Teams Chat-Describe Microsoft 365 apps and services

The messaging functionality Microsoft Teams provides enables users to create channels—individual chat sessions shared by a team’s members. Teams messaging is an independent service that does not rely on email or SMS messaging for communication. Microsoft Teams also supports the transmission of private one-to-one messages between users.

When you create a new team in Microsoft Teams, it consists of a single channel called General. For groups working on multiple projects, you can create additional channels that have their own separate chat conversations, email addresses, and SharePoint folders. For groups whose members span countries or cultures, the chat capability in Microsoft Teams also includes the ability to translate messages into more than forty languages.

Teams Phone

Microsoft Teams includes Teams Phone capability, enabling users to place voice and video calls to other Microsoft Teams members over an Internet connection. The Microsoft Teams client applications allow users to easily switch between chat and phone connections to accommodate whatever medium best facilitates communication.

Using Teams Phone to make calls to other team members is built into the base Teams product, but calls to landlines and mobile phones require an additional product. Some Microsoft 365 subscriptions include this capability, but there is an additional charge for others.

Add-on Teams licenses include the following:

• Microsoft Teams Phone Standard Provides voice and video calling using an Internet or Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)
• Microsoft Teams Phone with Calling Plan Provides voice and video calling and includes PSTN service and a phone number furnished by Microsoft.

The enterprise subscriptions, Microsoft 365 E3 and E5, both include Teams Phone Standard and dial-up audio conferencing capabilities, but Microsoft 365 Business subscribers must purchase an additional license for one of the options listed.

Teams Phone Standard includes Phone System, which is a module that functions as a cloud-based Private Branch Exchange (PBX), providing connections to an existing third-party PSTN provider and all of the typical calling functions that users expect, including voice mail, caller ID, call forwarding, and so forth. Phone System also supports a selection of certified hardware telephones that can function as Microsoft Teams clients, allowing users to opt for a standard telephone experience using Teams as its underlying technology.

Phone System enables subscribers to implement their PBX infrastructure in Microsoft’s cloud. However, the Teams Calling Plan option enables subscribers to use Microsoft as their PSTN provider, creating a voice-calling solution that is completely implemented in the cloud. Calling Plan coverage is limited to certain metropolitan areas, and subscribers must choose a calling plan that suits them. Some plans provide varying numbers of caller minutes, both domestic and international. The Microsoft Teams product line also includes options to accommodate subscribers with various telephony systems already in place.

Microsoft Teams Administration

Membership and authentication in Microsoft Teams is provided by Microsoft 365 groups, which store their identity information in Azure Active Directory. Microsoft Teams can store members’ documents and other files in the cloud using OneDrive. Team websites, implemented using SharePoint, are also accessible through the Microsoft Teams client. Group mailboxes and event and meeting scheduling are provided by Exchange Online and accessed via Outlook. Teams can use the Microsoft Stream service to host and preserve video meetings.

Microsoft Teams is highly scalable and can support collaborative environments ranging from small workgroups to large departments to gigantic presentations, webinars, and conferences. Microsoft Teams is also customizable, enabling administrators to incorporate third-party applications and services into a team’s collaborative environment. For example, multiple vendors are working on H.323 video conferencing solutions enabling Teams to collaborate with outside partners.

Describe the Microsoft Viva apps

Microsoft Viva is a set of products that Microsoft refers to as an employee experience platform (EXP). Implemented as apps within Microsoft Teams, Microsoft 365 includes various Viva apps in its subscription levels.

The Viva apps are described in the following sections.