Finding the best digital tools for your growing business is tough. There are of course many to choose from however not every tool integrates well together. So choosing the right one for your business is key.
As a managed service provider, we see the daily struggles of many SMEs surrounding internal and external communication. As such, we recommend Microsoft Teams to help improve your communication woes.
In this article, we explore many benefits of using Microsoft Teams to support your business.
Productivity is increased
Using disparate apps across desktop and mobile environments can become very distracting. Multiple messaging, workflow planners and calendar apps all compete for attention but fail to provide clarity for the businesses using them.
By switching to Microsoft Teams, previously separate services and necessary features can be moved under one platform. This single action can save your employees time and improve teamwork.
Discover quicker solutions through collaboration
Need to respond to a new quality assurance issue and get feedback from a couple of your colleagues?
The Chat feature lets you immediately reach out to them. Alternatively, bringing the matter up in the Teams channel allows for a collaborative sharing of ideas and rapid solutions.
Never get left behind again
Does a senior member of staff need to catch up on the latest in their department after a series of afternoon business calls? The Activity Feed can do this for them with ease.
Customise your workspace
The Teams workspace is designed to begin as a default interface, but it’s effortlessly customisable from there.
Control workspaces at the administrative level
Administrators can create Teams for individual projects and departments. Or both. Access can be limited to department employees or a special project group.
What happens when someone transfers to another department and the second person is promoted in their place? Workspace controls within Teams allow for immediate adjustments to reflect the staffing shuffle.
Let team members customize their workspaces too
Team members can modify their workspace to include their favourite Microsoft 365 apps. Or add a host of third-party apps that have been designed to integrate directing into Teams such as Trello and many others.
App developers know that Teams is now used by hundreds of millions of users and over half a million companies globally; as such, they want to help you use their software too.
Making your workspace work for your team
A team member may place a video call to a colleague who’s working from home today. They can pop out of the video to view a spreadsheet relating to the project or the latest in the Teams project area. They are then able to refer to these while on the call. Or even use screen sharing within Microsoft Teams instead.
Favourite apps that are frequently used can be added to the left navigation bar in Teams, thus making them instantly accessible without skipping a beat.
Supercharged communication
Integrate chat, calls, and video calls
Previously, when needing to make a VoIP call or video chat, it was necessary to drop out of the productivity app to launch a chat app such as Skype. This would take over the screen real estate making it difficult to see what was behind it.
Enriched communication through integrated messaging, calls, and video communications connect workflow with communication to avoid any disconnect. Calling over the web (and it’s possible to integrate with a company’s phone network too) lets colleagues stay in touch. Plus when calls need to be scheduled, simply add them to the calendar.
Share live documents with everyone on the call
Numerous people can participate in a shared video calling area.
Live documents including Excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations are sharable during the video call. Participants’ video feeds are shrunk to clear virtual space, so everyone can see the document under discussion.
Custom video backgrounds reduce visual distractions
Don’t like distractions? A digital greenscreen effect allows users to replace their webcam’s real background with a virtual one in real time. Or you can use the blur effect. It can obscure a household pet who wandered into a WFH Livestream because they didn’t get the video event notification; pets are cute that way!
With Teams and communication, it cuts through any static on the line. It’s just like if team members were meeting at the office, except they’re not.
Teams streamline work and save time
Live file sharing and co-authoring
There is no need to wait to schedule a formal meeting before pulling together a presentation. Instead, gather your colleagues, share the PowerPoint presentation, and seek informed feedback.
If the discussion is aided by including a spreadsheet or an extended note from OneNote, the colleague can add it directly into the Chat discussion or the Teams department channel. No more forgetting to bring a file to the meeting.
Alternatively, team members can co-author a document, spreadsheet, or another type of file together. Gone are the days of sending it back and forth via email.
Video transcripts and meeting playback
Is a video call best to share ideas? Can everyone attend? If not, there is a written transcript (created by AI) as meeting notes that are accessible after the meeting.
Access to the video playback is ready to go for people who were stuck in a different meeting or had a holiday day booked.
Do away with endless, confusing email threads
Are you struggling with long email threads that consume productive time?
While individual emails can be pulled into Teams to share their contents, using the Teams channels and posts inside these channels is far more time efficient. All participants can share important information and files, without the need for a cluttered email inbox.
Teams make conversations and connections more meaningful
Make collaboration enjoyable again
Teams are set up to allow colleagues to share useful ideas. Employees must also enjoy their workday. So, adding in an appropriate meme or eye-catching image enables staff to share their emotions beyond merely using emoticons. With so many remote workers and Work From Home staff, it helps to bring everyone together.
Also, staff members can share ideas on different subjects in related Teams channels. This might be a Coffee Corner or a channel for group discussion on subjects of interest where a final decision has yet to be made. Managers can get useful feedback before making a final decision.
Real-time AI transcripts for the deaf and hard-of-hearing participants
For those with hearing impediments or to simply read over the call in a written format, transcripts are helpful.
Going one better, Teams has been updated to offer AI-generated, real-time transcripts of video calls. But even better still, they identify the speaker by their first name. Now all members of your team are included in the discussion, with no one being restricted due to technological limitations.
Let a collaboration platform assist your business today
The many benefits of Microsoft Teams support remote working, intelligent communication, and video conferencing. Do you want your company to stay productive, run efficient virtual meetings supported by information sharing, and save time? Then Microsoft Teams is likely a good solution for your business.
Get in touch with Microbyte today to help you get setup with Microsoft Teams.