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Category: Office Apps

Teams Member vs Guest vs External user

A summary to the concept of Team members vs Team Guests vs External users with focus on direct communication and the most important differences.

Microsoft created a wonderful communication app with Teams (imho) but specially in the area on who is who and who can do what there can be a lot of confusion due to the complexity of options and considerations.

With this post I will give a summary to the concept of Team members vs Team Guests vs External users with focus on direct communication and the most important differences. Full overviews are linked in the text and in the links section at the bottom of the post.

A full Teams user

A full Teams user is someone who is part of a licensed Office365 setup or a free Teams account and can:

  • Chat or Call (1:1 or Group) to any other user that is part of the same organisation;
  • Chat or Call 1:1 to any External user, either with full capabilities (both you and the user are on Teams Only mode) or with restricted capabilities (one of you is not on Teams Only mode);
  • Chat or Call (1:1 or Group) with Team Groups Guests registered within your organisation (users from outside your organisation who are added to any Team Group);
  • Setup Meetings and invite other users from the same organisation, External Users and Team Group Guests (Note: Meetings creation is excluded from the free Teams plan);
  • be a Team Group Member and have Channel Conversations and Meetings with the other Team Group Members and Team Group Guests;
  • be a Team Group owner and act as Team Member with extra Group management rights;

An External user

External users are people from outside your organisation from a licensed domain using Skype for Business or Teams and who you contact from within Teams by adding their e-mail address for a 1:1 Chat or Meeting and selecting the option “… search externally” when presented.

External users are marked with a “External”-label behind their e-mail address. This works also the other way around where you will also be marked as External at your external contacts Chat and Contact lists.

Example External Label

IMPORTANT:

  1. External users receive Chats and Activity Notifications in their own organisations Teams panel. (No switch organisation opposite to being a Guest) !!!
  2. You can contact Guest users on their Guest user labelled e-mail address NEXT TO this same user External labelled contact address in case this also exist among your contacts list;
  3. Communication features between External contacts are restricted compared to users within your organisation or Guests.
  4. External access has to be allowed and configured for your and your contacts domain.
  5. Native Chat experience only between external users that are both on Teams Only mode!
  6. External users can share and get a desktop shared but can not get control from a shared desktop from another user.

A Guest

Guests are users from other organisations that are added as members to one or more Team Groups (aka Team Group Guest Members).

The same way you can be a guest in Team Groups belonging to other organisations then your own.

Guest members are basically visiting, in digital person so to say, your online organisation like they would in the physical world by visiting your office and can collaborate as such within your Team Groups they are member of. Therefor Guests need to switch to your organisation within the Teams app and can (with some restrictions, see point 4 below):

  • collaborate in Team Group Channels;
  • contact other users in your organisation via chats and calls;
  • attend meetings
  • NOT create meetings from within the org they are guest of. (Calendar feature is part of your orgs Office and can not be accessed (yet) from within an other org view)

IMPORTANT:

  1. Guest users receive Chats and Activity Notifications in the OTHER organisations Teams panel. SWITCH organisation is needed within Teams to work as Guest !!!
  2. You can contact External users on their external user labelled e-mail address NEXT TO this same user Guest labelled contact address in case this also exist when this user is also any Team Group Guest;
  3. Guest members have some restrictions compared to full Team members;
  4. Some settings for Guest users can be managed per Team by Team owners and some org-wide settings can be managed by org-admins;
  5. As a Guest user you can leave an organization on your own free will (account need to be enabled on both the home and the guest tenant) but an organizations admin has to fully remove your profile from the specific guest tenant.

Further reading on the full explanation and info provided by Microsoft:

For All Team Users

  • Communicate with users from other organizations in Microsoft Teams
  • Native chat experience for external (federated) users in Microsoft Teams
  • Compare external and guest access
  • What the guest experience is like
  • Comparison of team member and guest capabilities
  • Team owner, member, and guest capabilities in Teams
  • Set guest permissions for channels in Teams
  • Leave an organization as a guest user

For Admins

  • Manage external access in Microsoft Teams
  • Authorize guest access in Microsoft Teams
  • Teams and Skype interoperability
  • Manage Guest access in Teams
  • Turn on or turn off guest access to Microsoft Teams
  • Guest access checklist
  • Remove fully a guest user from an organization

I hope this post made your journey on communicating and possible home work with #MicrosoftTeams during this time of Corona easier and more productive.

