Microsoft Teams Customer Review

Overall, I think there's some key benefits to using Microsoft Teams as a team messaging tool. However, they definitely missed the mark on a few major details that make it difficult for me to give a full 5 stars. If you already utilize Microsoft products as an organization, by all means, Teams should be your go to! If you don't already use Microsoft products, check out the reviews for other team messaging tools because you'll likely find one that fits your needs without the struggle that Teams presents.

Pros:

- Easy to use as far as navigation and the interface goes

- Video calling is an advantage of Teams, especially if you have a large organization

- File sharing (if you're on Microsoft already) is so easy to collaborate on, you can edit the document right within the messaging platform

Cons:

- Pricing depends on the use of other Microsoft product and therefore is typically expensive

- Setup is a beast of its own! Many organizations have to dedicate someone entirely to the setup process as it's definitely not a piece of cake.

- The structure of Teams is more appealing for larger organizations where roles and projects are a little bit more segmented. The structure doesn't allow for the most cross-functionality or cross-collaboration

Similar to other products in this category, Microsoft Teams does offer video conferencing features. 

Video calling quality on Microsoft Teams is responsible. It can get a bit a of a delay in the audio and video sync-up, so the video quality isn't excellent, but it's also difficult to find a platform without that occasional lag. There is the option to call and strictly have audio between two individuals via Teams, which seems to work a bit better than if video is involved. 

The added benefit to Microsoft Teams is that you can double check someone's Outlook calendar to see if a video or audio call is an okay time for them or not. 

You can share your screen via Microsoft Teams video conferencing. Added features allow you to pin the video call, which makes presenting virtually much easier to manage. 

You can have as many as 250 individuals join in on the same video call. 

Microsoft Teams document or file sharing features blow the competition out of the water IF (& only if) the organization using Teams already uses Microsoft for their office productivity platform (i.e. email, word processor, etc.). 

If you're already in that category, you're in luck! Microsoft Teams will allow you to collaborate across documents or shared files with extreme ease. You can suggest edits, make comments, and view the document essentially directly from Microsoft Teams platform. Teams will create a shared file folder (similar to a Google Drive folder) between appropriate members, typically either those that are 

If you aren't already using Microsoft products, file sharing on Teams is no worse or better than sending the file via email. These features probably haven't been further developed because there's the assumption or impression that the organizations using Microsoft Teams as a messaging tool already utilize Microsoft products. Talk about a bummer. 

Microsoft Teams does offer an in-app support bot (via a help button) that is essentially for FAQs, which will refer the user to a quick answer and/or a document that more thoroughly will answer their question. Unfortunately, the support bot does not offer any suggestions or advice on how to get the most out to of the platform. Variations of Microsoft Teams' plan will allow you to add a task bot to assist with different tasks within the app -- likely most commonly used for larger corporations. 

Being that Microsoft Teams is rather difficult to setup, at least from an administrative standpoint, I think it would serve Microsoft well if their support was a bit more thorough. That being said, they do offer decent documentation for FAQs when using or setting up Microsoft Teams. However, it's a bit bogged-down, not the easiest to utilize nor is it the most user-friendly readability wise. You almost have to reread the answer to your question a few times before actually figuring out where you need to take action in the tool to achieve your goal. 

Microsoft Teams does offer app integrations to add functionality or features that are not normally present in the tool. Currently, Teams offers around 400 apps that can be added. 

The biggest limitation on Microsoft Teams and its app integrations is that it's really only worthwhile if you're integrating with PowerPoint, Outlook, etc (aka other Microsoft products). While they offer third-party integrations, there doesn't seem to be a central command or document on the best ways to get the most out of those integrations.  

 Microsoft Teams has some awesome search capabilities amidst messages. 

You can search via a direct message, channel, or team by keyword, who sent it, when it was sent, etc. Once you begin a general search, you are able to filter your search down further with any of the aforementioned fields. 

The benefit to Teams over other competitors is that searching for files specifically is very easy. There's a shared files folder essentially that allows you to look through the files shared between you and another individual or team in your organization -- similar to if Google Drive was within your team messaging platform. 

Microsoft Teams has a fair amount of messaging features and is very well equipped for larger organizations. 

Similar to most team messaging tools, direct messaging is offered so that email communication between organization members can drastically be cut down. You may send a message to anyone within your organization directly.

Group chats within Microsoft Teams is arranged differently than most other team messaging tools. First, members within your organization are added to Teams, such as a Sales or Marketing Team or Development Team. Thankfully, one user can be a part of as many as 1,000 teams. Within the segmented Teams, there are channels. Channels are for specific topics related to that team. For example, the Sales Team may have a channel called "New Client Onboarding". Teams or channels can be open to all members of the organization or they can be private for only the necessary, invited members. 

Hosting channels within Teams in Microsoft Teams is a well-organized feature to segment various groups appropriately, but seems less intuitive if your organization is anything less than a few hundred people. It naturally causes a barrier within the organization to achieve better cross-functionality or cross-collaboration. 

Messages can be edited or deleted after being sent. Emojis and GIFs can easily be added to Microsoft Teams messaging. 

Microsoft Teams is "Tier D" compliant, which is Microsofts security analysis implying that is has top security features and all encompassing compliances. 

Microsoft Teams covers all the bases in order to be HIPAA compliant (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), which is wildly beneficial for healthcare organizations (only piece needed is a business associate agreement). 

Microsoft Teams does not appear to be FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) compliant at this point in time. 

Microsoft Teams, like most competitors, is GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) compliant. 

Teams also encrypts data and its transit, again similar to most competitors. You can read the full brief on Microsoft Teams and its security and compliance information, here.

Unfortunately, you will have to contact Microsoft through their general customer support channels which is for all Microsoft products. They do offer training documents and videos, but to actually contact support you have to send a generic contact form request.

Microsoft Teams' notification settings get extremely granular, which is beneficial considering messaging apps can be excessive and a bit intrusive with notifications. Within Teams you can select how (a badge, sound, and/or banner), or even if you are notified about  team or channel messages, mentions (@name in a message), video calling, and so on. 

Teams does not have a "sleep mode", but it does allow you to set your presence as "Do Not Disturb" to mute notifications as you please.