It's no secret there has been a massive shift to remote working within the past year. Whereas even a few years ago technology tools were simply not robust enough to support an entire remote workforce, now they are, and companies are now seeing the substantial benefits that comes with moving beyond the traditional office environment.
Of course, one of the key components of daily work life includes face-to-face communication. With the recent advancements in video conferencing software, now that is also available at any time and from anywhere.
Communication Made Easy
One of the great things about Microsoft Teams is that it seamlessly fits with Microsoft's other technology tools. In fact, if a company is licensed for Office 365, they already have Microsoft Teams.
Since many employees are already very familiar with Microsoft's other tools, they're able to quickly get on board and use Teams as an essential component of their everyday work life. When a Teams meeting is added to an employee's diary, joining a meeting is as simple as clicking on a button in Microsoft Outlook.
Rich Features
Of course, part of what makes a technology tool an essential asset is its ability to meet the unique needs of various organizations. Microsoft Teams has a long list of rich, thoughtful features that work beautifully to enhance productivity. A short list of these features includes
- The ability to organize conversations through the creation of separate channels and teams
- Easy collaboration with others through the seamless use of OneNote
- The use of Tabs for frequently-used team apps
- The ability to centralize team files with SharePoint
- Automation of tasks by way of third-party plug-ins
- Easy Wiki set-up for employee guidelines and practices
- Tracking employee time and attendance with the Teams Attendance bot
Teams is for Everyone
Microsoft Teams has a package for every type of organization, including those that don't use other Microsoft products. For small organizations, Microsoft offers a free version of their software. It supports a maximum of 100 participants and requires no annual commitment.
For larger organizations, Microsoft offers 3 additional tiers of packages. These tiers range from a basic package supporting 300 participants at $5.00 a month/per user, a business standard tier at $12.50 a month/per user, and their most robust tier, the Office 365 E3, which supports up to 10,000 participants for $20.00 per month/per user. Each of these 3 business tiers does require an annual commitment.
What about Security?
This may be one of the key features that sets Microsoft Teams apart from other video conferencing software apps. With other free video conferencing apps, there have been reports of people inadvertently sending out public invites to corporate meetings. Worse yet, there have been multiple reports of hackers joining meetings and wreaking havoc by trolling and posting inappropriate content.
Microsoft offers the same premiere security standards for their Teams software as they do their other software applications. Microsoft encrypts all Teams data, whether it is at rest or in transit. Their 3 tiers of business packages enforce multi-factor authentication, ensuring that only those invited to meetings are actually able to attend.
Microsoft's paid Teams versions also have advanced auditing and reporting features, so that management can keep track of some of the most sensitive aspects of their operations, that being the daily communication between employees, as well as communication with those in the outside world.
Compliance
Even some small organizations must follow certain compliance laws and regulations within their industry. Microsoft Teams assists these types of companies by offering a wide range of tools and information such as
- Audit log searches
- Data loss protection
- Legal hold and eDiscovery for files, chats, and channels
- Retention policies
- Communication compliance for attachments, chats, and channels
Summary
If you are one of those organizations that have tried a free video conferencing app and have been less than satisfied, we can help. We have over 30 years of professional experience in IT consulting.
We can help your organization select the right video conferencing software, ensuring your company's communication remains secure and compliant. Please contact us today for more information about Microsoft Teams.
