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Microsoft Teams

Published: April 9, 2024, Updated: April 30, 2024

Microsoft Teams Tips & Tricks: Maximize Productivity with Essential Features & 2024 Updates

In the era of remote work and geographically dispersed teams, digital collaboration tools have become indispensable for businesses to thrive. Microsoft Teams has emerged as a powerhouse, empowering organizations to streamline communication, enhance teamwork, and boost productivity. As the world embraces new ways of working, Teams has continuously evolved, introducing features that cater to the ever-changing needs of modern workforces. The platform's evolution has been driven by a deep understanding of the challenges teams face today's fast-paced, digital landscape. From seamless integration with Office 365 to advanced video conferencing capabilities, Teams has become a central hub for teamwork, enabling users to easily collaborate, communicate, and manage projects. As we approach 2024, Microsoft Teams continues to push the boundaries, introducing groundbreaking updates that promise to revolutionize how we work. This guide delves into essential tips and the latest updates to help you leverage Microsoft Teams to its full potential. Streamlining Communication Effective communication is the cornerstone of productive teams, and Microsoft Teams offers a wealth of features to ensure seamless interactions. One of the most powerful tools is notification customization. By fine-tuning your notification settings, you can focus on the most critical communications without being overwhelmed by constant alerts. Customizing notifications based on priorities, channels, or specific individuals can significantly reduce distractions, allowing you to concentrate on the tasks at hand. Another game-changing feature is the use of @mentions. By mentioning specific team members in conversations, you can ensure that essential messages are noticed, fostering engagement and timely responses. However, it's essential to strike a balance and use @mentions judiciously to avoid notification overload. Microsoft Teams offers a comprehensive set of keyboard shortcuts for those seeking to maximize efficiency. From navigating between channels and threads to quick access to search and command boxes, these shortcuts can save precious time and streamline your workflow, allowing you to accomplish more in less time. Enhancing Collaboration Microsoft Teams' true power lies in its ability to facilitate seamless collaboration within teams and across organizations. One of the most significant advantages is the platform's deep integration with Office 365. This integration enables real-time co-authoring of documents, spreadsheets, and presentations, eliminating the need for constant file sharing and version control headaches. However, collaboration extends beyond document editing. Teams also offers robust file management capabilities through its integration with SharePoint. By leveraging SharePoint within Teams, users can effortlessly organize and access shared files, ensuring crucial information is always at their fingertips. Advanced file management features, such as version control, check-in/check-out functionality, and customizable metadata, empower teams to maintain order and efficiency in their document repositories. Another powerful collaboration tool within Teams is channels, which keep conversations organized by specific topics, projects, or departments. By strategically creating and managing channels, teams can segment conversations and projects, ensuring that relevant information is easily accessible to those who need it. Channel organization can be tailored to specific teams, projects, or workflows, fostering focused collaboration and reducing information overload. Threads in Microsoft Teams allow users to keep conversations organized and focused within a channel. Engage in threads by replying directly to a specific message to maintain topic coherence, distinguishing between when to start a new thread versus continuing an existing one. Utilize mentions judiciously to alert relevant team members without overcrowding their notifications. Manage and monitor important threads by pinning or saving messages, ensuring critical information is readily accessible. Adopting these practices ensures streamlined, focused communication, enhancing teamwork and productivity. Mastering online meetings in Microsoft Teams involves scheduling and joining meetings seamlessly, leveraging features like background blur and live captions for professionalism and accessibility, and engaging participants actively. Maintaining engagement is key, as well as using interactive elements such as polls and Q&A. Post-meeting, sharing recordings, and notes is essential for keeping all participants informed and ensuring continuity of discussions. This comprehensive approach ensures effective, inclusive, and productive online meetings, adapting to the rise of remote work. 2024 Updates and Features As we approach 2024, Microsoft Teams continues to push the boundaries of productivity with many exciting updates and features. One area that has seen significant enhancements is video meeting capabilities. Teams now offers expanded options for background customization, allowing users to project a professional and personalized image during virtual meetings. These features, from virtual backgrounds to blur effects, help maintain a polished appearance, even in less-than-ideal environments. Language barriers have historically been a challenge for global teams. Microsoft Teams is addressing this issue head-on with improved language translation features. With real-time translation capabilities, teams can communicate seamlessly, fostering inclusivity and ensuring that valuable insights are not lost in translation. Perhaps one of the most exciting developments in Teams is the introduction of AI-powered features. Meeting scheduling and summarization are now augmented by AI, streamlining the process of organizing meetings and capturing key insights. Additionally, AI-driven assistance can help teams stay on track during meetings, ensuring that discussions remain focused and productive. Cross-Platform Collaboration NextPlane OpenHub is a game-changing solution that enables seamless cross-platform collaboration for Microsoft Teams users. With OpenHub, teams can effortlessly connect and communicate with users on other collaboration platforms, such as Slack, Cisco Webex Teams, and Zoom. This integration breaks down silos and allows for smooth interoperability, ensuring that no one is left out of the conversation. NextPlane OpenHub's advanced features, such as universal channels, direct messaging, and file sharing, enable Teams users to collaborate with external partners, clients, and colleagues without the need to switch between multiple apps or manage separate accounts. By leveraging NextPlane OpenHub, organizations can maximize the potential of Microsoft Teams, fostering a more connected, efficient, and productive workforce in today's multi-platform collaboration landscape. Optimizing Your Teams Experience While Microsoft Teams offers a wealth of features out of the box, maximizing its potential often requires a proactive approach. Regularly reviewing and updating your Teams setup is crucial to ensure you take advantage of the latest features and optimize your experience. One area that warrants frequent attention is the integration of third-party apps. Teams offers a vast ecosystem of third-party integrations, ranging from project management tools to customer relationship management (CRM) systems. By carefully selecting and integrating the right apps, teams can streamline their workflows, centralize data, and enhance productivity. Additionally, engaging with the Microsoft Teams community can provide invaluable insights and best practices. From user forums to developer communities, these platforms offer a wealth of knowledge, enabling users to learn from experienced professionals, stay informed about upcoming features, and share their own MS Teams hacks. Advanced Tips for File Management and Sharing Effective file management and sharing are critical for maintaining order and productivity within collaborative environments. Microsoft Teams offers a range of advanced features to streamline these processes. Implementing a hierarchical file system is a powerful strategy for organizing files within Teams. By mirroring project or department hierarchies, teams can create an intuitive structure that makes locating and accessing relevant files easy. This approach reduces the time spent searching for information and ensures everyone is on the same page. Metadata and tags are another valuable tool for file management. By assigning descriptive metadata and tags to files, teams can facilitate easier search and retrieval. This is particularly useful when dealing with large repositories of files, as it allows users to quickly find the information they need without sifting through countless folders. Collaboration with external partners often requires secure file sharing. Teams offers robust features for managing external access, including granular permissions, time-bound access, and secure sharing links. By carefully controlling who can access specific files and for how long, teams can maintain the confidentiality of sensitive information while still fostering effective collaboration. Customizing Teams with Apps and Bots Microsoft Teams offers a vast ecosystem of apps and bots that can be customized to suit specific team needs, automate tasks, and streamline workflows. Identifying key apps for integration is the first step in customizing Teams. Popular apps cover a wide range of functions, from project management and customer support to productivity and data visualization. Organizations can significantly enhance efficiency and productivity by carefully selecting apps that align with team goals and workflows. Building and implementing custom bots is another powerful way to tailor Teams to specific needs. Bots can automate common tasks, provide instant access to resources, and even facilitate data collection and analysis. Microsoft offers a range of platforms and resources for bot development, making it accessible to teams with varying levels of technical expertise. Power Automate, a tool deeply integrated with Teams, allows users to create automated workflows that solve common business problems. From data collection and approvals to notifications and reporting, Power Automate can streamline repetitive tasks, freeing up time for more strategic work. Security Practices to Protect Your Teams Environment As teams increasingly rely on digital collaboration tools, ensuring the security of data and communications becomes paramount. Microsoft Teams offers a range of advanced security features and best practices to help organizations safeguard their environments. Configuring advanced security settings is a critical first step. Teams provides options for end-to-end encryption of sensitive communications, ensuring that only intended recipients can access the information. Data loss prevention (DLP) strategies can also be implemented to prevent the inadvertent sharing of confidential data. Educating team members on best practices for security is equally important. Regular training programs can help users identify phishing attempts, secure their personal and team accounts, and adhere to organizational security policies. By fostering a culture of security awareness, teams can minimize the risk of data breaches and protect sensitive information. Regular security audits are also essential for maintaining a secure Teams environment. These audits help identify potential vulnerabilities, ensure compliance with data protection regulations, and provide an opportunity to update security measures as needed. Conclusion Microsoft Teams has become an indispensable tool for businesses seeking to maximize productivity and foster seamless collaboration in the digital age. By leveraging the platform's ever-expanding features and staying abreast of the latest updates, teams can streamline communication, enhance collaboration, and achieve new levels of efficiency. As we look towards 2024 and beyond, Microsoft Teams continues to innovate, offering advanced file management features, customization through apps and bots, and robust security practices. By embracing these tools and best practices, organizations can create a secure, productive, and future-ready environment that empowers teams to work smarter and achieve their goals. Boost productivity with Microsoft Teams is an ongoing journey that requires a proactive approach, continuous learning, and a willingness to adapt to new features and best practices. By committing to this journey, teams can unlock the full potential of digital collaboration and thrive in an increasingly connected world.

