The coronavirus pandemic has undoubtedly forced companies to adapt, and for many, working from home has become “the new normal”. A more agile way of working could be the long-term future of business life, but for it to be a success, the right tools need to be in place.
Microsoft Teams, a unified communication and collaboration platform, is becoming the go-to tool to help businesses adapt to distanced working, allowing communication, security, and compatibility. Here, we have listed six of the software’s features you might not know about that will help you work more effectively.
It’s fully integrated with Office 365
As a Microsoft product, Teams is fully integrated with Office 365. Most people are aware of the fact you can connect all the other Microsoft apps you already use, such as Word, Excel, SharePoint and Outlook, but what some don’t realise is that when used right, you can work on all your documents without even having to leave the Teams interface. Simply go to your files tab where you will see your recently accessed documents and select the option to edit file directly within the Teams app.
You can forward Outlook emails
Teams gives you the option to have numerous conversation channels, meaning you can have channels dedicated to specific projects or departments. Because of how well Teams integrates with other Microsoft apps, you can create and forward your emails from Outlook straight into the Teams environment. Just choose the channel you would like to forward the email to, and your team can discuss the email in one place.
Stream information into your conversation channels
Having conversation channels is a great feature to ensure nothing gets missed and that team members aren’t inundated with irrelevant messages. However, what a lot of people don’t know is that you can actually add a custom connector to a channel.
Connectors keep your team up to date by delivering updated content from the services you frequently use, such as News, Twitter, Facebook and Trello. The connector (which you can find by clicking the three dots next to your selected team channel) will stream the information directly into your chosen channel, making it easy for teams to stay current and have relevant information sent to them quickly.
You can bookmark important content
Teams uses persistent chat, meaning conversations happen in real time. Teams users needn’t worry about important information being lost as the chat is happening, because Teams has a bookmark option, allowing employees to save important conversations or files. All you need to do is hover over the item you’d like to save and flag it. When you’re ready to look at your saved items, simply click on your profile icon and look at your saved items, all flagged items will appear here.
You can transcribe your meetings
While most users know how to record a video or audio call on Teams, many fail to realise that the software has the ability to transcribe the meeting. Once a recording is completed, all you need to do is open it up in Microsoft Stream (something which is included in Microsoft 365 Business, Microsoft Business Standard and Microsoft 365 Business Basic) and using the edit option, update the video language to English, select ‘auto generate a caption file’, then apply.
You can integrate it with your company’s phone
To further enhance your experience, users can combine existing telephony systems with Teams, integrating it with inbound and outbound calling. At Direct Voice and Data, we can provide a calling functionality which will enable users to use one single platform for all their communication needs, so employees can both make and receive calls anytime, any place, anywhere.
While a more agile way of working can come with challenges, Microsoft Teams is a great way to tackle them. The software is a great tool to aid businesses in adapting to “the new normal”, regardless of the company size.
Take a look at our Ebook for more tips and tricks to help companies realise the true potential of Agile Working. Download here.
