If you’re trying to decide between using Slack or Microsoft Teams in your workplace, we’ve got an article for you. In a recent review in USA Today, technology columnist Edward C. Baig reviewed the two offerings. His thoughts? The makers of Slack have some pretty serious competition. In this issue, we’ll share excerpts from his review in USA Today.

Features Added to Microsoft Teams

Baig begins his column by extolling the virtues of the more than 100 features that have been added to Teams since its preview launch. “Notifications have been improved for when a team member is following a channel. You can drag and drop files within channels. And there’s the ability to schedule meetings within Teams as Microsoft can surface the times that work for all the people you want to invite. “Email integration and bot support have also been added, and Microsoft says security has been bolstered as well.”

How Does Teams Perform For Real?

For his session with Teams, Baig used a Microsoft-provided Surface Book computer for a simulated newsroom, complete with an editorial, sales, and human resource teams. Baig wrote, “Inside the Teams environment, you can communicate with your colleagues through threaded text messages or via audio and video chat, which I was able to do during my tests with real-life Microsoft employees. You can hold private one-on-one or small group conversations or open up communications to a team. “Members can share and co-edit files and jump into wider meetings. Each channel has an email address associated with that channel.”

Our Take on Teams

In a previous issue, we brought you the news about Microsoft integrating its SharePoint Team Sites with Office 365 Groups. In that issue, we raved about how the integration “streamlines the ways that teams communicate across enterprises.” In his review, Baig touches on that as well, making note of how you can “view Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents within Teams. You can add a OneNote, Power BI (analytics), or Microsoft Planner tab, among others, to any channel or chat, and work in those tabs without leaving Teams.” Baig’s bottom line about Teams? It’s “an intelligent, free and well-thought out offering that pressures the competition to do anything but slack off.”

To Learn More About Microsoft Teams, Get in Touch With the Experts at C3IT Solutions

We’d more than happy to talk with you about how Teams can benefit your company. Call C3IT Solutions at 800-728-1441 or reach us online.