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Remote working is not a new concept; however the recent Covid-19 outbreak has seen offices close and employees encouraged to work remotely. IT departments have had to work quickly to enable entire workforces to stay connected and access the tools and information they need seamlessly from home.   

Whilst there are many tools, out there for video conferencing (e.g Skype), these may not be right for your team’s needs. For example, larger organisations may need to communicate with very specific groups on specific projects. Others may need to track emails, share documentation and control the progress of a project. And many organisations need to be confident that the platform they use has the right security features to protect their data.

This is where Microsoft Teams comes in. It has a whole host of features that make it the ultimate collaboration tool.  

1) Meeting Tools – Video and Audio  

Available for both iOS and Android, Teams offers simple-to-use functions which enable you to chat via text, have voice conversations and set up video meetings for multiple users.  

The ability to meet virtually is an important and cost-effective feature for businesses today. Teams gives you a view of your scheduled meetings, the timing, the subject, and a list of other people who’ll be attending.

2) Sharing Documents  

Teams provides you with an open, digital environment that makes work integrated, visible, and accessible across the board. With Teams, everyone around you will always be in the know.  

Set up folders and share them with specific team members. Upload documents and store them in your own personalised file structures. Work collectively on a single document and ensure the latest version is available to the entire team along with an audit trail for effective version control. 

3) Conversation Channels  

Create dedicated chat channels focused on certain topics ensuring your team stays on track and resolves problems quickly. The chat channels work much like an instant messaging system. If you need to speak specifically to one person use the @mention to invite them to the conversation. Once someone is involved in your chat, they can view any relating documents in the Files tab.  

Teams displays chats as threaded conversations, so you can easily track the flow of conversation without getting lost. Users are notified of any updates and if they need to communicate with someone face-to-face, they can switch the conversation to a voice or video chat with just one click.    

4) Track emails    

A nifty feature of Teams is that you can send an email to a team channel. The contents of the email will then appear in the threaded conversation enabling all team members to view it. It’s a great way of keeping track of emails for future reference.

5) Cutting-Edge Security Features  

Security is one of the key areas where Microsoft Teams excels over its competition. In fact, you can be confident that your entire O365 suite has cutting-edge security and compliance capabilities built in.  

Teams enables you to control who you share information with. You can create private channels solely for your use or public channels for your entire company. Advanced security settings also cover data-loss prevention, information barriers, retention policies and more.      

6) Available on all devices  

Teams not only has the comprehensive web interface, but you can collaborate on the go using the mobile apps available for Android, Windows and iOS.     

7) Integration  

Teams is part of the Microsoft Suite therefore you get access to all of the Office 365 applications within the one location, letting you work more efficiently. You can directly access files and documents in OneDrive and SharePoint and use applications such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint without leaving Teams.

How can Digicorp help?  

It’s no wonder we’re advocates for Microsoft Teams, not only is it a product we offer to customers but it’s also something our colleagues use daily to share information, have focused discussions and collaborate on projects. Over the past couple of weeks, it’s become a vital part of how we operate and stay in touch with each other. If you’re looking for an effective collaboration tool that does so much more than video conferencing, Teams might be just what you’re looking for.