The top 5 benefits of using Microsoft Teams on Office 365

There are many video conferencing software options available to keep your workforce connected during the COVID-19 pandemic, but, here at SA1 Solutions, we believe one of the most practical, comprehensive and easy to use packages is Microsoft Teams on Office 365. Many businesses already make use of the Office 365 package but may not be familiar with the raft of opportunities Teams provides for improving remote collaboration. In this article, we look in more depth at the product and highlight the top 5 benefits of using it.

Teams is more than just another online meeting tool, where you can see and speak to colleagues while they are working remotely. Unlike some other popular online meeting software, Teams is a complete, collaborative workspace that has great functionality, facilitating a fully integrated modern way of working.

It is helpful to both remote teams and in-house employees; and it’s very probable that once you start using it you will continue to do so, whether all employees are back in the same office or not. In fact, you’ll wonder how you ever managed without it.

Teams also supports integrations from many non-Microsoft products including the Adobe Creative Suite and Zendesk, increasing business efficiency and allowing the ability to show working documents to people who might not have the same software.

Here are 5 of the top benefits of using Microsoft Teams on Office 365:

1. Streamlined collaboration functionality

When using traditional email communication to work on a project, it’s common to lose crucial information in lengthy threads. Some team members may even miss key points entirely because someone forgot to hit “Reply All.”

Team’s chat-based platform means everyone receives the same message at the same time, allowing increased real-time collaboration, keeping the discussion relevant and current, helping the team reach solutions faster. It also means that when someone new joins the team or project, they have access to all prior conversations and instant access to project related files.

2. Easy access to communication tools

The chat function on Microsoft Teams allows you to have threaded conversations, helping you store conference calls, brainstorming sessions, and other meetings into one, easy to find place.

You won’t have to search through pages of notes or hundreds of emails looking for a certain conversation – with Microsoft Teams, it’s all in one place.

You can also choose between private and team conversations, as well as allowing you to integrate audio and video chats. You can even integrate your business phone system with Microsoft Teams.

3. Integration of Other Office 365 Applications

Unlike some video-conferencing software, Microsoft Teams doesn’t just limit you to the chat or video-communication functionality – it makes it easy to integrate all other Office 365 applications.

You can share Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, or OneNote documents as you communicate and contribute to the content. Your team can review and change documents quickly and efficiently while logging persistent chat around that content.

4. Customizable Workspaces

These days, every different kind of business – and department within them – needs different kinds of software to complete its daily tasks. Office 365, thankfully, understands that you may need to integrate different third-party tools into its interface.

Microsoft Teams, therefore, allows you to integrate with an ever-expanding list of third-party services – from Adobe products to social media channels – allowing you to customize your workspace to your team’s needs and preferences.

5. Never miss a meeting

Once your team is set up on Teams, they won’t have to log-in again, and they’ll have to try very hard to come up with an excuse to miss a meeting.

Without Teams, preparing for and remembering meetings can be a challenge. You need to look back over old emails and gather documents and agendas from various locations. Did you put the meeting in your diary (paper or electronic), and if it’s a video call have you got the log-in details?

Meetings in Teams makes that experience so much easier. As soon as you create the meeting, you can start chatting with the participants about the agenda, share the files that you need them to review, and keep track of the meeting notes. It will notify you when the meeting is due and it’s a simple click to join in when the time comes.
As soon as the meeting is over, the recording of the call is immediately available in the same tab, so if you did have a good reason for missing the meeting, you don’t need to ask anyone or spend time hunting for the recording – it’s immediately obvious, accompanied with the meeting notes and agreed actions.

Here at SA1 Solutions, we can help with advice on, and installation of, Microsoft Teams, as well as suppling training to get the best from its features – so just get in touch, contact us on 01792 439087 or info@sa1solutions.com