Microsoft Teams is ready for you!

The Microsoft Inspire Conference was just a few weeks ago.  At this conference a great deal of time was spent talking about Teams, Power Suite and Azure.  This month I want to focus on the product called “Teams”.   Microsoft launched Teams in March of 2017.   At first it seemed like simply a replacement for Skype for Business.  Adoption was slow and features were slim.   Fast forward to July of 2019 and Teams has matured into an excellent communication and collaboration tool with over 13 million users.  Microsoft has made it easier to use Teams by bundling it with Office 365 and adding a free web version for people who don’t have Office 365.

So what makes it a great product?  As with all recent Microsoft products, Teams is cloud based.  The application can be run on a desktop, in a browser window or as an app on phones and tablets.  The integration to the entire Office Suite allows you to utilize Excel, Word, PowerPoint, SharePoint and all other applications within Teams when collaborating.  While Skype for Business allowed for phone calls, IMs and screen shares, Teams provides all of that plus the ability to pull in data, reports, shared documents and video.  

In teams, you create a team and then create channels within each team.  Each team and channel can have different members, which provides for a level of security and control.  Each team and channel created then creates a folder in SharePoint to store all data and documents for collaboration.  Imagine creating a team for each project, working with both local and remote members, all sharing the documents, virtual white boards and to-do lists.  

If you haven’t looked at Teams yet, I highly recommend you do so.  This is collaboration for the future.  Talk with your Innovia Account Manager, about Teams and see how it can help your company.  

Alan Wyne, CEO