Microsoft Teams

Published: April 8, 2024, Updated: April 26, 2024

Best Microsoft Teams Apps

Best Microsoft Teams Apps In the world of multi-channel productivity software, Microsoft Teams reigns supreme. Built for businesses of all sizes operating in any industry, the platform has proven itself to be much more than your typical group messaging application. Its integration with more than 600 apps makes Microsoft Teams one of the most versatile collaboration platforms on the market, helping you stay connected and engaged. In this guide, we’ll run through some of the best Microsoft Teams apps designed to supercharge your user experience and keep you and your team happy, focused, and productive. Polly First up is Polly—an app that allows you to create surveys directly inside your Microsoft Teams channels, giving members a quick and easy way to vote on specific questions. All you have to do is provide the questions and answers, and Polly will perform the vote-counting analytics in real-time. Despite its unassuming interface, Polly has plenty of advanced offerings, particularly when it comes to running polls. Among an array of other features, Polly lets you schedule polls and ask single, multiple-choice, and agree/disagree questions. There’s also the option to postpone results, display or hide results, and allow your audience to respond anonymously Trello From big picture projects to last-minute details, Trello is a project management software that keeps track of all of it. The Trello board is made up of lists, and within each list are cards that allow you to add comments, upload files, create labels, and add due dates. This is somewhat of a departure from other similar tools as it takes a more visual approach to task management. As one of the best apps for Microsoft Teams, the Trello integration makes it easy to view assignments and facilitate discussions between team members. Its intuitive design also enables users to organize and prioritize projects in a way that works best for their team. MindMeister If you have an idea in need of development, you might want to consider using a mind map. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept, a mind map is a diagram built for visualizing and organizing information that maps out the relationships between different pieces of content. With MindMeister for Microsoft Teams, you can bring this content to life in a collaborative way, allowing multiple contributors to make additions and edits to the mind map. Additional features include turning mind maps into dynamic presentations, commenting and voting on topics, and adding visual elements to map topics. Salesforce What once started as a SaaS company has grown into the 5th-largest enterprise application software company in the world. Founded in 1999, Salesforce specializes in customer relationship management and is now used by more than 150,000 organizations worldwide. The Microsoft Teams Connector for Salesforce keeps your team up-to-speed by delivering relevant content from services you’re already using directly into a channel. The Salesforce Connector sends regular updates about activities in the Salesforce account you want to track. With teamwork continuing to be a driving force in the workplace, the integration between Salesforce and Microsoft Teams will boost productivity and efficiency. Adobe Creative Cloud Adobe Creative Cloud is a set of 20+ apps and services that give subscribers access to a variety of software used for web development, video editing, graphic design, photography, and more. Instead of purchasing each app one at a time, this option allows users to pay a monthly subscription fee depending on which ones they’re using. Together, Adobe Creative Cloud and Microsoft Teams combine creative work and teamwork. With the Creative Cloud app for Microsoft Teams, graphic designers can easily share their work, receive feedback, and stay in-the-know regarding the latest actions taken on their assets. Google Analytics If you run a website, blog, or any other type of internet property, chances are you’ve already used Google Analytics to monitor traffic, review page views, and look into user demographics. By connecting Google Analytics to Microsoft Teams, you can receive updates directly in Microsoft Teams on your site’s traffic – and then collaborate around them, all within a single application. Aggregating data from different sources and accessing everything you need in one place; this opens up plenty of opportunities to take action and make powerful business decisions. Remember ThisRememberThis is one of the newer apps on this list, one that’s ideal for those who misplace content and have trouble keeping track of conversations. When used in tandem with Microsoft Teams, RememberThis allows you to set custom reminders on your most important chats. Sometimes, we create channel threads only to attempt to refer to them later without being able to find anything. They may have been accidentally deleted or buried underneath newer chat threads.RememberThis helps prevent those discussions from disappearing in the stream of new content. By setting time-based reminders, RememberThis will add a reply to the conversation, so it pops back up into your activity feed. You’ll never have to worry about forgetting again and can therefore, focus your efforts on other aspects of your business. MURAL Launched in 2018, MURAL is a leading visual collaboration tool that utilizes agile and design thinking methods to improve the way people work together. This digital workspace integrates seamlessly into your Microsoft Teams workspace when you add a custom tab, notification bot, and messaging extension. If you receive an invitation to MURAL or someone has @ mentioned you, the bot will inform you via a private message. If the conversation requires additional visual collaboration, just find and share a template right there and then using the MURAL messaging extension.Using any device and any browser, even distributed teams can work together more efficiently by having all their favorite digital whiteboard tools in one place. Givitas It’s no secret that loyalty and engagement contribute to a positive working environment. Givitas is a software solution that operates under the idea that “no question is a bad question” and seeks to make employees comfortable asking for help. The integration with Microsoft Teams ensures that users have access to a wealth of resources, advice, and connections. Not only does it encourage sharing and collaboration across silos, but Givitas also provides analytics and metrics detailing usage and benefits. When knowledge-sharing is made simple, more people are likely to find the correct answer, solve their problems, and better retain everything they learned. Jell Part collaboration app and part project management tool, Jell is essentially a goal-tracking platform where teams can share daily plans, accomplishments, and challenges from one central place. Jell brings structured communication to Microsoft Teams through daily standups, as well as customizable team check-ins and flexible reminders. The daily standups in Jell can be used to keep track of what your teams are working on, without having to spend time in unnecessary meetings. While Jell offers several pre-made templates, you also have the option of completely customizing your check-ins for management updates, one-on-one sessions, and more. You can even set up reminders to reflect your team’s schedule. Jell makes it simple to optimize reminders for teams that may work across multiple time zones too. Bonus Apps While we’ve barely scratched the surface with our list of top paid apps, check out some of the Microsoft Teams best free apps we’ve listed below. Wiki Aside from using main channels, threads, and chats, Wiki offers users an alternative way to communicate in Microsoft Teams. While most immediately think of “Wikipedia” when they hear the term “Wiki,” this software actually allows companies to share and record information online. You have the option to add a Wiki as a tab directly to your channel, add pages to Wikis categorized by topic, and collaborate within Wikis using @ mentions. Use the app as your own dedicated workspace to keep notes or and keep all your information in one place. Wiki definitely comes in handy for FAQs. Cisco Webex The modern business uses more than one messaging app, as they often have trouble finding just one that can fulfill their specific needs. However, with Microsoft Teams, you don’t have to choose between two different apps, especially if you love the functionality of both. The Cisco Webex Meetings bot combines the functionality of Microsoft Teams and Cisco WebEx Meeting so that you can easily schedule, start, and join meetings without switching from app to app. You can even share content created in Microsoft apps in the Cisco Webex app and send links from Webex into Microsoft Teams. Final Thoughts There you have it—the best Microsoft Teams apps around. This is by no means a comprehensive list of every integration worth looking into. There’s plenty more to explore if you want to maximize your team’s efficiency. Productivity is especially important where collaborating remotely is essential. NextPlane enables Microsoft Teams users to connect with their colleagues that are on different collaboration and messaging tools. They can communicate with them, inside or outside their company, through messages with rich text and emoji reactions, sharing presence status, inviting and participating in channels, and sharing files. Plus, NextPlane connects over 750,000 enterprise users every day from thousands of Global 5000 companies. That means interoperability won’t be an issue.

