Adding File Attachments

You can attach files to a message in the same way you attach files to an email message.

Click the Attach button (paper clip) to be presented with a list of sources by which to select files.

 

 

Working with Channel Files

The Files feature is available by default for all channels.

You can upload files or entire folders…

 

…or create new files.

Newly created files are stored on the SharePoint drive for the group.

 

Live Collaboration

If you have a file open in the Web-version of its authoring application, and another user is working in the same file, you can execute live collaboration directly from within the application.

Click the Conversation button located in the upper-right corner of the application.

Changes made to the file are automatically saved to SharePoint.

If you do not wish to make changes to the original file, rather make a copy and update that instead, you can select the Options button for the file and select Copy along with a variety of other file-based actions.

 

 

 

Channel Wiki

If you are using a business account, you have access to a Wiki for the channel.  Wiki is Hawaiian for “to hurry; fast, quick.”

If you have an educational account, you won’t have Wiki but you will have access to other features, like “Class Notebook”, “Assignments”, and “Grades”.

Working with Wiki is like working with a notebook.  Wiki acts as a repository of shared information; you don’t want to get lost in conversation.

Items that are ideal for the Wiki include:

• Best practices
• Important decisions
• Operating procedures/standards
• Special announcements

 

 

 

Customizing the Shared Workspace

One of the best features of Teams is the ability to customize the workspace by adding other apps.  This is done by clicking the “Add a Tab” button (plus sign).

This presents a list of Teams-compatible apps that can be integrated into the Teams ecosystem.

This list contains many dozen app options, from “Adobe Creative Cloud” to “Asana”.

Using these apps allows you to remain within the Teams app while using the other apps that you work with.  The act of switching apps is greatly reduced.

 

Adding a Tab for a File

You can add tabs for specific files, like Excel files or PDF files, by selecting the “Add a Tab” button.  Selecting an application (ex: Excel) allows you to browse the SharePoint site for a file.  When the tab is selected, the linked file is opened in the Teams program for analysis.

 

 

 

Video Meetings

Creating a video meeting is a great way to collaborate with users who are geographically separated.

To start a new video meeting, click the “Meet Now” button (upper-right) and decide on starting a meeting instantly or scheduling a meeting.

This will open a Video Meeting window where you can perform several actions:

• Set the source of your audio (computer, phone, room, or no audio)
• Turn on or off the camera
• Replace the background of the video

 

Requesting Team Members to Join

To send a request to a team member to join the video meeting, open the Participants list, and click “Request to Join” next to the team member’s name.

 

Sharing Your Desktop

A great feature of video meetings is the ability to share your Desktop so others in the meeting can see what is on your screen.

To show your screen, click the “Share Content” button (CTRL-Shift-E).

Select either a specific application you want to display (to the exclusion of all other running applications) or select the entire screen.

 

If you would like to schedule a meeting with team members, select the “Meet Now” button and click “Schedule a Meeting”.

 

In the New Meeting window, you can give the meeting a name, set the date & time, invite team members, and provide meeting details.

 

 

Once completed, the meeting will display in the post along with the calendars of the meeting participants.  Because this is linked to your Exchange account, you can also see these meetings in Outlook.

 

 

 

 

The Chat View

The Chat View allows you to have one-on-one chats or group chats with specific people.  Chat reduces the number of emails that are sent within the organization.

 

Start a Chat

Start a new chat by clicking the New Chat button at the top of the List Pane (next to the Filter button).  Type the name of the person you wish to chat with.

You can also click the Chat dropdown and select Contact at top of List Pane to start a new conversation with an existing contact.

As with Teams conversations, Chat messages are entered at the bottom of the screen.  Attachments, formatting, emojis, and other features are located below the message bar.

 

Switch to Voice/Video

If you find yourself typing more than a simple chat demands, you can instantly switch to an audio or video call.

Incoming chats will display as a popup in the corner of the screen.  Click “Reply” to respond to the new chat.  To display the full conversation, click the upper-half of the popup.

 

Share Files in a Chat

To share a file during a chat session, click the Attach button (paper clip) then browse to the file location.

To see all files shared during a conversation, click Files at the top of the conversation pane.

