Microsoft Teams has been an incredible tool for NETRIO since its launch two years ago. Now more than ever, companies are turning to software to keep them connected during a time we can’t physically be together.

Microsoft Teams Growth Has Exploded.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, Microsoft Teams has grown over 70% over the last few months. With so many new active users, it is important to know the capability of Teams and how your employees can get the most out of it.

Driven by mandated Work From Home, Microsoft recently released  a new suite of  features to enable business continuity. More than 500,000 organizations use Teams to collaborate across locations, time zones, and languages. Being forced into a universal Work From Home scenario for non-essential workers has brought even more meaning to the collaboration and connectivity that Teams provides. It has allowed our team here at NETRIO to explore the many capabilities that we might otherwise have overlooked, and it has enabled us to effectively continue our operation while allowing employees to stay safe at home.

We asked our leadership team to share their best tips and tricks that they have used the most while working from home.

Here is what they had to say about  getting the most out of MS Teams:

“I like the flexibility and the ease of Teams for collaboration. I can chat, use video or phone call, and use the document share feature with co workers and customers.  Teams voice adds even more value by enabling me to communicate with anyone, anyway, anytime, anywhere!”

Ted Johnston | Managing Partner, Business Development

“One thing I love about Microsoft Teams is the Calendar integration.  I can use the Calendar icon in the sidebar and join a meeting with a single click. I can also easily see everyone’s schedule when deciding on a time for a meeting and make sure the time slot works for all attendees.”

Brian DeVault | Chief Technology Officer

“I love the integration with all my outlook contacts.  MS Teams voice (direct routing) allows me to call contacts with one click all while I am looking at OneNote for the account I am working with. Being able to schedule an MS Teams meeting using my native outlook application on my phone is convenient as well. The video and voice quality have been excellent overall.”

Chris Hewett | VP of Channel Development

“The ability to engage in Teams through all of my devices has allowed me to easily continue my operation from home. I use it on my Mac, iPhone, iPad and also have a Poly Elara which has teams natively integrated. With the touch of one button, Teams will open up. The ease of scheduling has been so helpful while we are not physically together.”

Mike Cromwell | Partner & Evangelist

“The new “raise hands” feature has been very helpful during meetings. You can let the meeting coordinator know you have something to ask or say without interrupting the flow of the meeting. This also makes it easier for everyone to get a chance to actively participate in the meetings.”

Steve Weltner | Telecom Operations

The Future Is Remote Work.

As we start planning for the rest of 2020 and start to think what the workplace environment will look like moving forward, many companies will make Work From Home an ongoing option. Keeping your teams connected and encouraging continued collaboration is more important than ever. Microsoft Teams can help by bringing everything together in a single secure hub.

NETRIO Has Your Solution.

NETRIO takes Microsoft Teams one step further by providing Voice Direct Routing as a service. Microsoft Teams Direct Routing is a term that refers to routing telephone calls from the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) directly to the Microsoft Teams client.   This enables end users of Microsoft Teams to place and receive telephone calls to normal telephone users.   This service can optionally enable Microsoft Teams Meetings to be accessible via a regular telephone number.

Contact us to get your Microsoft Teams Environment connected today.