Feel free to contact me or leave any comment if you have remarks or suggestions.

Stay safe and see you online!

Martinus

Author Martinus HamersPosted on April 9, 2020April 21, 2020Categories Cloud, Microsoft Teams, Office Apps, Office365, Training and InformationTags communication, externaluser, guest, info, member, summary, Teams2 Comments on Teams Member vs Guest vs External user

A starting point on where to place your documents in Office 365

With all the options of Apps in Office 365 it can be very confusing to decide what document to store where exactly. There is no strict rule on this, exactly because Office 365 is designed to be used as fits you best.

CloudFolderTo make your life as a user or administrator more easy you could start with the following concept and build onwards/adjust from there.

       OneDriveFull       |        TeamsFull       |        SharePointFull       |        YammerFull

I did not visually work it out (yet) but as a starting point I use the following “ruling”:

OneDrive

  • Personal documents with incidental sharing (HINT: point the Windows My Documents to the local OneDrive sync folders location)

Teams

  • Team collaboration “work in progress”/draft documents (The digital war room principle)

SharePoint Team sites

  • Document archive and publishing to a larger team/ department/group of people (SharePoint Team site)
  • “Public” documents (Intranet site) / News page related (published) documents
  • Documents with a minimal archiving period
  • Documents with specific version management
  • Documents with publishing approval

Yammer (in case Yammer is actively used as an inter company social platform)

  • Documents with social info / nonwork related data – not important who does or does not read or can access the document – no retention requirements

This is only a guide so you can start working with documents within some kind of boundary concept with the benefit of “all faces in the same direction” group work.

Review this working method/policy within your group and adapt based on your experience and needs.

 

Have filing fun!

Author Martinus HamersPosted on March 27, 2018March 27, 2018Categories Adoption, Getting organized, Office Apps, Office365, Training and InformationTags Getting Started; documents; Office 365Leave a comment on A starting point on where to place your documents in Office 365

Office365 Apps Adoption

Answering to the question I recently came upon asking for a “Teams Adoption presentation” the following came to my mind…
In my experience it is essential that there is some kind of “Real life use case Demo” included next to any presentation and best including the audience in this.

The DIY factor is very important.

Presentations on programs are boring till people can start clicking and trying themselves.
The same way as I decide to keep using an app on my mobile phone after I tried and tested it. The presentation of the app in the online store is mostly also just highlighting the basics/purpose of the app. I do not need 30 slides before trying it out.
A workshop with minimum of slides and maximum of actual role playing on a use case speaks more then a thousand words, so to say.
Find some early adopters/eager test users and include them in your use cases.
Quote from an article on adoption on the Avepoint blog puts it nicely together I think:

“Match up ideal use cases to teams that have also expressed a desire to work faster and in new ways. Capture success stories like the ones above and share them with the broader organization to drive more effective and lasting adoption. Making the journey of user adoption is as much art as it is science, so be flexible.”

Last but not least, make it a corporate event with full support from Top Management!

 

And because I am a lot into the Teams app here a 30 min. showcase video Microsoft Teams: Basics and beyond – that has a good wrap up of features you can include in your Teams Demo/Workshop.

 

Curious how your adoption is going to look like 🙂

 

Author Martinus HamersPosted on February 9, 2018Categories Adoption, Office Apps, Training and InformationTags Adoption, Apps, Office3651 Comment on Office365 Apps Adoption

Microsoft Teams Documentation and the Collab365 Teams Guest Users Group!

So here I am again with yet another bit of great info I thought of sharing with you.

Two items today: Microsofts own documentation page and the Collab365 Community Teams users guest group.

Microsoft’s own documentation page

Microsoft just launched a documentation page on Teams combining all the different documentation locations available regarding Microsoft Teams: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/MicrosoftTeams/Microsoft-Teams

2018-02-01 14_04_08-Microsoft Teams documentation and practical guidance _ Microsoft Docs - Internet

Collab365 Community Teams group

Under the slogan “Let’s learn Microsoft Teams together“, the Collab365 Community team launched an actual Collab365 Community Teams group.

