What is Microsoft Teams?
When looking for a Unified Communication and Collaboration tool, Microsoft Teams is the most robust, secure, and cost-effective software available on the market. Created by arguably the greatest pioneer in the digital age, Microsoft Teams has the power to significantly improve the efficiencies of day-to-day business without breaking the bank.
The combined cost savings of increased productivity and reduced software costs makes Microsoft Teams a must have for organizations both big and small.
In this post we will discuss exactly why we at First Call continue to prefer Microsoft Teams over any other communication and collaboration tool available, today.
Microsoft Teams is one of the many valuable applications included in a Microsoft 365 subscription. It is hard to decide where to begin when trying to explain all the capabilities of Microsoft Teams, so here we go…
This unique Platform is not only used for web-based meetings, video and audio calling tool, but also for instant messaging, document collaboration, hosting internal discussion boards and live events!
But wait, there’s more! Businesses can even use Microsoft Teams in replace of their current phone system!
Those are a lot of great features to show the versatility of Microsoft Teams as a must have tool, but not the only reasons why Businesses should consider implementing it. We also love Microsoft Teams is because it is known as the great integrator. This means that Microsoft Teams does not only integrate with Microsoft’s other applications, such as Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Outlook, it also ingeniously integrates with over 3,000 3rd party application vendors, such as Social Media platforms, weather apps, and Adobe.
Not that we should need to go on… But, if you are still not sold on Microsoft Teams for your organization, we have a few more reason why we think your business would benefit from deploying Microsoft Teams. Let’s keep going!
With the recent increase in remote workers, business leaders are faced with new challenges in developing their working environments. The Microsoft Teams’ forum discussion boards can take a business’s work culture from being impersonal and private to being interactive and communal. The posts created on the forum discussion boards are visible to everyone who is a part of that team, allowing for broader collaboration and communication of ideas. Users also enjoy that they may add their personality to their forum posts and replies by using the emojis, GIFs and sticker options that come built into the platform.
Another powerful reason why a Microsoft Teams deployment should be considered is because of its ability to massively reduce a business’s internal email volume. First Call has discovered a 90% decrease in email clutter after a successful Microsoft Teams deployment. This reported colossal reduction of internal emails is all thanks to the use of the forum discussion boards, internal chat, and the video and audio call features. The forum discussion boards become the new place to communicate important information and the chat feature is a great way to ask a quick question of a colleague. If the reply to a chat is a little bit too complicated or long to type out, users can use Microsoft Teams to start a video or audio call, share their computer screens, and provide remote controlled assistance to each other.
90% Decrease in Internal Email CLUTTER!
Increase in Employee Engagement and Collaboration!
Now, you may be thinking, “but I already use Slack for communication, and Zoom for web-based meetings, Gmail for email and… *sigh*”
STOP.
Wouldn’t it be better to consolidate all those different tools into one vendor’s application? This would mean one vendor to pay, one support team to call, and one unified system to work with. While it is possible to gain all these great benefits from multiple other communication and collaboration tools, there is not another tool on the market that unites all these benefits together into one application all while using the same vendor.
Using a single vendor is not only more convenient, but it is also far more cost effective. Microsoft Teams is purchased with a Microsoft 365 subscription. With that subscription you also gain access to Microsoft’s other powerful applications, such as Word, Excel, Outlook, and SharePoint, just to name a few.
Licenses for Microsoft 365 run as low as $5 per user per month. To compare, Cisco WebEx Teams is Microsoft Teams’ closest competitor. Cisco WebEx Teams’ most comparable offer to Microsoft Teams starts at $13.50 per user per month and you would still need to purchase other applications for document editing, such as Microsoft Word, and Excel. It is a no-brainer – Microsoft is the most cost-effective route by far.
Finally, Microsoft Teams is an incredibly secure platform. The application is HIPPA compliant “and also complies with standards like Health Information Trust Alliance (HISTRUST), Service Organization Controls (SOC) 1 and 2, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and more.” Microsoft uses the same support and security standards within their organization as they to in their products, so they are certain that the security of their products are always state-of-the-art.
So, have we convinced you why Microsoft Teams is the best, yet? Between the immense magnitude of capabilities that are offered with Microsoft Teams, the plethora of applications that come with the license for the program, and the cost effectiveness and security standards that accompany it, there is no wonder why First Call prefers Microsoft Team to any other unified communication and collaboration tools available. Ready to make the switch? Contact First Call today for assistance and guidance in implementing a Microsoft solution to your business.
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