Shared Channels Now Accessible - Microsoft Teams Connect

Collaboration and Channels Made Easier with Microsoft Teams Connect

The main talking point of this blog post by Mio is about the general availability of Microsoft Teams Connect, aka shared channels from July 2022. These shared channels simplify collaboration efforts with people within and outside your organization.

The shared channels feature enables users from multiple teams, both internal and external, to collaborate without having to switch between different tenants. This promotes a smooth process flow as activities including threaded conversations, sharing and co-editing files, scheduling meetings, and using applications, are all supported by Microsoft Teams Connect.

The shared channels system architecture allows this cross-org, cross-team collaboration to happen under the umbrella of your existing security, governance, and compliance rules assigned to your Microsoft ecosystem and Office 365 environment.

The Dynamics of Teams and Channels

In the realm of Microsoft's collaboration software, teams are essentially the grouping of people, content, and tools designated for varying projects and expected results within a given organization. Channels, on the other hand, serve as categories within a team that keeps conversations organized based on different topics, projects, and so on. This group structure allows for an effective departmental, event, or project-wise collaboration.

Channels represent a single point of communication where a defined group of people can share messages, tools, and files. Channels are designed as a productivity hub, with every team required to have a General channel.

By being a channel member, users can control or limit the number of notifications received from a particular channel- a feature very useful especially for overly active channels.

Experiencing Shared Channels

Shared channels function just like the standard channels, however, they come with an exceptional feature – their access extends to members from other teams, and these members could be from other organizations. This powerful feature delivers a key advantage over the “guest access” system that required an often tedious identity switch to join other tenants.

All members of a shared channel can partake in conversations and have access to post and share files. Nevertheless, the functioning of Teams Connect is subject to some context-specific exceptions. The Microsoft chart elucidates the functionalities available in standard, private, and shared channels.

Creating and Granting Access to a Shared Channel in Microsoft Teams

Only team owners hold the privilege to create a shared channel. Once you create a shared channel, you get an option to grant access to additional people or entire teams.

The diversity of Microsoft Teams Connect allows for collaboration involving people from different companies to work together, making it ideal for projects such as live event planning, website creation, and software development among others. Additionally, shared channels also extend their utility within an organization, simplifying cross-functional collaboration.

Enabling Shared Channels in Microsoft Teams

By default, the shared channel feature in Teams is turned off. Administrators can decide to enable this feature as per their requirements and through policies in Microsoft Teams.

To include external users in shared channels or to participate in shared channels set in other organizations, Azure AD external sharing policies must be enabled.

Potential Limitations of Microsoft Teams Shared Channels

While they enhance standard channel experience, shared channels come with certain capacity limits and restrictions. Some features such as Stream, Planner, and Forms tabs are not supported in shared channels. Additionally, notifications from shared channels do not feature in missed activity emails.

In conclusion, the author stresses that Teams Connect and shared channels will serve as a game-changer for businesses that frequently collaborate with users outside of their own organization. This essentially negates the need for workarounds and allows people to stay within the workflow.

For more information about Teams Connect, visit here.

Read the full article Microsoft Teams Connect: Shared Channels Are Now Available

Learn about Microsoft Teams Connect: Shared Channels Are Now Available

Microsoft Teams Connect, also known as shared channels, launched in July 2022 shedding conventional barriers hindering smooth cross-organizational collaboration. Rather than using alternative communication networks or continuously switching between tenants, Teams Connect enables users across various teams, whether internal or external, to efficiently collaborate and share resources.

Understanding Teams and Channels: Within Teams, a team is a comprised of people, content, and tools surrounding different projects and outcomes within an organization. Teams are customizable and can be created to cater to departments, groups, projects, events, etc. Channels, on the other hand, are dedicated sections within a team, utilized to keep conversations organized by specific topics or projects. Team creators or owners can limit members' capabilities within a channel, while members can adjust or limit the notifications they receive from a channel.

Shared Channel Experience: Shared channels operate like standard channels with one crucial difference – they provide accessibility to members from other teams, and these members could be from other organizations. All members of a shared channel can participate in conversations and post and access shared files. These channels provide the enhanced advantage of multi-tenant collaboration compared with the previous "guest access" structure.

Creating a Shared Channel: In the Teams platform, only team owners have the privilege to create a shared channel. The channel's creation process is straightforward – right-click on any team name, select "Add channel," provide a channel name and description, then choose "Shared" from the Privacy drop-down. However, it is essential to know that your Teams Admin must have enabled shared channels functionality.

Granting Access to a Shared Channel: After creating a shared channel, you can grant access to additional people or entire teams by right-clicking on the channel name and selecting "Share channel." This presents you with the options of sharing the channel with individuals within or outside your organization or sending an invitation to a team owner.

User Cases: The functionality of shared channels has diversified use cases – from planning a live event to software development or intra-organization collaboration. Shared channels simplify cross-functional collaboration within an organization and are also ideal for multi-company projects.

Types of Channels: Teams host three types of channels – standard, private, and shared. Standard channels and their contents are accessible to all team members. Private channels, on the other hand, limit content access to only specific team members. Shared channels extend content to individuals outside of the team. Icons differentiate the channels – a link icon indicates a shared channel, a lock icon for a private channel, and no icon for a standard channel.

Enabling Shared Channels: The shared channel capability is by default turned off. Administrators can decide to enable specific features through controlling policies. To allow external users in shared channels or participating in shared channels set up in other organizations, you must enable Azure AD external sharing policies.

Limitations: While shared channels provide an enhanced collaborative experience, there are a few limitations to consider. For instance, shared channels don't support tabs for Stream, Planner, and Forms. Also, only creators of third-party apps can update their apps to enable their compatibility with shared channels.

Conclusion: Teams Connect and shared channels are significant game-changers in cross-organizational collaboration. Owing to their substantial functions, these channels allow individuals to stay within their work's flow, significantly improving workflow efficiencies.

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