These files are saved to your personal OneDrive for Business account.  If you open a browser and login into your OneDrive account, you can see these files in the Shared -> Shared by You section.

You can also see the files that have been shared with you by other team members.

 

Managing Chats

There are several Chat features worth exploring, such as:

Pin a Chat

To keep a chat present in the chat list, hover over the chat in the List Pane and click the Options button.  Select Pin.

Mute a Chat

To silence a particularly active chat, hover over the chat in the List Pane and click the Options button.  Select Mute.  The chats will still appear in the conversation pane, but notifications will be silenced.

Unmute a Chat

Click the Unmute (bell with a slash) button next to the chat name at the top of the conversation pane.

Hide a Chat

When finished with a chat, hover over the chat in the List Pane and click the Options button.  Select Hide.

Saving a Chat

To save a chat, click the Options button and select “Save this Message”.

To view your saved chats, click your profile picture (upper-right) and select “Saved”.

This will display all the saved messages and conversations.

To unsave a message, click the red flag icon to the right of the message.

 

Read Receipts

Read receipts are active by default.  When a chat message has been delivered, a circular checkmark icon appears to the right of the chat message.

When a chat message has been read, the icon changes to an eye icon.

This feature is controlled by your I.T. department and can be turned on or off for all users.  The (I.T.) can also allow you to control this feature.

Select your profile picture (upper-right) and select Settings.  Select the Privacy section.  Here, you can turn on or off the Read Receipts feature.

 

 

 

Controlling Notifications

In the Settings section, under Notifications, you can control the method and frequency of notifications for various types of events.

 

 

Setting Your Availability

To see your current availability status, check out your profile picture in the upper-right of the Teams window.

Your status is indicated by a colored icon.

If you are in a meeting that is set on your calendar, your status will automatically change to “Busy” and “Available” based on the defined time of the meeting.

You can manually set your status to any of the available options by selecting your profile picture, then click the displayed status to show the list of status options.

You can set your status with a pre-defined duration so that you return to “Available” automatically.  This is helpful for those of us who forget to set ourselves back to “Available” once we have completed our task.

 

 

 

Catching Up on Missed Activity

If you are way on vacation or possibly occupied by some “unspecified virus of unknown origin”, you can easily get caught up on missed activity by using the Activity view.  A red circle with a number indicates unread activity or @ mentions with your name.

Unread activity is displayed in bold while read activity follows.

If you wish to focus on a specific type of activity, you can use the Filter feature to narrow the list.

 

 

 

Using the Search Feature

The search box at the top can be used to search Teams for specific text (as you would expect), for an advanced search, or you can also send a direct message to someone.

To look for a specific term, click into the search bar and type in your specific search term, press “Enter”. The left pane will now show your search results. At the top of your left pane you can filter your search results further by clicking between “Messages”, “People”, and “Files”. 

For an advanced search, click on the filter icon  to the right of “Messages”, “People”, and “Files”. The advanced search will give you further options in narrowing down your search results.

 

To send a direct message, start by typing an “@” symbol followed by their name. This means you don’t need to switch to the Chat view to locate the needed person.

You can also pick from a list of commands by typing a forward slash “/” to perform common tasks more quickly, such as:

• /unread – filter all messages for unread messages
• /dnd – switch your availability status to “do not disturb”

 

 

The Calls Tab

The Calls tab displays a list of your contacts, a history of your calls, as well as the ability to listen to any voicemail messages left by a caller while you were unavailable.

If your company has a calling plan, you can call any of your team members directly from here.

You can also call a member of your team wherever you can see their contact.  Just hover over their picture to reveal contact options, such as chat, email, and call.

 

 

The Files Tab

The Files tab will display a history of the files you have recently worked on, even if those files are not part of a Teams conversation.

You can also access your files stored in your OneDrive for Business account without having to exit the Teams app.

 

 

Controlling Teams Accounts

If you belong to multiple organizations with the same email address, you can quickly switch organizations by clicking the Organizations button (upper-right) to switch organizations without having to sign out and back in again.

If you are using Teams with an organization that requires a different email address, you will be required to sign out of Teams and back in with the differing credentials.

You are not required to install a second instance of Teams, even if the accounts are a combination of education and business.