Here you can test, learn, chat, discuss, get informed, give ideas,..etc by yourself together with all the other Teams enthousiasts out there!

Give it a try, I just love it!

2018-02-01 14_30_01-Collab365CommunityGuestTeamsPreview.png

To join, follow these steps:

  1. Email them your Office 365 email address to “Collab365@collaboris.com”. (Note: it will only work with your Office 365 accounts).
  2. They will then add you to the Team. (read more here)

OR

  1. Visit and join the Teams Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/MicrosoftTeams/permalink/334807460354853/
  2. Repond to the pinned post from Mark Jones.

 

see you there 😉

 

 

 

Author Martinus HamersPosted on February 1, 2018February 1, 2018Categories Microsoft Teams, Office AppsTags Collab365, Community, Documentation, Facebook1 Comment on Microsoft Teams Documentation and the Collab365 Teams Guest Users Group!

Microsoft Teams is Hot!

On all fronts Microsoft Teams is generating heat: attention, excitement, development, requests, debate, ideas and here and there some frustration when the early adaptors are impatient on all the nice updates to come.

The main reason for all of this is that Teams is going to be THE (team) communication tool for Office 365 users.

It is not only about replacing Skype for Business as chat, phone and video tool, Teams is bringing a great amount of apps together under one roof. Integration of files, calendar and meetings and planner to mention a few. Furthermore extra features like bots and connectors to your favourite non-microsoft apps and data feeds.

No more scattered emails, no more going throught the chat history in outlook,  document library at hand, private chat when needed and chat with non Teams users connecting to their Skype for Business.

Teams changes the total approach on communication and Team work.

With Teams access via the web, a desktop app and mobile apps you really can stay connected with your team in a very easy way.

Teams is up and running and you can start (considering it is included in your Microsoft license plan) with very little effort.

The first step is to just embrace what the app offers at this moment and simply start using it.

For me this was in the first place getting my team to install the desktop app for easier access and notifications and start doing all our team related communication entirely with the persistent chat function. Soon the installation of the mobile app followed and now being used as much as the desktop app.

My personal focus in using Teams is the basics of persistant team chat and discussing. And that is the beauty of it too, you do not need to start using all the bells and whistles.

Keep it simple in the beginning, start chatting, calling and have meetings. Discuss and share. In the end it is about the information and data communication, not about the tool.

Let the tool be the tool and Teams is a great tool that will only become greater.

A lot is going on regarding development and improvements. Yes there are so bugs to be solved. Yes there are other applications that have nicer features for the moment.

Just remember that it is Teams that is becoming central in Office 365 combining all the nice stuff and nothing is stopping you from already enjoying the ride!

 

Some handy links:

  • begin using Teams
  • Microsoft Teams documentation and practical guidance
  • intelligent communications page (for Office 365 customers currently using Skype for Business)
  • a new vision for intelligent communications (Microsoft Ignite announcement)

 

  • Microsoft Teams Interactive Demo – “Jump in and experience how teams collaborate when people, conversations, and content – along with the tools teams need – live together in one place.”

Getting started

  • Try Teams
  • Teams web app

Want to know what is coming in 2018?

  • Skype for Business to Microsoft Teams Capabilities Roadmap

 

and see my previous post with lots of other handy links regarding Teams and Office 365!

 

UPDATE:

Found this bit older but extensive post regarding Teams Governance:

Microsoft Teams Governance Planning Guide   (The Melihubb Hub)

 

Enjoy the ride!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Author Martinus HamersPosted on January 30, 2018February 1, 2018Categories Microsoft Teams, Office Apps1 Comment on Microsoft Teams is Hot!

Microsoft’s Information and feedback sites + special links for Microsoft Teams

This blog post will summarize some of the main sites provided by Microsoft towards end-users and administrators to find your way witin the Office 365 platform and its apps. This include the training and learning sites and feedback portals

So lets start the list. I included a dedicated section towards Microsoft Teams. My total vision on why Teams is the central future application I will do in a separate post but for now enough to say that Teams is combining several apps into a “persistent chat”-based central portal and gets an enormous focus from Microsoft and from the users and administrators community. The potential of this app is great and changing the way of working landscape.

