NextPlane Open Hub App for Microsoft Teams

Finding your Microsoft Teams colleagues' availability can be challenging when using other voice, video, and conferencing apps, such as Zoom, Avaya, Cisco Jabber, and others. As a result, you continuously need to switch between these apps to share ideas, make decisions, and move work forward with a common purpose and place.

Using the NextPlane Open Hub App for Microsoft Teams, you and your colleagues can save valuable time by staying in your Teams apps and determining each other's reachability when on video or voice calls.

The NextPlane Open Hub App for Microsoft Teams automatically pulls and unifies Teams users' profile and status information (i.e., Available, Busy, or In a call) when on voice, video, and conferencing apps. As a result, Microsoft Teams users can share a single unified status, regardless of the app and the device they use.

It also allows you to view your colleagues' contact details, message them, and start one-on-one calls.

With the NextPlane Open Hub App, you can view your colleagues' availability and reachability when using voice, video, and conferencing apps. For example, if your colleagues are in a Zoom video conference, without the NextPlane Open Hub App, Microsoft Teams shows their presence status as Available. However, using the NextPlane Open Hub App, you will see them as In a meeting.

To share the unified profile and status information with your colleagues on Teams, you need to add your accounts on voice, video, and conferencing apps to your profile on the NextPlane Open Hub App.

Important! The NextPlane Open Hub App shows the unified presence and profiles of the Teams users who have added the NextPlane Open Hub App to their Teams app and have connected their voice, video, and conferencing apps to their profiles. So, to mutually share your unified presence and profiles, both you and your colleagues need to have the NextPlane Open Hub App for Microsoft Teams.

Go to Apps  and in the Search box, start typing open hub. In the search results, select the NextPlane Open Hub App and click Add .

The NextPlane Open Hub App opens, and you can sign in to the NextPlane Open Hub App with your Microsoft credentials.

Once you added the NextPlane Open Hub App to your Teams, you can later find it in More added apps.

To allow NextPlane to connect to your Teams status and profile information, you need to sign in to the NextPlane Open Hub App with your Microsoft credentials.

Signing in is only required when you first open the NextPlane Open Hub App and every time you sign out of the app or your Microsoft account.

Right after the NextPlane Open Hub App opens, click Sign in with Microsoft. Get familiar with the requested permissions and click Accept .

You can now proceed by connecting your accounts on other voice, video, and conferencing apps to your profile.

Your presence profile allows NextPlane to share your availability status on voice, video, and conferencing apps, like Zoom, with your colleagues on Microsoft Teams.

To set up your profile, click (the blank card) and select your voice, video, or conferencing app.

Follow the necessary steps to provide the required authentication or permissions. This will allow the NextPlane Open Hub App to access your presence status and contact details.

Important! The steps might differ depending on the voice, video, or conferencing app. For example, to connect your Zoom service to the NextPlane Open Hub App, sign in to your Zoom account and provide the necessary authorization.

For more information, see the Key Features section below.

For easy access to the NextPlane Open Hub App, you may want to pin it to your Teams' left side.

Open the NextPlane Open Hub App and on the left pane, right-click it. To pin the app, select Pin .

To unpin the NextPlane Open Hub App from the left of your Teams, right-click the app, and then select Unpin .

The NextPlane Open Hub App contacts list shows your Teams colleagues and their unified availability. For example, if your colleague is on a voice or video conference app and sets their presence to DND, but is Available on Teams, you will see their DND status.

Go to your contacts list and hover over your colleague's profile icon to see why they are busy, such as being in a voice call.

The complete list of your colleague's accounts with their presence and profile details on each of them is available in their unified profile. 

You can navigate to your colleague's unified profile by clicking More or selecting your colleague's name. You can also hover over the contact's row and select Profile on the right.

With the NextPlane Open Hub App, you can chat with your Microsoft Teams colleagues right from the app.

Hover over the profile icon or the row of the contact you want to message, and then click Chat . You are redirected to a one-on-one chat with the selected contact.

In the message box, compose your message and click Send or press Enter. This starts a chat session with your contact on Teams.

You can easily add a new voice, video, or conferencing app to your profile or remove the ones you no longer use.

• To connect a new account on the voice, video, or conferencing app to your profile, click the blank card , and then select the necessary service. Follow the next steps to provide the required authentication or permissions to access your status information.
  Important! The steps might differ depending on the selected service.
  
  
• To remove the account on a voice or video conferencing app you no longer use, on the account card, click Delete , and then in the confirmation dialog box, click Delete .
  
  
  

NextPlane currently supports the following voice, video, and conferencing apps:

• Zoom
• Avaya Aura
• Microsoft Teams
• Cisco Jabber
• Microsoft Skype for Business

For the latest updates or plans to support other collaboration services, please contact NextPlane at sales@nextplane.net or book a free call with the NextPlane expert.