Teams licenses has been enabled for all faculty, staff and students that currently have an Office 365 license.
After 35 years of service, NIU's phone system is retiring in 2022. Over the course of a phased rollout, the traditional phone system and equipment will be replaced with Microsoft Teams Voice, which uses the existing Teams platform to make and receive external calls on a computer or mobile device.
The transition to Teams Voice will offer modern calling enhancements, such as voicemail to email, call history, call blocking, call transferring, call forwarding, and much more. The switch will also permit NIU employees to use existing 753 or 752 numbers to simplify the transition and minimize disruption. In addition to adding modern calling features, this change allows NIU to reduce telecommunications costs by removing a legacy phone system that is expensive to maintain, difficult to repair, and obsolete.
The move to Teams Voice is a large project in the early planning phase. The project team is committed to effective communication and will update campus regularly through NIU Announcements, presentations, direct communications, and the NIU Teams Voice website. The transition is expected to begin in January of 2022, followed by a phased rollout over the course of several months. It is anticipated that the first phase of the rollout will migrate individual numbers to Teams, while a second phase will transition departmental phones, faxes, conference rooms, and call centers. The project team will regularly connect with individuals and units regarding scheduling, training, and next steps.
Please complete this one question form if have questions, concerns, or would like to be considered as an early adopter.
Please visit the NIU Teams Voice website to learn more and gain access to the most up-to-date information.
Microsoft Teams is a unified communications tool that allows for persistent 1:1 or group chat, video/audio calls and conferencing, and has integration with the full suite of O365 applications we've come to rely upon at NIU. If you're familiar with Slack or Discord, Teams has many similarities.
Teams licenses have been enabled for all faculty, staff and students that currently have an Office 365 license.
If your device is supported by an IT administrator, they should be able to assist you with getting access to the Teams application. If Teams is already installed you can find it on your computer by locating the Desktop icon, searching "Microsoft Teams" in the search bar, or navigating to it in the Start menu located under the "Microsoft Corporation" folder.
The Microsoft Teams web client will prompt you to download the desktop client for macOS or Windows. If you're on Linux, the web client will be required.
Mobile users can download the app on the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store.
Teams licenses has been enabled for all faculty, staff and students that currently have an Office 365 license.
Microsoft Teams is a unified communications tool that allows for persistent 1:1 or group chat, video/audio calls and conferencing, and has integration with the full suite of O365 applications we’ve come to rely upon at NIU. If you’re familiar with Slack or Discord, Teams has many similarities.
If your device is supported by an IT administrator, they should be able to assist you with getting access to the Teams application. If Teams is already installed you can find it on your computer by locating the Desktop icon, searching “Microsoft Teams” in the search bar, or navigating to it in the Start menu located under the “Microsoft Corporation” folder.
The Microsoft Teams web client will prompt you to download the desktop client for macOS or Windows. If you’re on Linux, the web client will be required.
Mobile users can download the app for Android or iOS here:
In many ways, it’s not. When you create a Team, you’re also creating an Office 365 Group. You manage group Ownership and Membership similar to an O365 Group. Teams do not, by default, show up in the O365 Global Address List (GAL) and are much less public than an O365 Group.
New presenter modes available - you can now use a presenter mode such as Standout, Side-by-side, or Reporter in a Teams meeting instead of sharing screen or window content only