Using Microsoft Teams for Remote Collaboration

Many of Ashton’s clients are experimenting with large scale remote work for the first time.  The greatest challenge for many is how to best collaborate when you no longer have the ability to walk down the hall to talk with a colleague.  I’d like to take a moment to provide you with some resources and ideas to help keep your team on the same page.

First, as many have adopted the Microsoft Office 365 platform for email and applications, we’d like to remind you of Microsoft Teams.  This is an extremely powerful tool for office messaging, secure file sharing, video conferencing, bridge conferencing, and live collaboration.  If your organization is not yet leveraging Teams, please contact us to discuss getting your team setup.  This week, we have found Teams to be highly effective in keeping our entire team together and communicating, from our 20 minute 8am team video conference to routine questions throughout the day. We expect our dependence on the solution to becoming even stronger over the next couple of weeks.

If you’d like some additional resources for configuring Teams and using it, the Bigger Brains online training channel at YouTube is temporarily providing their Microsoft Teams training free of charge, and we recommend taking advantage of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYQ1_IQV_ng&list=PLlD_YJ6GN1HnBqUK9XQcl3EB2J3AwdyOq&index=1

Review Your O365 Licensing

Also, for those running Office 365 applications, please remember that Microsoft provides each licensed user (and we can’t stress “licensed” enough) with the rights to install their copy of Office 365 apps on up to five (5) devices used by that licensed user.  For example: office desktop, office laptop, home iPad, home desktop, personal mobile phone.  This does not mean that one O365 license may be used on the office laptops of five different employees. Please also note that your organization may have security and compliance requirements that will prohibit this, and this should be discussed prior to your team being notified of this capability.

Your organization may also grant secure remote access to desktops so users can connect remotely from their home directly into their work computer.  This is generally the preferred manner for providing access, as it gives us (as your IT provider) greater control and security over your company’s data and intellectual property.

VoIP Solutions Help Too

For our clients who are leveraging the 3CX telephone system, remember that you have the 3CX software phone and mobile app that can be installed on iPhones, iPads, and Android devices.  This ensures that your private phone number stays private, while you retain the ability to dial office extensions, have access to the office address book, and initiate conference calls while outside of the office.  Again, if you have questions about deploying some of these 3CX solutions, or how to use them remotely, please contact us.

We’re all in somewhat uncharted territory at the moment, however we’d like to help your organization stay as connected as possible.  If you’re looking for Office 365 solutions or Microsoft Teams in the Cleveland area, give Ashton Technology Solutions a call at 216 397-4080.