{"id":4296,"date":"2020-07-24T08:09:50","date_gmt":"2020-07-24T15:09:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/?p=4296"},"modified":"2020-07-24T08:09:50","modified_gmt":"2020-07-24T15:09:50","slug":"new-functionalities-to-microsoft-teams-core-features","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/new-functionalities-to-microsoft-teams-core-features\/","title":{"rendered":"New Functionalities to Microsoft Teams\u2019 Core features"},"content":{"rendered":"
In previous installations of this series (read parts 1<\/a><\/span>, 2<\/a><\/span>, 3<\/a><\/span> and 4<\/a><\/span>), my colleagues discussed when, why and how to start using Microsoft Teams as well as an equally important topic \u2013 how to be confident your network will be able to support this new application and its associated traffic<\/em>. In this blog, I\u2019ll explain the \u2018core\u2019 features, capabilities, as well as the exciting new functionality and features around Chat, Meetings, Teams and Channels, and Phone System added to the What\u2019s New in Microsoft Teams<\/a><\/span> bulletin for June 2020. Then, I\u2019ll close with some best practices to accelerate adoption and drive usage of Microsoft Teams throughout your organization.<\/p>\n One-to-one chat or one-to-many instant message (IM) Chat is a basic feature most new users start with. As the feature implies, it allows users to exchange private IMs with a certain individuals or groups. However, it is important to note that large enterprises have to meet certain compliance criteria and all electronic communication could be journaled for e-Discovery purposes in order to be compliant. In addition to messaging, you can attach files, pictures, etc. And, what is a modern chat without emoji\u2019s, stickers and GIFs?<\/p>\n All these awesome features from the Chat are available whenever you are participating in a \u201cprivate\u201d chat \u2013 one-to-one or one-to-many or in a \u201cChannel\u201d chat, where communication is visible to any member of the team of the respective channel. One nice addition when you are participating in a channel chat, is that the messages are \u201cthreaded\u201d. You can reply to a specific message and keep the thread going, which allows you to keep communication focused.<\/p>\n What\u2019s New:<\/strong><\/p>\n In my view, Meetings is another prominent features of Teams. Often times, \u201cMeetings First\u201d is a migration path our customers choose to follow, when migrating from a Skype for Business Server to Microsoft Teams. In this approach, Microsoft Teams client is used for web conferencing and online meetings. Here\u2019s a shortlist of what can we do in a Teams meeting:<\/p>\n What\u2019s New: <\/strong><\/p>\n Teams and channels are the heart of Microsoft Teams. A Team in Microsoft Teams is a collection of:<\/p>\n You can create a Team from scratch or, create one from an existing Office 365 Group or Team.\u00a0 If you\u2019re creating one, you have the option for it to be Private (people need to be granted permission to join) or Public (anyone in your organization can join). If the Team is public, it can have up to 10,000 members. Here is a link<\/a><\/span> to the limits and specifications from Microsoft.<\/p>\n Teams are made up of channels.\u00a0 They are best used to help organize and bring people together in a collaborative space to get things done. It\u2019s up to you on how you use a \u201cTeam\u201d site, but Team sites are great for consolidating collaboration \u2013 conversations, files, notes and content.<\/p>\n Channels are dedicated \u201ccontainers\u201d to further help to organize things in a Team site by certain classifications and criteria, e.g. specific topics, projects, activities \u2013 whatever makes it work for your team. A Team site can be open to all team members or made for a select audience (private channels). You can augment the channels with apps, including tabs, connector and bots \u2013 making Team use much more productive.<\/p>\n What\u2019s New:<\/strong><\/p>\n Phone System, formerly called Cloud PBX, gives users the ability to place and receive Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) calls, and can stand in for existing on-premises PBX system with a set of features delivered by Microsoft Office 365. To use Microsoft as your telephony carrier, you need to obtain Calling Plan licenses or use Direct Routing with a certified SBC.<\/p>\n With Phone System, users can use Microsoft Teams client to place, receive, transfer, and mute calls. Calls between users in your organization are handled internally and never go to the PSTN. This also applies to calls between users in your organization located in different geographical areas, removing costs associated with long distance calls. Furthermore, for calls outside of your organization, there\u2019re a few options for connecting Microsoft Phone System to PSTN.<\/p>\n Basic features include Caller ID, Auto attendants, Call queues, Call park\/retrieve, call sharing and group call pickup, shared line appearances and emergency calling.<\/p>\n What\u2019s New:<\/strong><\/p>\n When first introduced to Microsoft Teams, people often ask about specific features. After going over the core features and the added functionalities, I hope you see that Teams is so more than just chat and calling. It has a ton of rich features and is your organization\u2019s hub for teamwork, providing a shared workspace for various applications in Microsoft Office. This allows users to work natively without needing to toggle between applications as they try to get work done. So how do you get your people switched over to Teams?<\/p>\n To accelerate adoption and drive usage of Microsoft Teams you need to: <\/strong><\/p>\n Whether you are just starting your journey or are completing your migration\/ deployment to Microsoft Teams, Poly has the Microsoft experts and experience to help you along the way.<\/p>\n From\u00a0certified Microsoft Teams devices<\/a><\/span>\u00a0to\u00a0Microsoft Teams professional services<\/a><\/span>, Poly can help!\u00a0 We would love to hear from you.<\/p>\n For more information about Poly Services for Microsoft Solutions including our\u00a0PBX Assessment and Migration Services to Microsoft Teams and Poly Adoption Services for Microsoft Teams<\/a><\/span>, email us at\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>TeamMicrosoft@poly.com<\/strong><\/a><\/span>\u00a0or visit \u00a0<\/strong>www.poly.com\/professional-services<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Image courtesy of Microsoft Teams Blog PART 5 OF A […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4303,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1457,548,526],"tags":[238,43,1485,120,122,1708,1422,126,215,128],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4296"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4296"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4296\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4303"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.poly.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Core Features and Capabilities<\/strong><\/h3>\n
The core features and capabilities of Microsoft Teams are Chat, Meetings, Teams, Channels and Phone System. Let\u2019s start by discussing the most widely used feature \u2013 Chat.<\/p>\n
Chat<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\n
Meetings<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\n
\n
<\/h4>\n
Image courtesy of Microsoft Teams Blog<\/a><\/span><\/h5>\n
Teams and Channels<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\n
\n
Phone System<\/strong><\/h4>\n
\n
People-Oriented ROI<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\n
How can Poly help?<\/strong><\/h3>\n