Microsoft Teams

Published: February 15, 2024, Updated: April 9, 2024

ITEXPO Exhibitor NextPlane Connects UCaaS, CX with Microsoft Teams and Generative AI for Frictionless Interactions

Gone are the days of isolated teams and clunky communication channels because seamless communication across platforms have become the lifeblood of collaboration, innovation and success. But why is this so critical? The answer lies in the fabric of how we work today. Businesses are dynamic ecosystems teeming with diverse teams, often scattered across different time zones and continents. Global partnerships, remote workforces and the often-changing tech landscapes demand agility and adaptability. Information needs to flow freely, regardless of the platform it's housed on. Of course, achieving this communication promised land isn't magic. It requires a strategic approach, often involving adopting unified communication platforms, like NextPlane, a prominent figure when it comes to interoperability solutions for businesses that need to connect users on different collaboration platforms. NextPlane bridges the gap between popular options like Microsoft Teams, Slack and Zoom, which allows for effortless communication and streamlined workflows regardless of chosen software. In another step to break down communication silos, NextPlane announced an expansion that broadens its offerings to seamlessly integrate UCaaS and CX platforms, particularly with Microsoft Teams. The expansion also marks a foray into generative AI LLM services. Through this integration, UCaaS and CX platforms can effortlessly connect to Teams, which extends their PBX functionalities and provides customers with AI-powered features for an enhanced user experience. These new capabilities allow users to leverage features like AI-powered transcriptions, smart summaries and automated follow-up action items. Highlights of the new features include intelligent meeting summaries, which facilitate asynchronous information sharing and action-oriented follow-ups by suggesting next steps and summarizing key points. Then, there are enhanced meeting transcriptions that distinguish between speakers and suggest actionable insights, reducing the need for redundant and time-consuming tasks like manual note-taking as well as improved tracking that lets users directly link meeting artifacts to CRMs like Salesforce for centralized access, tracking and reporting. “The recent AI enhancements to the NextPlane platform and services epitomize our goal of delivering superior experiences for both employees and customers,” said Melissa Abramson, chief revenue officer at NextPlane. “We are dedicated to developing and introducing features that bring significant value to our customers, demonstrating our deep commitment to their success and satisfaction.” The expansion follows previous moves NextPlane made to start 2024. For example, NextPlane introduced key innovations to bridge communication gaps in January. The flagship release, the NextPlane Phone App for Microsoft Teams, enables PSTN calling directly within Teams, eliminating the need for additional licenses or software. NextPlane also launched OpenCall, which integrates existing UCaaS platforms with Teams. This feature allows users to make and receive calls in Teams while utilizing their UCaaS features. As for providers can map Teams users to SIP extensions, offering full control and automation. The built-in Teams app unlocks seamless integrations with other Microsoft 365 applications. Then, NextPlane's OpenAxys integrates UCaaS/CX platforms with advanced LLMs like ChatGPT and Bard. This simplifies access to AI capabilities, which opens the door for service differentiation and potential revenue growth for providers. “Our ongoing commitment to AI-driven advancements is fueled by our dedication to equipping organizations with the technology and solutions that enhance customer engagement, communication and collaboration,” said Abramson. Offering innovative solutions like OpenCall and OpenAxys allows NextPlane to not just bridge the gap between different communication platforms but also elevate the user experience with advanced AI capabilities. This recent expansion further solidifies that bridge. Source: tmcnet.com Author: Greg TavarezGreg is a writer for TMC's family of digital properties, covering a broad range of business technologies. He brings more than 8 years of content writing and editing experience to TMC, having spent time as content producer and editor with USA Today Network and GateHouse Media. Greg earned his Bachelor of Arts in Journalism degree from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.

AIMicrosoft Teams
Intracompany Federation – Connecting Avaya IX Workplace and Microsoft Teams

Published: September 3, 2020, Updated: March 19, 2024

Integrating Avaya IX Workplace and Microsoft Teams For Intracompany Collaboration

Over the past few months, an unprecedented shift has rocked the business world — remote work. Voice is no longer the only way, or even the preferred way, to stay in touch with customers and colleagues. Instead, video, content sharing, and instant messaging are fundamental activities now. Just as importantly, employees now expect more than only desktop communications. They want a seamless communications experience that helps them stay in touch on their device of choice as they move throughout their day. According to a recent survey conducted by NextPlane, 79% of IT professionals stated that their companies are operating in a mixed collaboration environment, which can include Avaya IX Workplace and Microsoft Teams. We are excited to announce supporting Avaya IX Workplace. With Avaya IX Workplace, Avaya embeds communications directly into the applications, browsers, and mobile devices your employees use every day to create a single, powerful gateway for calling, messaging, meetings, and team collaboration. As a result, end-users are freed from their desktop and have a more natural and efficient way to connect, communicate, and share — when, where, and how they want. Avaya IX Workplace Infrastructure Avaya IX Workplace works tightly with the Avaya desk phones. It also provides apps for Apple IOS and Android devices. Features include key telephony features supported by Avaya Aura, voice & video, rich conferencing, instant messaging, Presence, corporate directory access. Avaya IX Workplace User Interface NextPlane views actual Presence states as the foundation for any real-time collaboration across messaging platforms. By supporting Avaya IX Workplace, NextPlane allows Microsoft Teams to see their co-works' phone status, such as on the call, or in a conference call. Users can also send messages. NextPlane ConverseCloud Overview NextPlane ConverseCloud acts as a universal federation and interoperability hub between Avaya IX Workspace, Avaya Aura Presence Service, and Microsoft Teams. NextPlane ConverseCloud enables users to exchange messages with rich text and emoji reactions, add external contacts, share Presence status, participate in channels, and share files. As a universal hub, NextPlane ConverseCloud performs a transformation of XMPP, SIP, and API-based protocols, as well as the conversion between different formats of encapsulated text messages for platforms. ConverseCloud by NextPlane For IM translations, NextPlane ConverseCloud takes into account each vendor's support for plain text, rich text, and other embedded content. For Presence, translations require handling competing standards for the format of Presence information (often called a Presence Document). NextPlane ConverseCloud also performs conversion to and from all of the UC vendor's supported Presence Document formats, including standard formats such as PIDF, XPIDF, and XCAP, as well as proprietary formats such as Microsoft Enhanced Presence. Also, NextPlane ConverseCloud performs semantic translation for Presence states within a Presence Document. NextPlane ConverseCloud uses equivalence-based mapping to map specific Presence states on different platforms when there is no one-to-one correspondence. After ConverseCloud terminates and decapsulates the message from each platform, ConverseCloud determines the routing destinations and reassembles each message based on what is expected by the target UC or TC platform of the message. For most federations, ConverseCloud routes the messages based on the domain of the destination address. ConverseCloud uses TLS (transport layer security) for all SIP and XMPP signaling, as well as for API-based communication between federating our supported UC and TC platforms. Avaya IX WorkPlace and Microsoft Teams Intracompany Federation NextPlane uses apps to act as proxies for Avaya IX Workplace users on Microsoft Teams. NextPlane generates them in the NextPlane's Microsoft account. The NextPlane Microsoft Teams bots act as proxies for Avaya users and provide NextPlane ConverseCloud with the ability to exchange messages through the Microsoft Teams Channel. The NextPlane Apps are not executable code. They are registrations of NextPlane ConverseCloud within Microsoft Teams infrastructures. These registrations provide NextPlane ConverseCloud with access tokens to call the Microsoft Teams API methods and listen to events on behalf of the NextPlane. Avaya IX Workplace to Microsoft Teams Integration through NextPlane ConverseCloud On the Avaya side, NextPlane uses the Avaya Aura Presence Service XMPP Interface to exchange chat and Rich-Presence Information between IX Workplace Client and Microsoft Teams.

