Microsoft Teams vs. Zoom

Microsoft Teams launched in 2017 and is now integrated into all enterprise versions of the Microsoft 365 Suite. The collaborative work platform can create meetings either as appointments for members of a "channel" or for freely chosen participants, or spontaneously from a chat. Within the conferences, participants can share their screen, work with a whiteboard, hold presentations, and share files with other participants. Microsoft Teams has integrated accessibility as standard. Colleagues living with hearing loss or deafness, or just in a noisy environment, can participate in Microsoft Teams video conferences without restrictions thanks to alternative text, captions, and live transcription. This integrative function converts speech into text in real time. With solutions for meetings, chats, phone calls, webinars, and rooms that work on almost any device, Microsoft Teams supports hybrid collaboration and seamless communication. In addition, the tool offers a "Together Mode," which gathers all call participants like avatars in a virtual lecture hall or an office with a sea view.

You can download the software from the Microsoft Teams website for Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android and install it with a few clicks.

To use the free basic version of Microsoft Team, all you need is a Microsoft account. If you are already using Skype, OneDrive, the web-based version of Outlook or Xbox Live, you already have one.

Once you have opened Microsoft Teams and signed in with your access data, you can create a new team in the Teams view with a click on "Create Team". The tool then offers you many features such as chats instead of emails, simultaneous editing of Microsoft Office files, notifications for likes, @mentions, and replies.