5 ways Office 365 and Teams can bring your team together

Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Teams help people connect with each other, ensuring successful communication and collaboration no matter where you are. These tools have not only proved critical during the COVID-19 pandemic, but are supporting remote and hybrid working going forwards, as well as establishing more flexible approaches to stay in touch with customers. Here are 5 ways that Office 365 and Teams can help bring your team together.

One platform for all your communications

Microsoft Teams brings video calls, audio calls, chat and messaging into one solution. Calls and messaging can be one-to-one or involve a whole team. A benefit of group messaging is that it’s a place for the team to share ideas or updates with everyone, and you can have specific groups for projects, or even as a more informal place to socialise a little. Because Microsoft Teams brings everything into one place, you don’t have to implement multiple solutions and can therefore reduce costs. It’s also both convenient and efficient for your employees. No need for multiple apps or windows open. Just one solution, working consistently across your PC, laptop, and mobile. Extra features add value, such as being able to refer to historical messages or producing automated transcripts of calls. And because everything is cloud-based, it’s always there to access.

Virtual meetings

Microsoft Teams has become the platform of choice to run internal virtual meetings for thousands of businesses, but also external meetings with customers and suppliers. It’s hard to replicate the power of an in-person meeting, but Microsoft Teams includes a range of special features that provide a richer experience, saving you time and driving a successful meeting. These features include the ability to share your screen, use virtual whiteboards and access documents. Recording meetings and automatic transcripts also allow for those who were unable to attend to catch up.And virtual meetings are set to become more sophisticated. Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Teams will be at the forefront of future developments, with support for virtual reality features such as 3D avatars within Teams already being announced.

Live events

Live events within Teams are opening up new possibilities for businesses. Involve employees, customers, or both. You can run a small, targeted event that lasts half an hour or have an all-day virtual conference for 1000 people. All of this can be run through Microsoft Teams, with options varying across licenses. Previously the ability to run online events was expensive and required significant planning; Teams makes it possible and allows you to build your brand, promote your product and engage your employees. For attendees, you can provide ways for them to ask questions via the chat function or get feedback or responses to make the sessions even more interactive. You can also record your event and offer the recording on-demand, for those who weren’t able to make it or want to experience it again.

Access and collaborate on documents

Microsoft 365 offers access to cloud storage for your documents, both through OneDrive and SharePoint. Both are integrated with Microsoft Teams, meaning you can share documents across your team, or to participants on a call. This is useful if you want to discuss a document’s content in a meeting. And then if you or your team want to access it later it can still be found. It also means that two or more members of your team can be simultaneously updating the same Word document or Excel spreadsheet, or reviewing the changes made by another team member.

The benefits of the cloud and latest versions

One of the advantages of Microsoft 365 and Teams is that they leverage the convenience of the cloud. Your documents are always available and backed-up, across all devices, providing convenience, peace of mind and supporting business continuity. Microsoft 365 is also a highly secure environment, with multiple features to keep your data safe. It’s also highly cost-effective, lowering the barrier for small and medium-sized businesses to access industry-leading tools. And because the tools are constantly and automatically upgraded, they are both easy to manage and new features are regularly added.

Are you interested in how Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Teams can bring your employees together? Give us a call on 0330 002 2111 for a chat with one of our friendly experts today.