AvayaConverseCloudMicrosoft Teams

Published: August 12, 2020, Updated: June 25, 2024

Microsoft Teams vs Cisco Webex: Which Collaboration Platform is Best for Your Business?

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically accelerated the shift to remote work and virtual collaboration. Even as offices reopen, it's clear that distributed teams and hybrid work models are here to stay. Organizations need a robust, unified communications platform to enable seamless communication and productivity. Two of the leading solutions in this space are Microsoft Teams and Cisco Webex. Both offer a comprehensive set of features for messaging, video meetings, calling, file sharing, and app integrations. But which one is the best fit for your company's specific needs and IT environment? In this in-depth comparison, we'll examine the key similarities and differences between Teams and Webex to help you make an informed decision. User Interface and Ease of Use Microsoft Teams, with its modern and intuitive interface, offers a reassuring familiarity to users of other Microsoft 365 apps. The clean and customizable layout, with teams and channels on the left, conversation threads in the center, and a versatile right sidebar for your calendar, files, apps, and more, underscores its adaptability. Features like message threading, announcements, channel moderation, and the ability to 'like' or save messages for later, ensure you can effortlessly stay on top of team communications. Webex, with its channel-based messaging interface, offers a comprehensive solution. While it may appear slightly more cluttered compared to Teams, it provides a wealth of functionality at your fingertips. Features like spaces, teams, messaging, calling, whiteboarding, and apps, all accessible from a single window, emphasize the convenience it brings to your collaboration needs. Although the navigation and UI may not be as refined and user-friendly as Teams, it still offers a robust platform for your business. Messaging and Collaboration Features At their core, Teams and Webex excel as persistent group chat and collaboration tools. They offer users the ability to communicate via public channels organized by project, department, or topic, as well as private chats and group messages. The threaded conversations feature in both platforms is a testament to their ability to keep things organized, helping to streamline communication within your organization. Robust messaging features like at-mentions, emojis, GIFs, polls, announcements, search, and the ability to edit/delete messages are available in both. Users can also share files directly in channels and chats. Some advantages of Teams in the messaging arena include its handy built-in wiki for each channel, superior search across chats and channels, and tighter integration with Microsoft 365 apps for in-line document collaboration. Webex does offer unique options, though, like built-in real-time language translation. Both support company-wide communication via org-wide teams/spaces. For fun, Teams has its Praise app for recognizing coworkers, while Webex lets you assign virtual "badges" to teammates. Edge: Slight edge to Microsoft Teams for its wiki, search, and Microsoft 365 integration. But core messaging features are very comparable. Video Meetings and Calling With video now the default for meetings, both platforms provide a full-featured solution for video conferencing. Participants can join meetings from the Teams or Webex app, a web browser, or by dialing in from any phone. Common features include: HD video and audio Screen sharing and remote control Virtual backgrounds and background blur Meeting chat, Q&A, and polling  Whiteboarding and annotation Meeting recording and transcription Webinar and live event hosting for large audiences Teams has a slight edge in terms of meeting scalability, supporting interactive meetings with up to 1,000 participants and view-only live events up to 20,000. Webex has a 1,000-attendee limit for both meetings and events. Webex allows users to join meetings as "guests" without needing to download an app or have an account, which Teams doesn't support natively. Webex also has some nice touches, like automatic real-time transcription and gestures/reactions in meetings. Both platforms support VoIP and PSTN calling with full PBX functionality - voicemail, call forwarding, auto attendants, etc. Teams Phone System requires using Microsoft as your telephony carrier (or direct routing to a 3rd party), while Webex Calling provides more flexibility to keep your current carrier. Both offer a cloud contact center solution as an add-on. Edge: Toss-up - Teams has an edge for large broadcasts, while Webex has advantages like join-as-guest. But you'll get a great video meeting experience either way. App Integrations and Extensibility To boost productivity, Teams and Webex both offer a wide selection of third-party app integrations. These allow you to bring external tools, bots, and content to your workspace. Popular apps for project management (Asana, Trello), customer support (Zendesk), development (GitHub, Jira), polling (Polly), recognition (Karma), and many more categories are available. As a Microsoft product, Teams is natively integrated with Microsoft 365 apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, SharePoint, Planner, and Power BI. Access to OneDrive cloud storage is built right into Teams, allowing seamless co-authoring of Office docs within the Teams environment. Microsoft 365 customers can access these tools at no extra cost. Webex has partnered with Google to offer native integrations with Gmail, Drive, Calendar, and other Google Workspace apps. Of course, Microsoft tools can also be added to Webex, but the experience isn't as seamless as Teams'. Both platforms support custom development of apps, bots, tabs, and integrations using their respective APIs and SDKs. However, Teams benefits from a much larger community of Microsoft developers. Edge: Microsoft Teams has the advantage in terms of Microsoft 365 integration, larger app ecosystem, and extensibility. However, both platforms cover key needs related to file sharing, calendaring, task management, etc. Security and Compliance Teams and Webex employ end-to-end encryption, multi-factor authentication, and tools for host-moderated meetings to keep your conversations private and secure. For enterprise customers, Microsoft 365 Compliance Center enables a comprehensive set of information governance tools, including eDiscovery, auditing, data loss prevention, information barriers, retention policies, and legal hold for Teams data. These features help organizations in regulated industries or with strict data protection needs to maintain compliance. Cisco also provides end-to-end encryption options for Webex data in transit and at rest, as well as eDiscovery, DLP, legal hold, and other compliance features via its Cloudlock and Stealthwatch security platforms. However, reviews have found that Webex falls a bit short of Teams when it comes to advanced information governance needs. Edge: Both are enterprise-grade secure, but Teams compliance features are more mature and tightly integrated with Microsoft 365. Deployment and IT Management For Microsoft 365 customers, Teams is automatically provisioned for all users as part of the integrated office suite. IT can manage Teams settings, policies, and security options via the Microsoft 365 admin center. Active Directory integration enables single sign-on and synchronization of users/groups. No extra infrastructure is required since it's a fully cloud-based service. Webex can also be provisioned from the cloud, with the Control Hub providing a centralized management experience like the Microsoft 365 admin portal. However, some telephony and meeting room device integration may require on-premises Cisco infrastructure. Webex also offers hybrid and on-prem deployment models for