No one could have foreseen the COVID-19 crisis that has raged across the world in past months. The situation has forced everyone to adapt rapidly both at home and in professional spheres. Offices are shuttered, public transit feels inadvisable…we’ve all had to rethink the way we work and communicate. Videoconferencing platforms are suddenly a necessity of life, whether they’re used to hold meetings, teach students, or see loved ones. Moreover, apps that function as collaboration tools, such as Microsoft Teams, are becoming indispensable.
What’s the best collaboration tool for a virtual workspace? Microsoft Teams!
Microsoft Teams is an application that joined the Office 365 suite in 2017. Its high-quality and well-secured platform facilitates collaborative work. In addition to optimizing conference calls, Microsoft Teams lets you present, share, and edit Word documents, as well as make PowerPoint presentations in real-time.
A tool for communication
On top of its many virtual meeting features, the tool helps you organize communications effectively to create virtual workspaces. Indeed, it lets you reinvent the lifecycle of meetings and conversations within your organization. Before a meeting, share the agenda and upload any necessary documents. During the call, use background blurring technology to minimize distractions. Afterward, make a recording of the discussion available to everyone. The app meets your every need for both professional and personal communication. Thanks to Microsoft Teams, you can share documents, calendars (to organize events or birthdays easily), photos, memories, notes, and more.
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Available anywhere, anytime
Microsoft Teams is available to all Microsoft 365 customers. It works on all Microsoft devices and in Microsoft Dynamics 365, whether you use Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, or any other web interface. Although Microsoft Teams was initially only available to customers with Office 365 Enterprise or Business subscriptions, it’s now open to anyone, anytime and anywhere, in more than 35 languages.
Why use Microsoft Teams as a collaboration tool for your virtual workspace?
One of Microsoft Teams’ key benefits as a virtual workspace is increased productivity. The user-friendly interface lets you control the lifecycle of meetings with a few clicks. No need to go hunting for documents—everything is collected in one place. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, OneNote, Scheduler, Power BI, and Delve all fully integrate with Microsoft Teams, giving users access to the information and tools they require. Videoconferencing is offered in HD for both audio and video. And as mentioned, the app’s background blur feature helps everyone concentrate, reducing distractions.
A totally customizable app
Microsoft’s app is also fully customizable, which is a huge plus. On the interface, you can download and integrate more than a hundred applications ranging from Planner to Kahoot!, Wikipedia, or even YouTube. Create groups, which let you schedule meetings for specific teams without having to send an individual invitation to each person. If you need to invite people outside the group, just share the meeting link, and you’re good to go.
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But is it secure?
Don’t think that this app’s easy-to-use nature compromises your data security. On the contrary, the creators’ goal was to create the best possible business tool that ALSO lets organizations exchange sensitive information with complete confidence. Teams offers organization-wide and organization-level two-factor authentication, single sign-on through Active Directory, and data encryption both in transit and at rest. Files are stored and encrypted in SharePoint, while OneNote performs the same function for notes. OneNote data and content from the Wiki tab is also stored on your SharePoint site. Additionally, data loss protection and Microsoft policies guarantee your users won’t share sensitive data with the wrong people.
A constant evolution
Microsoft Teams is continually improving, and its increasing effectiveness has never been more apparent than during the current crisis. Several institutions, including the Quebec school system, have chosen this platform for distance education. Recently, thanks to a small icon added to your video, it’s possible to “raise your hand” to make discussions easier. In addition, up to nine video streams can be displayed simultaneously. No fewer than 15 updates have been made since the beginning of 2020, improving telecommuting in the #cavabienaller era.
Stand-out features of Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams now tops the list of collaboration tools for virtual workspaces, and it’s all thanks to its wide range of features. The app makes it easy to loop in participants using “@mention,” and conversations are fun due to the emojis, GIFs, and memes available in chats. It’s also possible to design custom tabs, create multiple separate meeting groups, integrate external applications, and more.
Avoid wasted time
Teams lets you carry out targeted searches in discussions, thus preventing you from spending hours searching for something said on a subject weeks earlier. In the same vein, you can follow discussion threads and get notified when new responses appear. As you’ve probably figured out by now, you can schedule meetings, whether they be videoconferences or audio calls. The telephone system also lets you set up a voice mailbox in case you miss a call.
Teamwork, in real-time
Another exciting aspect of Teams is the Whiteboard function. This feature lets your teams work together in real-time and autosaves every change. Everyone can contribute, whether they’re on computers, phones, or tablets. Microsoft Teams also lets you share not only your screen, but documents, applications, and calendars too.
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Can Microsoft Teams be integrated into Microsoft Dynamics 365?
Microsoft has created a cutting-edge software solution that combines CRM with ERP. Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a tool designed for managers fed up with switching between software to manage different components of their organizations. Dynamics 365 brings Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Microsoft Dynamics NAV together under one roof. Not only do they work on the same interface and communicate with each other, but they also function as a single software, sharing data, clients, and processes. It’s a major development for the industry, as one of our biggest challenges is communication between applications. With Microsoft Dynamics 365, we eliminate this common problem.
Teams and Dynamics 365—the perfect match?
During this pandemic, integrating Dynamics 365 as an application in Teams is an essential step for business managers. By installing it, you can share files and converse with colleagues to exchange information. The data you share is synchronized between Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Teams. Once again, Microsoft has helped businesses increase productivity while maintaining an intuitive platform.
A precarious situation like the one we’re living in underscores the importance of choosing high-performance solutions such as Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Dynamics 365. Get acquainted with the easy-to-use software by checking out the video on our YouTube channel.
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