Microsoft Teams Means Productivity Gains

By StratusLive

November 30, 2021

Microsoft Teams application is now available for Office 365 users.

So what is Microsoft Teams?

Microsoft Teams is the new chat-based workspace for teamwork in Office 365.

For your nonprofit, this means teamwork just became a whole lot easier, faster, and more productive.

You could use Teams to help you plan your next volunteer event, fundraising campaign, board preparation, or marketing program. Channels are key to organizing team collaboration. Name them by discussion topic, project, role, location, or for fun, so conversations and content are easy to find.

The important thing to remember is the focus is all on teams and collaboration.

Microsoft Ecosystem – Real-world Added Value

You may have heard us here at StratusLIVE talk about the strategic advantages of building on a commercial business platform.

Like other Office 365 products, Teams is tightly integrated with the Microsoft ecosystem. This adds a lot of value to those nonprofits using StratusLIVE.

Our entire product suite is Microsoft based and especially leverages Dynamics 365. Teams is another example of the type of productivity gains your nonprofit can gain by choosing StratusLIVE and Microsoft for your nonprofit.

How does the new Teams application work?

The Teams Application becomes your hub for collaborative work.

Putting a team together is simple:

  1. create a team
  2. add members
  3. start working together

Everyone has instant access to everything they need right in Office 365.

The interface is clean and intuitive.

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What can you do with Teams?

Here are a few of the ways you can work in Teams:

  • Bring all your content, tools, people, and conversations into the workspace
  • Share and co-edit Office 365 files
  • Enjoy built-in access to SharePoint, OneNote, and Skype for Business
  • Work on documents right in the app
  • Get rich scheduling features inside Microsoft Teams
  • Scheduled or ad-hoc 1-1, small group, or whole team calling
  • See content and chat history anytime
  • Team or in-private chat
  • Post an email in the thread to keep the team in the loop
  • Search for public teams to collaborate on shared projects

Is it secure?

Yes. According to Microsoft, the new Teams application provides the enterprise security and compliance of Office 365. It also includes:

  • eDiscovery and legal hold for channels, chats, and files
  • All data is encrypted at all times; at-rest and in-transit
  • Multi-factor authentication enhances identity protection

What does it cost?

Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. For users with an active Office 365 subscribers, there is no additional cost.

When?

It is available now. Microsoft began rolling out preview releases a few months ago. On March 14, they announced general availability for Office 365 subscribers.

Where do you get Microsoft Teams?

Microsoft Teams is available directly in your browser or you can install it on your desktop, smartphone, or tablet.

Just log in at office365.com and look for the new “Teams” tile.

Want to learn more about Microsoft Teams?

Get more information from Microsoft here: https://products.office.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/group-chat-software.