organizations that require some local infrastructure. Edge: Both deployments are straightforward, but Teams wins due to its turnkey setup and unified management as part of Microsoft 365. If you're already a Microsoft shop, Teams is the logical choice. Analytics and Administrative Tools Webex Access historical and real-time KPIs, reports, and interactive data visualizations about engagement, participants, and performance quality. The Engagement tab displays graphs of each channel’s usage over time, comparisons of channel usage rates, and total numbers and minutes of all meeting types. The Participants tab shows the number of participants in each meeting, meeting lengths, each participant’s role, apps used, and more. Microsoft Teams In addition to managing channel and participant settings, access the following real-time and historical reports, dashboards, and analytics: Usage reports: Active users, active channels, messages sent. User activity reports: Each user’s messages, number of meetings, calls participated, and last activity date. Call quality dashboards: Organization-wide call and meeting quality, with reliability reports and user survey ratings, charted over time in graphs. Pricing and Packaging Microsoft Teams has a compelling price point since it is included at no additional cost with Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Business Standard, E3, and E5 subscriptions. For companies already subscribing to Microsoft 365, Teams is essentially free. A standalone "freemium" version of Teams is also available at no cost for up to 300 users but lacks admin tools, scheduled meetings, phone/audio conferencing, and limited storage. Webex also has a free tier that's surprisingly full-featured, supporting up to 100 participants, 1-50-minute meetings (24 hours during the pandemic), 5GB of storage, and limited admin controls. Paid plans start at $13.50/user/month for Meet (meetings only) and $25/user/month for the full-featured Suite. Discounts are available for volume licensing. Calling plans that enable PSTN connectivity are an extra charge for both - starting around $8/user/month but varying based on minute consumption. For Teams, you must use Microsoft 365 Business Voice or Phone System licenses. Webex Calling is priced similarly. So, while Teams and Webex have similar stand-alone pricing, Teams is clearly the better deal for Microsoft 365 subscribers. Cisco does not have a directly comparable office productivity suite licensing model. Edge: Pricing is similar, but the Teams/Microsoft 365 bundle offers much greater bang for the buck compared to Webex alone or Webex+Office 365. Freemium plans are generous on both. Extending Collaboration with NextPlane OpenHub While both Teams and Webex offer extensive collaboration capabilities within their respective platforms, many organizations face the challenge of enabling seamless communication with external partners, clients, or teams who may use different tools. This is where NextPlane OpenHub comes in. OpenHub is a groundbreaking solution that enables cross-platform collaboration between Microsoft Teams and Webex users, as well as other popular platforms like Slack and Zoom. With OpenHub, teams can effortlessly connect and communicate with users on other collaboration platforms, breaking down silos and allowing for smooth interoperability. By leveraging OpenHub, Teams users can collaborate with external stakeholders without the need to switch between multiple apps or manage separate accounts. OpenHub's advanced features include: Universal Channels: Create channels that span multiple platforms, allowing users from different tools to participate in the same conversation seamlessly. Direct Messaging: Enable private 1:1 or group chats between users on different platforms, fostering secure and efficient communication. File Sharing: Share files and documents across platforms, ensuring everyone has access to the information they need, regardless of the tool they use. Presence Synchronization: View the real-time availability status of users across platforms, facilitating easier and more effective collaboration. Centralized Administration: Manage all external collaboration from a single interface, simplifying governance, security, and compliance. By integrating OpenHub with Microsoft Teams, organizations can maximize the potential of their collaboration platform, fostering a more connected, efficient, and productive workforce. This is particularly valuable in today's multi-platform collaboration landscape, where businesses need to work with a wide range of partners, clients, and stakeholders who may have different tool preferences. With OpenHub, Teams users can seamlessly collaborate with Webex users and vice versa, ensuring no one is left out of the conversation. This integration breaks down barriers and enables organizations to make the most of their investment in collaboration technology, regardless of the platforms their external partners use. FeatureCisco WebexMicrosoft TeamsClientMobile (Android & iOS)Web applicationDesktop appMobile (Android & iOS)Web applicationDesktop (Mac, Linux, and Windows)Meeting formatAudio & VideoAudio & VideoFile, screen, and app sharing App sharingDesktop sharingGive/take control when sharingShare system audioDocument co-authoringVirtual whiteboardingApp sharingDesktop sharing Share system audioVirtual whiteboarding Video ConferencingOne-click video meetingBackground blurVirtual backgroundsVirtual hand raising One-click video meetingBackground blurVirtual background replacement Meeting ControlsLobby (waiting room)Mute other participants or selfDial in or out from a phoneIntegrate with calendar Lobby (waiting room)Mute other participants or selfDial in or out from a phoneIntegrate with calendarSecurity, administration, and reporting Encryption for all conversationsReporting and analytics toolsMonitoring and alerting featuresAdmin controlsDevice management portalEncryption for all conversationsReporting and analytics toolsMonitoring and alerting featuresAdmin controlsDevice management portalCustomer supportLive chatEmail supportLive chatEmail supportTelephonyCloud calling through Webex and UCM.Native endpoints and hardwareMicrosoft calling planDirect routing servicesEndpoint partnershipsExternal contactsCan meet with Skype for Business users, Jabber, and other Webex users through NextPlane OpenHub.  Can meet with Skype for Business users and other Microsoft Teams users through NextPlane OpenHub.Free versionYes Yes Conclusion In the battle of Microsoft Teams vs Cisco Webex, both platforms offer robust collaboration capabilities that can help organizations boost productivity and enable remote work. While Teams has an edge in terms of user experience, Microsoft 365 integration, and cost-effectiveness, Webex remains a strong choice for organizations invested in Cisco infrastructure. However, the real game-changer is OpenHub, which enables seamless cross-platform collaboration between Teams, Webex, and other popular tools. By leveraging OpenHub, organizations can break down silos, facilitate external collaboration, and maximize the value of their collaboration investments. Ultimately, the choice between Teams and Webex depends on your organization's specific needs and existing IT ecosystem. But with NextPlane OpenHub, you can ensure that whichever platform you choose, your teams can collaborate effectively with partners and clients on any platform. In today's interconnected business landscape, that kind of flexibility and interoperability is essential for success. table tr td, table tr th { border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 10px; } table tr td p, table tr th p { margin: 0 !important; } table tr:nth-child(1) { background-color: rgb(69, 116, 196); color: white; text-align: center; } table tr:nth-child(even) { background-color: rgb(216, 225, 242); } table tbody tr:not(:first-child) td:first-child { font-weight: bold; }

