world of business is constantly abuzz about which new collaboration tools, platforms, and solutions are the best (and there are lots to choose from!) Microsoft Teams stands out above the rest. Best of all, it comes totally free with Microsoft Office 365!
What is Microsoft Teams?
Microsoft Teams is a chat-based collaboration platform that comes with lots of functionality for knowledge and document sharing, virtual meetings, conference calls, and business communications. There is a reason why many of today’s biggest and best organisations use Microsoft Teams to facilitate their internal communications.
As you may well be aware, good communication is at the core of any successful business, and shared workplace software like Microsoft Teams make this much easier to achieve for organisations with lots of employees, or several dispersed and/or remote-working employees.
Teams Core Features
Microsoft Teams has a range of features at its core that help it standout from other collaboration software currently available on the market. These include:
Instant Messaging
Underpinning Microsoft Teams is its chat function. Instant messages can be sent to individuals, teams, groups, and more, no matter where people are located in the world.
Online Meetings
Teams enables you to hold company-wide meetings and training sessions with its online meetings function. There will always be enough space, too; online meetings in Teams can host up to 10,000 individuals at one time. Although Teams is designed for internal communications, online meetings can include external parties.
Audio Conferencing
Many collaboration platforms don’t include plain audio conferencing. This is not the case in Microsoft Teams. With audio conferencing, participants can join via dial-up with a phone, eliminating the need for a reliable internet connection. Microsoft Teams can also be used to completely replace your company’s phone lines thanks to its comprehensive telephony functionality.
SharePoint Document Sharing
Every employee that uses Teams will have their own SharePoint Online site where they can store and share documents, files, and conversations that take place in Microsoft Teams. Sensitive information can be protected using customisable permissions and security settings.
Five reasons your organisation should consider using Microsoft Teams.
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1. Inherent Security
In comparison to other chat-based software solutions and tools like WhatsApp, Skype, Slack and old-fashioned SMS, Teams is a lot more secure because it integrates with the full range of existing Microsoft tools.
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2. Work from Anywhere
Microsoft Teams helps your organisation foster the more modern way of working – remotely. This is beneficial for attracting the best talent and helping you appear as progressive. It also helps connect your employees when disbursed across different regions and countries.
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3. Knowledge Sharing
Microsoft Teams includes a wiki-style intranet where your employees can share knowledge and information for the benefit of the organisation. Knowledge sharing is an entire topic of its own and is great for helping your team collaborate and build on each other’s skills.
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4. Easy Collaboration
Using Teams, employees can share and work on files with one another in real-time. Because these files integrate with your existing Microsoft products such as OneDrive and SharePoint, it is instantly better than comparable tools like Google Docs.
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5. Communicate Instantly
Teams can be used for one-to-one, group, and team chats in an instant messaging format that is much more engaging than email. This format is also a lot easier for group discussions that could be delayed or ignored completely if they took place via email.
Ready to Realise the Power of Microsoft Teams?
Although Microsoft Teams is an extremely powerful solution that excels at facilitating efficient collaboration, it needs to be carefully installed, governed, and managed on an ongoing basis in order to deliver the maximum benefit.
Without having any form of oversight in place, organisations may find themselves quickly unable to manage their content properly, leaving them open to security and information breaches or in violation of compliance regulations.
At ESP, we are experts at helping organisations like yours successfully roll out Microsoft Teams in a sustainable and properly governed manner. Working with us helps your organisation reduce the chance of facing regulatory compliance nightmares in the future.
Contact one of our experts to learn more about how ESP can transform your business into a digital workplace today!
