Microsoft Teams is a very powerful chat-based workspace for
Business or Enterprise editions customers of Microsoft Office 365. In our
article we go through the basics of how to use it.
Microsoft
Teams is the new kid on the block for chat-based workspace. The new tool in
Office 365 Business and Enterprise allows users to chat, share files and
collaborate together in a proficient manner. Here's how to use Microsoft
Teams.
How to use Microsoft Teams: How to
get Microsoft Teams
First
and foremost you're going to need to activate Microsoft Teams. Within
Office 365 portal head to the admin centre then look for Settings on the
left-hand side, then go to Services & add-ins > Microsoft Teams, then
toggle the option.
At the
time of writing it's available in beta form in 181 countries and 18 languages.
It will be ready for general release in Q1 2017. To use Microsoft Teams you
must be a Business or Enterprise Office 365 customers - prices start from £3.10 a month.
Therefore, you'll need to be a Business Essentials, Premium, or Enterprise E1,
E3, or E5 customer to use Microsoft Teams.
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You can use Microsoft Teams on Windows, Mac, iOS, Android and
Windows Phone.
Important note: Anyone wanting to use the tool, will also have to have one of
these editions of Office 365 - as non-business owners cannot use Microsoft
Teams. Therefore, if you have a user with Office
365 Home, Personal or Student you
won't be able to work with them in Teams (unless they upgrade of course).
How to use Microsoft Teams: How to create a
team in Microsoft Teams
Microsoft has made it simple to create a team - you can do so in a
few easy steps: Click on the Teams tab on the left-hand side and click on
'Create a team'.
From
here you will be presented with option on who to invite to the team and a
flurry of options to choose from to customise the team. Once created, members
that were invited will be sent an invitation to join the team. If it's the
first time using the tool, then you'll be prompted to create a team for your
company.
How to use Microsoft Teams: How to manage
members of a team in Microsoft Teams
Once you've got a team, you can press on the three dots by the
team's name and you'll be presented with several options, a few of them being
linked to member and team management.
You can add members, by selecting the option and entering your
colleague's email address. To leave a team, you can select the option and
you'll be prompted to confirm your removal from a team. If you have sufficient
administrator powers, you can edit a team - including its members. Finally you
can delete the team - but be wary if you delete, it will delete it for everyone
inside it too - only owners of a team can do this.
How to use Microsoft Teams: How to add channels
and connectors in Microsoft Teams
If you have sufficient administrator rights, you can add a
channel. By doing so, your team will be presented with a new channel/option to
chat - you can rename the channel and add connectors to it.
Connectors allow you to integrate various apps with Microsoft
Teams - with the likes of Twitter, RSS, JIRA and Google Analytics to name just
a few out of over 150 partners available to you.
Using these connectors, allows your team to use these plugins to
access data or connect with other team members in a better fashion.
How to use Microsoft Teams: How to view your
activity and notifications in Microsoft Teams
You can view your Activity and Notifications through the
Activity tab - simply click on the Activity tab on the left-hand side to be
presented with a list of notifications where you'll be able to see people who
have mentioned you.
By
clicking on the notifications or even recent conversations, you'll be taken
directly to the thread where the relevant conversation has taken place. Also
see: Best free email software
How to use Microsoft
Teams: How to access and edit your files on Microsoft Teams
Clicking on the Files tab on the left-hand side, you will find all
the files that have been shared with you - through this tab you can directly
view and edit the files.
If you
choose to edit your files, you will be able to do so in real-time with multiple
different collaborators editing the file you're in - this is done through the
integration of Office 365.
How to use Microsoft Teams: How to T-Bot in
Microsoft Teams
T-Bot is a Microsoft bot designed to answer questions you might
have on Microsoft Teams. To find T-Bot head into Chats on the left-hand
side of Teams and fire your questions away. You will be presented with natural
language replies, but it takes time for it to learn your tendencies.