Cisco Webex TeamsMicrosoft Teams

Team's Choice

Best Microsoft Teams Apps

Best Microsoft Teams Apps In the world of multi-channel productivity software, Microsoft Teams reigns supreme. Built for businesses of all sizes operating in any industry, the platform has proven itself to be much more than your typical group messaging application. Its integration with more than 600 apps makes Microsoft Teams one of the most versatile collaboration platforms on the market, helping you stay connected and engaged. In this guide, we’ll run through some of the best Microsoft Teams apps designed to supercharge your user experience and keep you and your team happy, focused, and productive. Polly First up is Polly—an app that allows you to create surveys directly inside your Microsoft Teams channels, giving members a quick and easy way to vote on specific questions. All you have to do is provide the questions and answers, and Polly will perform the vote-counting analytics in real-time. Despite its unassuming interface, Polly has plenty of advanced offerings, particularly when it comes to running polls. Among an array of other features, Polly lets you schedule polls and ask single, multiple-choice, and agree/disagree questions. There’s also the option to postpone results, display or hide results, and allow your audience to respond anonymously Trello From big picture projects to last-minute details, Trello is a project management software that keeps track of all of it. The Trello board is made up of lists, and within each list are cards that allow you to add comments, upload files, create labels, and add due dates. This is somewhat of a departure from other similar tools as it takes a more visual approach to task management. As one of the best apps for Microsoft Teams, the Trello integration makes it easy to view assignments and facilitate discussions between team members. Its intuitive design also enables users to organize and prioritize projects in a way that works best for their team. MindMeister If you have an idea in need of development, you might want to consider using a mind map. If you’re unfamiliar with the concept, a mind map is a diagram built for visualizing and organizing information that maps out the relationships between different pieces of content. With MindMeister for Microsoft Teams, you can bring this content to life in a collaborative way, allowing multiple contributors to make additions and edits to the mind map. Additional features include turning mind maps into dynamic presentations, commenting and voting on topics, and adding visual elements to map topics. Salesforce What once started as a SaaS company has grown into the 5th-largest enterprise application software company in the world. Founded in 1999, Salesforce specializes in customer relationship management and is now used by more than 150,000 organizations worldwide. The Microsoft Teams Connector for Salesforce keeps your team up-to-speed by delivering relevant content from services you’re already using directly into a channel. The Salesforce Connector sends regular updates about activities in the Salesforce account you want to track. With teamwork continuing to be a driving force in the workplace, the integration between Salesforce and Microsoft Teams will boost productivity and efficiency. Adobe Creative Cloud Adobe Creative Cloud is a set of 20+ apps and services that give subscribers access to a variety of software used for web development, video editing, graphic design, photography, and more. Instead of purchasing each app one at a time, this option allows users to pay a monthly subscription fee depending on which ones they’re using. Together, Adobe Creative Cloud and Microsoft Teams combine creative work and teamwork. With the Creative Cloud app for Microsoft Teams, graphic designers can easily share their work, receive feedback, and stay in-the-know regarding the latest actions taken on their assets. Google Analytics If you run a website, blog, or any other type of internet property, chances are you’ve already used Google Analytics to monitor traffic, review page views, and look into user demographics. By connecting Google Analytics to Microsoft Teams, you can receive updates directly in Microsoft Teams on your site’s traffic – and then collaborate around them, all within a single application. Aggregating data from different sources and accessing everything you need in one place; this opens up plenty of opportunities to take action and make powerful business decisions. Remember ThisRememberThis is one of the newer apps on this list, one that’s ideal for those who misplace content and have trouble keeping track of conversations. When used in tandem with Microsoft Teams, RememberThis allows you to set custom reminders on your most important chats. Sometimes, we create channel threads only to attempt to refer to them later without being able to find anything. They may have been accidentally deleted or buried underneath newer chat threads.RememberThis helps prevent those discussions from disappearing in the stream of new content. By setting time-based reminders, RememberThis will add a reply to the conversation, so it pops back up into your activity feed. You’ll never have to worry about forgetting again and can therefore, focus your efforts on other aspects of your business. MURAL Launched in 2018, MURAL is a leading visual collaboration tool that utilizes agile and design thinking methods to improve the way people work together. This digital workspace integrates seamlessly into your Microsoft Teams workspace when you add a custom tab, notification bot, and messaging extension. If you receive an invitation to MURAL or someone has @ mentioned you, the bot will inform you via a private message. If the conversation requires additional visual collaboration, just find and share a template right there and then using the MURAL messaging extension.Using any device and any browser, even distributed teams can work together more efficiently by having all their favorite digital whiteboard tools in one place. Givitas It’s no secret that loyalty and engagement contribute to a positive working environment. Givitas is a software solution that operates under the idea that “no question is a bad question” and seeks to make employees comfortable asking for help. The integration with Microsoft Teams ensures that users have access to a wealth of resources, advice, and connections. Not only does it encourage sharing and collaboration across silos, but Givitas also provides analytics and metrics detailing usage and benefits. When knowledge-sharing is made simple, more people are likely to find the correct answer, solve their problems, and better retain everything they learned. Jell Part collaboration app and part project management tool, Jell is essentially a goal-tracking platform where teams can share daily plans, accomplishments, and challenges from one central place. Jell brings structured communication to Microsoft Teams through daily standups, as well as customizable team check-ins and flexible reminders. The daily standups in Jell can be used to keep track of what your teams are working on, without having to spend time in unnecessary meetings. While Jell offers several pre-made templates, you also have the option of completely customizing your check-ins for management updates, one-on-one sessions, and more. You can even set up reminders to reflect your team’s schedule. Jell makes it simple to optimize reminders for teams that may work across multiple time zones too. Bonus Apps While we’ve barely scratched the surface with our list of top paid apps, check out some of the Microsoft Teams best free apps we’ve listed below. Wiki Aside from using main channels, threads, and chats, Wiki offers users an alternative way to communicate in Microsoft Teams. While most immediately think of “Wikipedia” when they hear the term “Wiki,” this software actually allows companies to share and record information online. You have the option to add a Wiki as a tab directly to your channel, add pages to Wikis categorized by topic, and collaborate within Wikis using @ mentions. Use the app as your own dedicated workspace to keep notes or and keep all your information in one place. Wiki definitely comes in handy for FAQs. Cisco Webex The modern business uses more than one messaging app, as they often have trouble finding just one that can fulfill their specific needs. However, with Microsoft Teams, you don’t have to choose between two different apps, especially if you love the functionality of both. The Cisco Webex Meetings bot combines the functionality of Microsoft Teams and Cisco WebEx Meeting so that you can easily schedule, start, and join meetings without switching from app to app. You can even share content created in Microsoft apps in the Cisco Webex app and send links from Webex into Microsoft Teams. Final Thoughts There you have it—the best Microsoft Teams apps around. This is by no means a comprehensive list of every integration worth looking into. There’s plenty more to explore if you want to maximize your team’s efficiency. Productivity is especially important where collaborating remotely is essential. NextPlane enables Microsoft Teams users to connect with their colleagues that are on different collaboration and messaging tools. They can communicate with them, inside or outside their company, through messages with rich text and emoji reactions, sharing presence status, inviting and participating in channels, and sharing files. Plus, NextPlane connects over 750,000 enterprise users every day from thousands of Global 5000 companies. That means interoperability won’t be an issue.

