In our last post, we highlighted six of the most common video conferencing/collaboration software packages and identified the best feature of each of the offerings. In this installment, we’ll take deeper dive into Microsoft Teams.
Easy Integration & Clean Application
If your team uses Microsoft’s Office 365, the integration between Office products and Microsoft Teams is incredibly efficient. Collaboration, like reviewing and sharing documents during and after a video conference, is seamless, and Teams makes it easy to convert any chat conversation to a video call quickly and easily. The platform integrates nicely with other vendors’ applications, allowing non-Office 365 users to join a conference, and the tool is available when your team is working on the same local or wide-area network.
Once you’re integrated and in the platform, you’ll notice Microsoft has done a great job of keeping the application functional and uncluttered for new users who just want to access the basic functions of the app, while allowing more experienced users of the app to take advantage of many other features.
Central Hub for Business Communications
At NetCenergy, my Teams application is open first thing in the morning, and it stays live on my PC until I logoff at the end of the workday. Indeed, many companies use Microsoft Teams as the central hub for all business communications. When I need to place a call to a Teams member, I use the audio phone call function to make the call right from the app. Chat, audio, and video calling features allow users to transition from one type of communication to another seamlessly.
Aside from just video conferencing tools, Teams allows for more efficient communications and utilization of email. For example, if you need to send an email to all the members of one of your Teams, you can simply send your message in a specific Teams channel. This way, each member of that specific team will see the message and it can be easily searched and referenced within the application.
If you work with multi-lingual members on one of your Teams, the Translate feature within Chat is also unique. Team members can type a chat in their native language and have Teams translate the message into English.
Ongoing Optimizations and Improvements
Of course, with Microsoft, you can be confident that new capabilities and features will be added regularly. For example, in March, Microsoft announced that they are releasing a noise cancelling feature to Teams that uses Artificial Intelligence to eliminate disruptive background noise. Check out the demonstration video for this feature here.
If you’re an Office 365 user and need a videoconferencing tool, definitely consider Teams. All of its well-designed features and continual improvements will contribute to better overall productivity for you and your team.
If you’d like to learn more about Teams and determine if it is the best solution for your company, give us a call. We have a team of experts who can evaluate your needs and advise you on the best video conferencing and collaboration software for your team! Stay tuned for our next blog where we take a deeper dive into Zoom.
Authored by Donald Nokes
As President of NetCenergy, Don Nokes is responsible for ensuring client satisfaction, and overseeing company performance and direction. Prior to co-founding the firm with Dan Charland in 2003, Don held senior leadership positions with IT service firms ranging in size from $3 Billion to $10 Million in annual sales.
Nick Eckman joined NetCenergy in 2016 from an international gaming company. Nick’s experience with supervising and implementing secure, fiber and copper wire infrastructure services provides our clients with a team of highly trained and experienced technicians. In addition to the skills required to manage our infrastructure services department, Nick brings a very experienced and focused approach to project management and is a stickler for accurate documentation for every project designed and built by his team.
Peter Lachapelle joined NetCenergy in 2015 and is responsible for leading all of NetCenergy’s operations and accounting functions. Each department within NetCenergy reports through Lachapelle. He brings his years of experience to maintain a pragmatic, efficient, client-focused team at NetCenergy. Lachapelle joined NetCenergy after completing a 27-year career with a Rhode Island, federally-charted bank which culminated in his senior management position as COO and CFO for the bank.
Peter Nelson has 25+ years of technology and management experience and has been with NetCenergy since inception. Peter serves as the VP of Engineering at NetCenergy. His role consists of managing the engineering staff, driving the companies technology strategy, and ensuring NetCenergy keeps up to date on new technologies and solutions.
As a Founding Partner, Dan is a result oriented individual who is always focusing on what is best for his client. He understands that business applications empower an organization and that technology must support those critical business applications. Dan’s technology career started in 1990 at EMC Corporation. Through the years, he has represented technology and consulting services for several organizations until 2003, when he and Don Nokes founded NetCenergy.
With decades of hands-on HR experience, Margery Ahearn is our Director of Human Resources, overseeing all hiring of new positions for NetCenergy with a careful eye on sourcing technology savvy engineers and skilled office-based professionals who fit our company culture, understand our commitment to our clients, and bring their time and talents to our team. Margery has both a BA and MBA in Business Administration from Southern New Hampshire University.