Simply put, Microsoft Teams, MS Teams or “Teams”, as it is commonly referred, is a central hub for all teamwork in Office 365. 

There are many benefits to enterprise networks using Teams, but with that, as with anything, come several downsides. While the pros certainly outweigh the cons, it’s important to understand each component, and how they can be better supported to enable great user experiences.

In this article, we’ll break down what exactly MS Teams can be used for, highlight some pros and cons and discuss how Nectar can help enterprises get the most out of it. By the end, you’ll get the answer to the question “Is Microsoft Teams a business friend or foe?”.

What Is Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is a unified communication and collaboration platform that integrates people, content and the tools enterprise teams need to stay engaged and productive.

Key features include a workplace chat, video meetings, file storage and collaboration, and application integration.

Teams has many industry-specific tools, device integrations and pricing plans to fit the unique needs of any company, from large corporations to small businesses.

Pros of Microsoft Teams

One of the greatest benefits of using Microsoft Teams is improved communication, which ultimately leads to increased productivity and customer satisfaction. With a centralized chat, video conferencing, call dialing, file sharing, and project management features, enterprise collaboration is streamlined.

Another important benefit is improved transparency. Teams keep a detailed record of all correspondence, allowing for a “virtual paper” trail of information and source of truth. Everyone can know what is going on and have access to the tools they need, all in one central location.

A new feature that Teams has added is the ability to search in recorded video meetings. Say you missed an hour-long team meeting, but only need the update on “unified communications”. Just search that term and Teams can locate that portion of the meeting.

Cons of Microsoft Teams

One of the most common components that everyone thinks of when they think of a collaboration tool is whether or not it will be a distraction. If not integrated correctly, and enterprise teams are not properly trained in best practices, this can certainly be the case. Teams is meant to help enterprise teams manage, not to be burdensome.

On review sites such as G2Crowd, users have reported it has a confusing interface. As we mentioned above, this could be due to a lack of training and integration protocols. Teams does provide valuable resources such as training videos, courses, guides, demos, technical support and more.

Another con we’ve seen has to do with the file storage structure. Users have reported that if you take a file shared from a chat, and move it into a categorized folder, the file link will be removed from the chat. While many prefer to have categorized folders to reference files, others prefer just going into chats and searching file names.

Nectar & Microsoft Teams

Back to the question in the beginning of this article – is Microsoft Teams a business friend or foe? 

While we believe they fall into the category of “friend”, it’s important to recognize that even when collaboration services are hosted by a trusted provider such as Microsoft Teams, a great UC experience will always rely on a healthy environment.

As with any cloud-based unified communications platform, voice and video call quality are at the forefront. While Teams is one of the most robust tools out there, it does not mean that IT professionals and contact center teams using it are immune to quality issues that can impact the customer experience.

Nectar Perspective is a certified Microsoft Cloud Voice Network Tool that supports network health. It can be configured to generate UC traffic within and between enterprises and the Microsoft cloud, allowing teams to identify potential UC quality issues that may affect user experience.

Perspective provides complete end-to-end visibility across enterprise multi-vendor network ecosystems, allowing network health to be assessed and maintained efficiently through a centralized view. If you’d like to learn more about Nectar Perspective for Microsoft, or try out any of our other UC software and tools, follow this link to request a demo.

You can also learn more in our upcoming Thought Leadership Webinar: Advanced Troubleshooting and Analytics for Microsoft Teams, June 24th at 11 am EST. Register here.