Announced back in November, Microsoft Teams has now been launched! This is a brand new collaboration tool from Microsoft to help with communication and collaboration within a business.
Messaging or chat apps have been dominating businesses for quite a while, and they continue to improve. I remember using MSN Instant Messenger WAY back when, and we have definitely come a long way since then. Microsoft isn’t calling this a messaging or a chat app, they are calling it a chat-based workspace, because it does so much more than simple communication.
One unique feature of Teams is the awesome integration with Office 365. You can chat via teams right from within a Word document and work with someone to get that proposal exactly right. You can forward an email directly to a channel, and it will automatically grab any attachments included in the email. This will work even if you aren’t using Outlook, but they are promising some really robust full Outlook integration this year. You can also use video calling from an Android device, and audio calling from any mobile device.
Another really great feature, is the ability to share code within the app using it’s markdown-based formatting. Sharing code with chat programs has always been a little bit clunky at best. When you copy the code in other programs, other characters or formatting can get in the way of code working properly.
They also promise they are working on a guest access feature, so you can collaborate with consultants on projects, which is missing from many office chat applications.
The best news of the day, is that it’s already included with your Office 365 subscription. So, if you are currently paying for a third party application for office messaging, then this will save you some money every month!
Check out this introduction video to learn more about the new Teams app from Microsoft!