Microsoft Teams allows team members in dispersed locations to communicate, share information, and work together in a common space. Video conferencing, one-to-one and team chats, document collaboration, conversation threads, and more make Microsoft Teams your one-stop shop for your communication and collaboration needs.
Here's a breakdown of the communication tools within Teams.
Teams
Teams are groups of people within your organization, gathered together in one virtual space for online communication and collaboration.
Channels
Teams are made up of Channels, which are conversations you have with your teammates. Each channel is dedicated to a specific topic, department, or project. Channels are where teams get work done, via text chats, shared files, and audio/video conversations.
The General channel is created by default when you create a new team. Channels have many useful purposes, including
Conversation Threads
Conversations Threads are Posts made in Channels that team members reply to. The conversation thread is intended to house the conversations. A response to a Post in a Conversation Thread will make the Channel display bold in the left-hand column.
Files
Each Microsoft Team comes along with a corresponding SharePoint site, which means you can add, create, and collaborate on files your team is working on in one place!
Notes
If the owner of a team creates a OneNote notebook for the team, it will be accessible via the Staff Notebook tab in the General Channel, and in the Notes tab under any sub-Channels.
Please note there is a limit of 30 private channels per team.
Posts
A new Post or response to a conversation thread will make the Channel display bold in the left-hand column.
Learn more about Posts in Microsoft Teams.
Chat
While Conversation Threads are public Posts in Channels, Chats are just between you and someone else (or a small group of added people). They are similar to the instant messaging feature in Skype for Business.
Learn more about Chat in Microsoft Teams.
@mentions
If you want to get someone's attention in a Channel Conversation thread or a chat, @mention them. Just type @ before their name and select them from the menu that displays. Your teammate will receive a notification with a link to go directly to the point where they were mentioned in the conversation.
Learn more about using @mentions to get someone's attention in Microsoft Teams.
Activity
Activity shows you a summary of everything that's happened in your Channels. Select the Filter icon in the top right corner of the feed to show specific types of messages such as unread messages, @mentions, replies, and likes.
When a red circle appears next to Activity, you have a notification such as an @mention or a reply in your feed.
Explore the Activity feed in Teams
Calendar
Your Calendar in Microsoft Teams syncs with your Outlook calendar.