Microsoft Launches ‘Teams Essentials’ Designed For Small Businesses To Thrive
Image via Microsoft
Despite being launched in 2017, it wasn’t until the move to remote working in 2020 that Microsoft Teams became a household name. In fact, it became so widely used that it might’ve even broken the law for being too popular.
This doesn’t mean that it’s slowing down, though. Just on Wednesday, Microsoft announced a new version of Teams that was built specifically to cater to small businesses: Microsoft Teams Essentials.
“We know how difficult the past 20 months have been for small businesses. They’ve had to demonstrate extreme flexibility to adapt, often with limited access to tools and technology,” Jared Spataro, corporate VP of Modern Work at Microsoft, writes in a statement.
“Teams Essentials is built specifically to meet the unique needs of small businesses, enabling them to thrive in this new era of work.”
Some of the features subscribers will get to enjoy include expansive limits, like unlimited group meetings for up to 30 hours, meetings with up to 300 people, and 10GB of cloud storage per user.
Image via Microsoft
Even for users who don’t have Teams, joining meetings is as simple as clicking an invitation link. This will allow them to join the meeting straight from their browser, with no downloads or signups required, for fuss-free communication.
Plus, a simplified and straightforward interface was designed for ease of learning in mind, enabling employees to “quickly be productive.” Making things even more convenient is the small-business group chat template, which will enable a quick start to things like starting group projects, delegating tasks, and creating feedback polls.
This first standalone version of Teams is priced at US$4 per month, an amount significantly lower than competitor Zoom’s US$14.99 per month at entry level.
Teams Essentials is available for purchase direct from Microsoft.
Meet Teams Essentials for small businesses.
— Microsoft Teams (@MicrosoftTeams) December 1, 2021
⏰ Enjoy bigger limits
💰 Spend less
🗓 Connect your Google Calendar – Coming soon!
💬 Stay in sync with group chat
Read more here: https://t.co/MXbWXvaukq pic.twitter.com/YycDgb4opP
[via GeekWire, images via Microsoft]
Also check out these recent news