Microsoft Teams

NextPlane announced two new offerings- OpenCall and OpenAxys

NextPlane, a leading provider of interoperability and federation services for collaboration solutions, today announced a set of new software offerings – OpenCall and OpenAxys – that enable next-gen AI capabilities into Microsoft Teams PSTN calling with Unified Communications (UCaaS) and call center (CX) platforms while seamlessly empowering a suite of new capabilities leveraging large language models (LLMs). OpenCall seamlessly integrates any Unified Communications (UC) platform, PBX, or SIP Trunk provider with Microsoft Teams, allowing users to effortlessly make calls and display their presence status directly within Teams while utilizing their current SBC, PBX, and SIP Trunk setup.  OpenAxys provides a host of new capabilities by seamlessly integrating UC & contact center (CX) platforms with AI tools and LLMs such as Open AI, Meta Llama 2, Google Bard, and many more. “Our new research on voice platform migration shows almost half of U.S. businesses are still using legacy voice systems, and at the same time, a growing number are embracing cloud-based communications platforms like Teams or Slack for communication and collaboration,” said Matt Davis, analyst at Independent Research an analyst firm focused on the telecom.  “Innovative solutions like NextPlane’s that are designed to allow these presence and messaging technologies to talk to one another will increase in importance as cloud-based collaboration grows.” “OpenCall and OpenAxys enable all service providers the ability to quickly and seamlessly deliver differentiated services to their subscribers,” said Farzin Shahidi, Founder and CEO of NextPlane. “Regardless of their UCaaS or CX platform, the CSPs can quickly offer new functional benefits to their subscribers by seamlessly integrating Teams or other presence and messaging platforms while also leveraging large language models to streamline operational models further and save time and money.” More on OpenCall OpenCall seamlessly integrates any Unified Communications (UC) platform, PBX, or SIP Trunk provider with Microsoft Teams, allowing users to effortlessly make calls and display their status presence directly within Teams while utilizing their current SBC, PBX, and SIP Trunk setup.  NextPlane enables subscribers to upgrade their Microsoft Teams calls with an advanced AI companion that transcribes and analyzes voice and video calls. Powered by sophisticated LLMs, OpenCall transforms transcripts of video and audio calls into detailed summaries, capturing action items, key decisions, and sentiment analysis, all aimed at significantly enhancing your productivity.  NextPlane serves as a dynamic interoperability layer, future-proofing integration with the Microsoft Graph API or SIP Gateway. This ensures effortless communication with any SBC, PBX, or SIP Trunk. Like an adept navigator, this layer skillfully maneuvers through Microsoft’s evolving landscape, ensuring stability and reliability. It provides a robust management interface and API, ideal for both current configurations and future resale opportunities. More on OpenAxys NextPlane’s OpenAxys offers seamless integration of communication platforms with major LMMs and AI tools. NextPlane’s innovative approach elevates real-time teamwork and guarantees full access to the advanced functionalities of a subscriber’s preferred AI tools within UC and CX platforms.  It automates summaries for all customer interactions, voice and digital by leveraging generative AI and integrating industry-specific AI models with LLMs and boosts efficiency, cuts costs, and improves agent performance. This latest feature enhances CX platforms by matching consumers with agents using sentiment analysis for personalized interactions.  NextPlane OpenAxys functions as an abstraction layer, bridging the gap between UC platforms, custom applications, AI tools, and LLMs. This unique setup allows for seamless communication and integration across these different technologies. It simplifies the complexities involved in connecting custom apps and advanced AI capabilities with communication solutions, offering users a streamlined, efficient way to leverage the full potential of both their custom applications and state-of-the-art AI technologies within a unified environment.

ITEXPO Exhibitors NextPlane and TeamMate Technology Address Microsoft Teams Interoperability Challenges

Microsoft Teams is a staple when it comes to collaboration platforms. It enables efficient remote work, while robust security features ensure data protection. Customizable interface and third-party app integrations enhance workflow efficiency, making it an ideal solution for businesses to boost productivity. Despite the widespread adoption of Microsoft Teams as a communication and collaboration platform in many workplaces, interoperability remains a challenge. Teams users often find themselves restricted when attempting to communicate with users on other UCaaS and collaboration platforms. This lack of communication interoperability can hinder productivity and collaboration efforts, particularly in environments where multiple platforms are utilized or when collaborating with external partners or clients who may use different tools. One of the primary reasons for this limitation is the proprietary nature of Microsoft Teams and its closed ecosystem. While Teams offers integration with various Microsoft services and applications, it can be challenging to establish direct communication channels with users on competing platforms such as Slack, Zoom or Cisco (News - Alert) Webex. Interoperability issues also arise due to differences in protocols, security measures and feature sets between different UCaaS and collaboration platforms. Achieving communication between these platforms requires extensive technical integration efforts and standardization, which can be complex and time-consuming. Additionally, concerns about data privacy, security, and compliance further complicate efforts to establish interoperability between disparate systems. So how are these interoperability challenges addressed? There isn’t exactly the most clear-cut answer to that, but two organizations are keen on addressing them head-on: NextPlane, a provider of AI-enabled connectivity services, and Teammate Technology, a pioneer in advanced voice calling systems. “By partnering with NextPlane we intend to bridge this divide and set a new standard for Teams interoperability services,” said Eric Hernaez (News - Alert), CEO of TeamMate Technology. Hernaez will be among the panelists in an ITEXPO session titled “Attention UCaaS Providers: What's Your Teams Strategy?” TeamMate Technology, an ITEXPO exhibitor, helps organizations unlock the full potential of their existing communication platforms by getting the most out of Microsoft Teams. Their solution lets service providers craft custom, branded Teams applications that integrate call control, user portals, PBX (News - Alert) notifications and soft keys. This approach allows organizations to utilize both familiar communication tools and the modern features of Microsoft Teams. NextPlane, also an ITEXPO exhibitor, recently expanded its capabilities to intelligent interoperability between UCaaS and CX platforms with Microsoft Teams. The expansion also included integration with major generative AI large language model services to enable various UCaaS and CX platforms to offer GenAI features to their customers, The two, in collaboration, combined their strengths to improve user experience and productivity for Teams users. NextPlane and its interoperable collaboration solutions are set to be integrated with Teammate Technology's interoperability platform that enables UCaaS providers to easily integrate Microsoft Teams with their UCaaS service. NextPlane's robust presence technology combined with Teammate Technology's voice solutions means users can enjoy a seamless experience between Microsoft Teams and their existing UCaaS platforms. The partnership also allows UCaaS users to share presence and status, and exchange messages – which does include rich text and emoji reactions – with Microsoft Teams users and other collaboration services user, as if they were on the same platform. “This partnership is about bringing the best of both worlds to UCaaS providers,” said Farzin Shahidi, CEO of NextPlane, who is also set to be among the panelists in the same session with Hernaez. “With improved communication, businesses can expect a significant boost in productivity and collaboration, fostering a more dynamic and responsive work environment.” The long-story-short? The two companies plan to completely change how businesses communicate – it doesn't matter if internally or with their clients. Learn more from them at ITEXPO.

Microsoft Teams Tips & Tricks: Maximize Productivity with Essential Features & 2024 Updates

