It took a while, especially given the number of people looking for convenient ways to chat and video conferencing these days, but Microsoft has finally created a version of its business Teams app for personal use. The application, which is thought to be in the preview stage, is currently only available on mobile devices (iOS and Android). You get 10GB of file storage for your “team” and 2GB of personal file storage per person.
Below is a quick how-to on using Teams to communicate with friends and family. Available for both iOS and Android; The two apps are extremely similar. The only difference may be in the placement of the “Start new chat” button, for example.
The app offers several ways to communicate: chat, audio only and video. Everyone participating must have the app on their device, and you also need a Microsoft account (which is relatively simple to sign up for).
- To get started, download the Microsoft Teams app from: iOS App Store or Google Play store. Sign in with your Microsoft account; If you don’t have an account, you can sign up at this point. Free.
- If your workplace uses Microsoft Office, you will be asked to choose your organization or create a personal account. In this case, tap on “Personal”.
- At this point, it is said that others will be able to find you using your phone number or Microsoft email address. This information is not made public anywhere, but those who have one (and know you) will be able to use it to connect with you in Teams.
- The next screen lets you sync your contacts with the Teams app. This is not necessary.
You are now on the home screen for Teams. Tap the pen/paper icon to start a conversation. Teams lets you chat via text, audio or video.
A series of icons at the bottom let you check your various events (like task updates), go to chat, access your calendar or OneDrive files. The “More” icon at the end allows you to access your camera (take photos, copy business cards, etc.), see a list of your calls and tasks, and use a “vault” to store sensitive information in an encrypted format. Episode.
Finally, the three-line icon on the side lets you set your availability and a status message, point you to your settings, and set notifications, among other features.
Tap the “Chat” icon to start a chat. The Page lists people or groups of people you’ve chatted with recently; Choose one to start a new conversation. To start a session with a new contact, tap the pen/paper icon and you will be invited to enter the contact’s name, phone number or email address. (To make things a little easier, you can allow Teams to access your contacts.) You can also start a group chat with up to 20 people and name the group for reuse.
Once you have identified the person or people you want to chat with, select “Send invite”. They’ll receive a notification that you’ve started a chat and be invited to download Teams (assuming they haven’t yet). After signing in, you will receive a notification that they want to chat with you and you can accept or block it.
Teams’ chat app works very well, especially for its beta version, and has some interesting features. The two icons to the left of the message bar allow you to add a photo or audio clip to the chat. (Note: When you create an audio clip using the app, you must hold down the app’s “record” button until your message is finished.)
Above the chat area, the video and phone icons allow you to turn the chat into a video session or an audio-only session. There is no real difference between the two; The audio session only blocks the cameras of the participants.
Currently, the features available for video calls are somewhat limited. There is no recording feature (although there is screen sharing) and you cannot change the size or even the placement of the videos. Of course, Microsoft calls it a preview; Additional tweaks may come over time.
Meanwhile, Teams’ ease of use and integration with Microsoft’s calendar and OneDrive apps can make it very useful for many.