Microsoft Teams

(Microsoft Teams by Microsoft)

“We’ve seen the impact that teamwork has had on our world, but what if teams could achieve even more? What if they had the space to be themselves, to share ideas freely and organically across geographies and generations?”

Microsoft Teams website

Microsoft Teams Interactive Demo – “Jump in and experience how teams collaborate when people, conversations, and content – along with the tools teams need – live together in one place.”

Microsoft Teams video training – “Using a chat-centered workspace”

Microsoft Teams YouTube video channel – “Getting Started with Microsoft Teams”

Microsoft Teams Tech Community – “Collaborate, share and learn from experts.”

Microsoft Teams UserVoice (Feedback) – “How can we make Microsoft Teams better?”

Microsoft Teams Documentation

Microsoft Teams Guest Access setup

and more on this excellent post of Matt Wade

 

Office 365 for the end-user

Periodic Table of Office 365 (TIP!)

Office Help & Training

Office 365 Training Center – “Learn how to get things done with Office. Find tutorials for all skill levels: beginner to advanced.”

Office 365 basics – video training – “Take your Office skills to new heights by getting back to basics. Create, edit, save online, and more.”

Tips for Office – “Discover tips to work smarter and get more out of your Office apps in the Office Training Center.”

Develop your skills – “Build your knowledge of Office with thousands of expert-led courses from LinkedIn Learning.”

Office Quick Starts – “Get up and running quickly with the basic info you need to be productive right away.”

What’s new in Office 365 – “As an Office 365 subscriber, you regularly get new and improved Office features. Take a look below to see what’s available to you today.”

Office 365 small business – training – “Training for small businesses and anyone new to Office 365”

User Voice – Customer Feedback for Microsoft Office 365 – “We love hearing from our customers. If you have suggestions for how we can improve, please share them with us here or at one of the related sites listed on the right. While we can’t respond to every suggestion, we are committed to reading every post.”

Microsoft Tech Community – “Collaborate, share and learn from experts.”

Office 365 Roadmap – “The  Office 365 Roadmap lists updates that are currently planned for applicable subscribers. Updates are at various stages from being in development to rolling-out to customers to being generally available for applicable customers world-wide.”

Microsoft Mechanics (YouTube) – Microsoft’s official new show to keep you up to date on our latest tech.”

GetStartedSharePoint (YouTube) – “SharePoint Online and Office 365 for enterprises as well as Office 365 for small businesses and professionals ”

 

Office 365 for Administrators and Power Users

TechNet – Office 365 for IT pros – “Office Tech Center”

FastTrack for Office 365 – “Make your rollout of Office 365 a success. Speed implementation, drive adoption, and help users get the most from the premier cloud productivity suite.”

Office Admin center – The Office 365 embedded admin portal

Office 365 small business – training – “Training for small businesses and anyone new to Office 365”

Office 365 is in the end a Do It Yourself platform. Meaning the end-user is encouraged to install, manage and use the available applications included in the platform, like the user is used to do on a personal smartphone. Either when using the corporate Office365 platform out of the box or with some or more customizations the applications interface and features are promoted by Microsoft towards the end-users interaction and so it is mandatory that the same user can find up to date information on these applications and features.

These links should give you a good starting point in finding your way around Office 365.

Enjoy!

Author Martinus HamersPosted on November 6, 2017June 20, 2018Categories Microsoft Teams, Office Apps, Training and InformationTags Admin Center, Community, Customer Feedback, Demo, DIY, Do It Yourself, Feedback, GetStarted, interactive, Links, Mechanics, Office365, Platform, Quick Starts, Roadmap, Teams, TechNet, Tips, Training, UserVoice, Video, Video TrainingLeave a comment on Microsoft’s Information and feedback sites + special links for Microsoft Teams

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Working with Office 365 Online at the office or remote.

My idea is to work as much Out of the box without any custom coding.

This will allow you to benefit from all the beautifull functions Microsoft is already developping for you so you can have a great functioning Office platform with minimal effort, cost and maintenance.

SharePoint online is a dynamic platform constantly updated and improved by Microsoft so lets go with the flow.

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