En Garde, Slack: Microsoft Teams Is Finally Here

Author: Juan Martinez / Source: Business 2 Community

Microsoft Teams is now available for Office 365 users.

The online collaboration app had been available to Office 365 Enterprise customers in preview mode since November 2016. Now, Business Essentials, Business Premium, Enterprise E1, E3, and E5 plan users can activate the app at no added price.

Teams is similar to the popular chat-based Slack application. Both tools enable businesses and general consumers to chat in groups or one-on-one and send files, either on a desktop or via a smartphone. However, Teams benefits from its connection to Microsoft’s vast ecosystem of productivity tools.

With Teams, users can access Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Meetings, Notes, Planner, SharePoint, and OneNote, among other applications, without having to leave the collaboration app. They can collaborate remotely via the cloud within Teams to create, edit, or view any Microsoft application, a feature that isn’t available in Slack on any document platform (Google, Zoho, etc.).

Additionally, Teams connects to more than 150 third-party business tools, such as Zendesk, Asana, and HootSuite, from directly within the Teams app. This means Teams users can answer customer service requests, delegate tasks to external consultants, and post to social media, all without ever leaving the Teams application.