The Top 7 Things You Need to Know about Microsoft Teams

It’s no surprise in the business world to hear that Microsoft is king when it comes to business software. And one of their applications touted as a “loyal subject,” is Microsoft Teams. Teams offers businesses some of the best features for collaboration. What’s new in Teams? Here are the top things you need to know about Microsoft Teams’ new features.

 

1. Phone and Calling Features

The phone and calling features that come with the Microsoft Teams updates go a long way when it comes to efficiency. They include:

• Call recording announcements in your default language
• Common area phone license enhancements
• Call history manipulation
• Enhanced cordless telecommunications (DECT) device integration

 

2. Chat and Collaboration Updates

The latest MS Teams updates include LinkedIn integration. Within Teams, you can now see LinkedIn profiles. This allows you to get to know your colleagues and clients and connect with them on a deeper level by seeing past experiences, what they’re working on now, etc. You can view their profiles from chat, channels, calls, and meetings.

For those not working on a desktop computer, Teams now looks much better on a tablet. It’s more responsive to screen size and app orientation, which makes it easier for everyone to collaborate.

 

3. Connect Your Frontline Workers

With Teams, you can now deploy up to 500 teams of frontline workers, with 25 users per team, and use just one command. This means you can roll out teams at scale within a day. Your frontline workers can then collaborate from different locations and in different roles.

You can also set up custom teams, ones that work best for your organization, and move or reassign members as needed.

 

4. Education and Government in Teams

In the past, Teams integrated with Canvas and Blackboard. Now, they’ve also partnered with Moodle Learning Management System. Both Microsoft Teams Meetings LTI and Classes LTI apps are now available in Moodle. This helps educators seamlessly integrate learning.

In addition, the same features available to commercial customers are now available to the US Government Community Cloud, the US Government Community Cloud High, and the United States Department of Defense. 

 

5. Built-In Tabs

We love the Tabs feature built right into Teams. It allows users to add interactive web content directly into chats and channels via two types of Tabs: 

• Static Tabs: These tabs allow individual users to make personal notes as they work.

• Configurable Tabs: These tabs are a part of a channel and offer ongoing guidance to all team members.

 

6. An Immersive Reader

One of the most overlooked MS Teams features is its Immersive Reader. It’s most likely overlooked because businesses assume it’s useful only if you’re in education. The Reader speaks the text on a channel. It’s a useful function if you have trouble focusing on text…or if you just have to close your eyes for a bit. To access it, you click on the three dots on any message and select Reader from the drop-down menu.

You can even find a Reader that explains how to use Microsoft teams….

 

7. Meetings Enhanced With Microsoft Polls

With the latest Teams update, users will now work with the Polls app, which has replaced the Forms one. This makes it easier for attendees to add polls to both chats and meetings. Included in this update is the ability to reposition suggested polls, provide entry points, and post a poll results view. 

In addition, you can see a list of past polls and use them again to save time. Microsoft has also added a new poll type called Rating, which allows users to give feedback via a scale. Overall, this feature has become more intuitive and dynamic.

 

How LeapExpert Improves Your Teams Experience

The LeapXpert Communications Platform integrates seamlessly with Microsoft Teams via Leap Work for Teams—our mobile and desktop app – and enhances MS Teams communication functionalities. Through native integration, it allows Teams users to communicate with clients through messaging channels in a compliant and secure way. It also integrates with Teams Phone, triggering for example Teams phone voice calls from message conversations.

As a business, you can continue to reach out using the mobile-first applications you love and at the same time safeguard and secure both your internal and client-facing business-related conversations. 

With LeapXpert’s secure platform, we give you peace of mind for your business communications. We are the most innovative and feature-rich enterprise messaging solution and the only one to integrate seamlessly with Microsoft Teams. Find out how LeapXpert can streamline your Microsoft Teams channels.