What about Microsoft Teams?

Sooner or later, Microsoft Teams will be what you use instead of Skype for Business. For many organizations, though, this process will take some time. Because we here at EventBuilder add functionality to Skype for Business and Skype Meeting Broadcast, we’re often asked what we think about Teams and whether or not the EventBuilder Suite will do for Teams what it does for Skype for Business.

The short answer (updated 15 Feb 2019): Teams is literally where we “live” as an all-virtual company, and we're now supporting Teams with EventBuilder Suite.

 

FAQs about Microsoft Teams

What is Microsoft Teams?

Microsoft Teams is a hub for teamwork in Office 365—a chat-based workspace that enhances team productivity by providing a single location that brings together everything they need. Users can communicate through chat, meetings, and calls.

 

Why use Microsoft Teams instead of Skype for Business?

Skype for Business and Teams both allow for communication through chat, voice, and video. Teams, though, is designed as a hub for all of Office 365 (including, for instance, how you’d collaborate on Word or Excel) “to provide a true chat-based hub for teamwork.”

 

How is Microsoft Teams used for webinars? 

Microsoft recently launched Teams Live Events that provides some standard structure used in traditional webinar environment. As best we know, this is still in "Public Preview" (what used to be called 'beta') and will not be "GA" (general availability) until April 2019. Some examples of features that would support “webinars” are options for Q&A, designating roles such as Organizer, Producer, Presenter and Attendee and the option to create and archive (on-demand) recording.

It is important to note, though, that many users would define a “webinar” as an event that invites participants to register in advance (on a registration page, which is a distinctly different use case than using an internal calendar to ‘RSVP’). Registration and other full-feature access for external users are not currently available.

 

What are EventBuilder’s plans to work with Microsoft Teams?

EventBuilder Suite is now fully integrated with Microsoft Teams. We also continue to work on functionality that is possible in Teams that isn't possible with Skype for Business or Skype Meeting Broadcast.

 Here are three principles that you can count on that guide how we think:

  • We’ll always be additive – we call it “+1,” as in “we add something that isn’t there. Microsoft develops great products, and they’ll keep adding features. That’s awesome, but it will never be everything possible.
  • We’ll always be people-oriented. Technology should be about helping people do what they couldn’t before or do those things better, but it should always be about people. Or at least it should be.
  • We’ll be really, really excited to launch for, and continue to develop for, Microsoft Teams. We use it all day, every day. It’s not about “a market opportunity,” it’s about a way of life that helps us – and you – live people-connected lives even when you’re not in the same office. EventBuilder will just extend that.

 

How does EventBuilder use Microsoft Teams now?

For ourselves? We’re an all-virtual company. Yes, we like getting together in person as much as the next organization. But we also see some things that less-frequent users and those addicted to conference rooms miss. Some of our favorites include

  • History in threaded conversation. Searchable, even.
  • Dedicated OneNote. When it’s shared the way it is in Teams, collaboration happens in a whole new way.
  • File repository. Nothing here against SharePoint (we use that, too), but Teams is more “now.”
  • Easy access to other components of Office 365. It’s the portal, the window, the starting point. And the water cooler. You should see what happens on someone’s birthday (let’s just say we keep emoji and meme designers employed).
  • Blur-able backgrounds when using our webcams. Because when you work from home, the office isn't always in TV-studio shape, right?

Too, visit (if not subscribe to) our blog. We will keep you on top of things like "What is the Attendee user experience (UX) in Teams Live Broadcast?" or "17 quick facts" that we discover along the way.