Microsoft Teams to go live globally from March 14

After announcing Teams back in November, Microsoft is now putting the final touches on its chat-based workspace app prior to its global release on March 14. To celebrate the global launch of Teams for Office 365 users, the software giant plans to hold an online event on Tuesday next week.

As part of the event’s preparations, Microsoft opened an online registration page where anyone can reserve a seat. (Online registration here.)

During the event, Microsoft Corporate Vice President Kirk Koenigsbauer will also discuss how the chat app improves collaboration across an organization. The Redmond titan is also expected to announce a few more enhancements for Teams based on user feedback gathered during the app’s preview phase. In addition to Office 365, Microsoft Teams is compatible with Skype for Business, Planner, Power BI, and many other applications across platforms.

On Skype, users will be able to make calls within the Teams app and drop in and out of video calls. Teams’ introduction is seen by many as a move to directly take on Slack. However, unlike Slack, Teams won’t be offering as many freebies to users, so Microsoft’s product won’t be a direct rival in that respect. Microsoft Teams is prime for competition nonetheless, with the Office 365’s huge user base reaching tens of millions.

Even though Microsoft already has Skype for Business in its portfolio, the addition of Teams is meant to target enterprise customers who seek premium collaboration services. While Skype is free to use, Teams is available for a fee. Therefore, despite their relatively similar functions, Teams and Skype are considered as two different offerings.

Are you eager to take the plunge and start using Microsoft Teams? Lets us know in the comments.

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