In the era of remote work and geographically dispersed teams, digital collaboration tools have become indispensable for businesses to thrive. Microsoft Teams has emerged as a powerhouse, empowering organizations to streamline communication, enhance teamwork, and boost productivity. As the world embraces new ways of working, Teams has continuously evolved, introducing features that cater to the ever-changing needs of modern workforces. The platform's evolution has been driven by a deep understanding of the challenges teams face today's fast-paced, digital landscape. From seamless integration with Office 365 to advanced video conferencing capabilities, Teams has become a central hub for teamwork, enabling users to easily collaborate, communicate, and manage projects. As we approach 2024, Microsoft Teams continues to push the boundaries, introducing groundbreaking updates that promise to revolutionize how we work. This guide delves into essential tips and the latest updates to help you leverage Microsoft Teams to its full potential. Streamlining Communication Effective communication is the cornerstone of productive teams, and Microsoft Teams offers a wealth of features to ensure seamless interactions. One of the most powerful tools is notification customization. By fine-tuning your notification settings, you can focus on the most critical communications without being overwhelmed by constant alerts. Customizing notifications based on priorities, channels, or specific individuals can significantly reduce distractions, allowing you to concentrate on the tasks at hand. Another game-changing feature is the use of @mentions. By mentioning specific team members in conversations, you can ensure that essential messages are noticed, fostering engagement and timely responses. However, it's essential to strike a balance and use @mentions judiciously to avoid notification overload. Microsoft Teams offers a comprehensive set of keyboard shortcuts for those seeking to maximize efficiency. From navigating between channels and threads to quick access to search and command boxes, these shortcuts can save precious time and streamline your workflow, allowing you to accomplish more in less time. Enhancing Collaboration Microsoft Teams' true power lies in its ability to facilitate seamless collaboration within teams and across organizations. One of the most significant advantages is the platform's deep integration with Office 365. This integration enables real-time co-authoring of documents, spreadsheets, and presentations, eliminating the need for constant file sharing and version control headaches. However, collaboration extends beyond document editing. Teams also offers robust file management capabilities through its integration with SharePoint. By leveraging SharePoint within Teams, users can effortlessly organize and access shared files, ensuring crucial information is always at their fingertips. Advanced file management features, such as version control, check-in/check-out functionality, and customizable metadata, empower teams to maintain order and efficiency in their document repositories. Another powerful collaboration tool within Teams is channels, which keep conversations organized by specific topics, projects, or departments. By strategically creating and managing channels, teams can segment conversations and projects, ensuring that relevant information is easily accessible to those who need it. Channel organization can be tailored to specific teams, projects, or workflows, fostering focused collaboration and reducing information overload. Threads in Microsoft Teams allow users to keep conversations organized and focused within a channel. Engage in threads by replying directly to a specific message to maintain topic coherence, distinguishing between when to start a new thread versus continuing an existing one. Utilize mentions judiciously to alert relevant team members without overcrowding their notifications. Manage and monitor important threads by pinning or saving messages, ensuring critical information is readily accessible. Adopting these practices ensures streamlined, focused communication, enhancing teamwork and productivity. Mastering online meetings in Microsoft Teams involves scheduling and joining meetings seamlessly, leveraging features like background blur and live captions for professionalism and accessibility, and engaging participants actively. Maintaining engagement is key, as well as using interactive elements such as polls and Q&A. Post-meeting, sharing recordings, and notes is essential for keeping all participants informed and ensuring continuity of discussions. This comprehensive approach ensures effective, inclusive, and productive online meetings, adapting to the rise of remote work. 2024 Updates and Features As we approach 2024, Microsoft Teams continues to push the boundaries of productivity with many exciting updates and features. One area that has seen significant enhancements is video meeting capabilities. Teams now offers expanded options for background customization, allowing users to project a professional and personalized image during virtual meetings. These features, from virtual backgrounds to blur effects, help maintain a polished appearance, even in less-than-ideal environments. Language barriers have historically been a challenge for global teams. Microsoft Teams is addressing this issue head-on with improved language translation features. With real-time translation capabilities, teams can communicate seamlessly, fostering inclusivity and ensuring that valuable insights are not lost in translation. Perhaps one of the most exciting developments in Teams is the introduction of AI-powered features. Meeting scheduling and summarization are now augmented by AI, streamlining the process of organizing meetings and capturing key insights. Additionally, AI-driven assistance can help teams stay on track during meetings, ensuring that discussions remain focused and productive. Cross-Platform Collaboration NextPlane OpenHub is a game-changing solution that enables seamless cross-platform collaboration for Microsoft Teams users. With OpenHub, teams can effortlessly connect and communicate with users on other collaboration platforms, such as Slack, Cisco Webex Teams, and Zoom. This integration breaks down silos and allows for smooth interoperability, ensuring that no one is left out of the conversation. NextPlane OpenHub's advanced features, such as universal channels, direct messaging, and file sharing, enable Teams users to collaborate with external partners, clients, and colleagues without the need to switch between multiple apps or manage separate accounts. By leveraging NextPlane OpenHub, organizations can maximize the potential of Microsoft Teams, fostering a more connected, efficient, and productive workforce in today's multi-platform collaboration landscape. Optimizing Your Teams Experience While Microsoft Teams offers a wealth of features out of the box, maximizing its potential often requires a proactive approach. Regularly reviewing and updating your Teams setup is crucial to ensure you take advantage of the latest features and optimize your experience. One area that warrants frequent attention is the integration of third-party apps. Teams offers a vast ecosystem of third-party integrations, ranging from project management tools to customer relationship management (CRM) systems. By carefully selecting and integrating the right apps, teams can streamline their workflows, centralize data, and enhance productivity. Additionally, engaging with the Microsoft Teams community can provide invaluable insights and best practices. From user forums to developer communities, these platforms offer a wealth of knowledge, enabling users to learn from experienced professionals, stay informed about upcoming features, and share their own MS Teams hacks. Advanced Tips for File Management and Sharing Effective file management and sharing are critical for maintaining order and productivity within collaborative environments. Microsoft Teams offers a range of advanced features to streamline these processes. Implementing a hierarchical file system is a powerful strategy for organizing files within Teams. By mirroring project or department hierarchies, teams can create an intuitive structure that makes locating and accessing relevant files easy. This approach reduces the time spent searching for information and ensures everyone is on the same page. Metadata and tags are another valuable tool for file management. By assigning descriptive metadata and tags to files, teams can facilitate easier search and retrieval. This is particularly useful when dealing with large repositories of files, as it allows users to quickly find the information they need without sifting through countless folders. Collaboration with external partners often requires secure file sharing. Teams offers robust features for managing external access, including granular permissions, time-bound access, and secure sharing links. By carefully controlling who can access specific files and for how long, teams can maintain the confidentiality of sensitive information while still fostering effective collaboration. Customizing Teams with Apps and Bots Microsoft Teams offers a vast ecosystem of apps and bots that can be customized to suit specific team needs, automate tasks, and streamline workflows. Identifying key apps for integration is the first step in customizing Teams. Popular apps cover a wide range of functions, from project management and customer support to productivity and data visualization. Organizations can significantly enhance efficiency and productivity by carefully selecting apps that align with team goals and workflows. Building and implementing custom bots is another powerful way to tailor Teams to specific needs. Bots can automate common tasks, provide instant access to resources, and even facilitate data collection and analysis. Microsoft offers a range of platforms and resources for bot development, making it accessible to teams with varying levels of technical expertise. Power Automate, a tool deeply integrated with Teams, allows users to create automated workflows that solve common business problems. From data collection and approvals to notifications and reporting, Power Automate can streamline repetitive tasks, freeing up time for more strategic work. Security Practices to Protect Your Teams Environment As teams increasingly rely on digital collaboration tools, ensuring the security of data and communications becomes paramount. Microsoft Teams offers a range of advanced security features and best practices to help organizations safeguard their environments. Configuring advanced security settings is a critical first step. Teams provides options for end-to-end encryption of sensitive communications, ensuring that only intended recipients can access the information. Data loss prevention (DLP) strategies can also be implemented to prevent the inadvertent sharing of confidential data. Educating team members on best practices for security is equally important. Regular training programs can help users identify phishing attempts, secure their personal and team accounts, and adhere to organizational security policies. By fostering a culture of security awareness, teams can minimize the risk of data breaches and protect sensitive information. Regular security audits are also essential for maintaining a secure Teams environment. These audits help identify potential vulnerabilities, ensure compliance with data protection regulations, and provide an opportunity to update security measures as needed. Conclusion Microsoft Teams has become an indispensable tool for businesses seeking to maximize productivity and foster seamless collaboration in the digital age. By leveraging the platform's ever-expanding features and staying abreast of the latest updates, teams can streamline communication, enhance collaboration, and achieve new levels of efficiency. As we look towards 2024 and beyond, Microsoft Teams continues to innovate, offering advanced file management features, customization through apps and bots, and robust security practices. By embracing these tools and best practices, organizations can create a secure, productive, and future-ready environment that empowers teams to work smarter and achieve their goals. Boost productivity with Microsoft Teams is an ongoing journey that requires a proactive approach, continuous learning, and a willingness to adapt to new features and best practices. By committing to this journey, teams can unlock the full potential of digital collaboration and thrive in an increasingly connected world.

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