Microsoft Teams is a powerful tool, but with so many features it can be hard to master them all. This article will guide you through some features you might have missed.
1. Productivity boosting bots
Love or loathe them, bots are the future. Although relatively new technology, 15 percent of consumers have used a chatbot. Microsoft are well-aware of the power of bots, so there are many helpful bots in Teams to ensure maximum productivity and communication. Here are some of the best.
- T-bot answers all your questions about Teams. This helps you save time when onboarding new hires and makes it easier for your team to get up to speed when new features are added.
- Pollbot allows you to create internal polls. Ensuring greater transparency within your organisation. According to Harvard Business Review, ‘Transparency generates trust in both consumers and employees’
- Statsbot delivers statistics from resources like Salesforce. This is invaluable because when you have the right data, you can make better decisions.
2. Integration other Microsoft apps and third-party apps
Moving between different pieces of software is a distraction and can waste time. Indeed, 40 percent of time is lost when we try to multi-task. Teams solves this problem by using tabs to incorporate other Microsoft apps into Teams. Dynamics 365, OneNote, files, documents, your planner – these can all be handled within Teams.
API (application programming interface) is a set of communication methods that enables one piece of software to integrate with another. Because Teams has an open API, it can integrate with third-party platforms like Hootsuite and Dropbox. When more things can be done within one piece of software, focus is easier, and your team is more productive. Here’s a longer list so you can begin to plan what you want to pair with Teams.
3. Unrivalled security
Many small businesses cannot afford a security breach. Indeed, by 2020, analysts predict that the average data breach will cost $150 million.
Security is paramount in Teams. It has many features to ensure your business remains completely secure. These include:
- Two-step authentication
- SSL security
- Regular back-ups of data and;
- Message encryption
These are part of the broader high-level security features that Office 365 delivers. But, don’t just take our word for it. It is a trusted platform worldwide, with 58.4 percent of sensitive data in the cloud is stored in Microsoft documents.
4. Simple communication
Employees need to love the platform that they are communicating on and Teams has everything to cater for this. There’s instant messaging, voice and video calling, and even in-line gif integration – an important addition considering gifs were last year’s biggest digital marketing trend.
5. You (probably) already have it
The best feature about Microsoft Teams is that you probably already have it. It’s part of Office 365 so just by clicking on the nine dots in the top left when you’re logged into O365, you can quickly find Teams.
Taking on new software can be problematic, and all organisations should do their due diligence (75 percent find unknown licenses with new software). So why not make the most out of the software you already have? To learn more about how to get the most out of Teams, Office 365 and more, contact us for a FREE business technology consultation.