Introducing Microsoft Teams—the chat-based workspace in Office 365

By Kirk Koenigsbauer as written on blogs.office.com

Today, Microsoft announced Microsoft Teams: the new chat-based workspace in Office 365 that brings together people, conversations, content, and the tools teams need to achieve more together. Naturally and thoughtfully integrated with familiar Office applications and services—and built entirely on the Office 365 global, security-rich, compliant hyperscale cloud service—Microsoft Teams joins the rich portfolio of Office 365 experiences designed for the unique workstyle of every group.

·         Chat for today’s teams – Communicate in the moment, and keep everyone in the know

·         A hub for team work – Give teams quick access to information they need, right in Office 365

·         A customizable experience – Tailor workspaces to include content and capabilities teams need every day.

·         Security teams can trust – Get the enterprise-level security and compliance features you expect from Office 365.

Why Microsoft Teams?

Today, people work on twice as many teams as they did five years ago. As your customers’ need for collaboration increases, so does their need to find new ways to work together. Microsoft Teams can meet diverse customer needs, with an integrated suite that beats the siloed alternatives in every category. Group email and calendar. Content co-creation. Audio/video meetings. Cross-company connections. And more.

Microsoft Teams further strengthens Office 365 value, opening doors for you to discuss the benefits of an integrated set of collaboration capabilities with current customers and to win new business with prospective customers who need persistent chat. The just-announced Developer Preview gives you early access to the resources you need to build bots, connectors, and rich integrations for Microsoft Teams.

Microsoft Teams availability

On 02 November 2016, Microsoft Teams will be available in preview to Office 365 commercial customers with Business and Enterprise suite plans, in 181 countries and 18 languages. Office 365 Administrators of qualifying plans can turn on Microsoft Teams through their IT Admin Center, and begin their pilots today.