What is Microsoft Teams?

Sandeep Saxena
Sandeep Saxena linkedin | Updated On - April 05, 2022 |

Read time 5 minutes

Microsoft Teams, announced on May 3, 2017, by Microsoft, aimed to replace Microsoft Classroom in Office 365 Education. Now, Microsoft Teams is an integral part of Microsoft 365, a collaborative platform for interaction and sharing among a group of people via chats, video conferencing, and calling.
It comes in both free and licensed versions. Check out the plans and pricing for Microsoft Teams. Following are the amenities which a user can enjoy with the free version of Microsoft Teams.

Microsoft Teams Free Version Offerings

  • Scheduling unlimited meetings with a time limit of 60 minutes
  • Allows guest access for collaboration with external partners and clients
  • Unlimited text, video chats, and channel conversations
  • Unlimited free video calls, virtual meetings, and audio call hosting for up to 100 participants
  • Supports Windows, Mac, Android, iOS environments, 83 languages, and 181 markets
  • Allows a maximum of 500k internal and external users for communication
  • Facilitates up to 10GB (shared) and 2GB (personal) cloud storage
  • Offers free data encryption for Microsoft Teams in rest and transit conditions
  • Free access to services like – File sharing, App integration, Screen sharing, Custom backgrounds, Together mode, and Whiteboard
Added Amenities with the Microsoft 365 Paid Versions
  • All-time phone and web support
  • Added first and third-party application integrations
  • The facility of recording in meetings
  • Video conferencing hosting for up to 250 participants
  • Extra storage per user as per plan – from 1TB storage per user
  • Highly advanced IT controls, and enterprise-level security
  • Advanced file collaboration for Office desktop applications
Features & Components
Chats
  • For conversations between users
  • These chats are persistent and can be edited
  • Users can use emojis to share their expressions
  • Marking facility for important & urgent messages
Group Chat
  • Group chatting
  • Call facility in all groups
Teams
  • Joining facility via specific URL or invitation by team owner/administrator
  • Facility to set up specific teams for classes, staff members, PLCs, and rest for all
File Share
  • Files like documents, PDFs, Excel sheets, etc. can be shared via chats
  • Shared files in chats are stored in SharePoint
Call
  • Via Instant Messaging, Voice over Internet Protocol, video conferencing (within client software)
  • Supports Public Switched Telephone Network or PSTN calling
Meet
  • Can be created/scheduled and is visible for users in channels
  • Meeting invitation via Teams plugin for Microsoft Outlook
Live Events
  • Broadcasts members on Teams, Yammer, or Microsoft Stream
  • Allows broadcasting to around 10, 000 participants
Importance of Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is an advanced mode of online collaboration for a project team working for a common objective. It helps them connect via virtual meetings, video conferencing, chats, and calls to share vital information online. In the current times of Covid-19, where Work from Home has become a prominent adoption to continue business for many organizations, such application has proved a boon to them to connect at an advanced level remotely without risking any life. It fulfills many organizational requirements such as brainstorming sessions, training modules, daily reporting meetings, project discussion meetings, arranging interviews for hiring and promotions, and more.

Microsoft Teams is a useful application of the cloud platform with a simple user interface, seamless integration with Microsoft tools. It lets both internal and external users connect at an advanced level with multiple amenities

Need to Migrate Microsoft Teams

The need to migrate valuable Teams data from one organization to another occurs in scenarios like company mergers, acquisitions, and transfers. And if the user tries to migrate Teams between two Microsoft 365 tenants manually, he will face significant challenges to collect information from multiple resources such as SharePoint team site, Exchange team mailbox, User Exchange mailboxes, OneDrive for Business accounts, Stream, Azure, Third-party storage provider, and OneDrive organization document library. It is such a hectic task for any user. So, we recommend following a smart, third-party solution to migrate your Microsoft Teams from one account to another.

Professional Utility to Migrate Microsoft Teams

Kernel Microsoft Teams Migration is the best third-party tool to migrate Microsoft Teams from one Microsoft 365 account to another quite easily. The involved process is direct and comprises multiple features and options for selective migration. It supports all plans and subscriptions of Microsoft 365 and works on all Windows OS versions. Along with Teams migration, it supports other migrations like SharePoint to SharePoint migration.

Frequently Asked Questions
Q- What is the time limit for a meeting in the free version of Microsoft Teams?

A- The maximum meeting duration in the free version of Microsoft Teams is 60 minutes only. However, the paid versions support up to 24 hours of time duration.

Q- Which Microsoft 365 plans include Microsoft Teams services?

A- Microsoft Teams is available as a free application, with Microsoft 365 Business Basic plan, Microsoft 365 Business Standard Plan, and Office 365 E3 Plan.

Q- Is it possible to record live meetings on Microsoft Teams?

A- The feature of recording the live meeting on Microsoft Teams is facilitated for paid versions of Microsoft Teams or subscribed Microsoft 365 plans.

Q- What is the use of Whiteboard on Microsoft Teams?

A- With Whiteboard, Microsoft Teams users can draw, write, and sketch anything on a shared digital canvas while the meeting is still going on.

Q- How can I migrate two teams from source to a single destination team using Kernel Microsoft Teams Migration tool?

A- For migrating two teams from source to a single team in destination, you can utilize the advanced mapping feature in the Kernel Microsoft Teams migration tool and input the same Team names in the destination for two different source teams before initiating the migration.