Teams licenses has been enabled for all faculty, staff and students that currently have an Office 365 license.
Microsoft Teams
Beginning March 16, 2020, DoIT and Microsoft have enabled faculty and staff to temporarily have access to Teams Phone Conferencing, an add-on that creates Teams meetings with a call-in phone number during a time of increased remote learning and remote work.
Calling in to meetings is very useful when people are on the road, for example, and can't attend a meeting using the Microsoft Teams app on their laptop or mobile devices. But there are other scenarios in which using a phone to attend a Microsoft Teams meeting can be a better option than using an app on a computer:
- Internet connectivity is limited.
- A meeting is audio only.
- The person tried to join a Skype for Business meeting and it failed.
- The call quality is better if they dial in.
- People can join a meeting "hands free" using Bluetooth devices.
- People find it's easier and more convenient for their situation.
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.
Accessing Microsoft Teams
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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 Features in Teams | December 2020
Breakout rooms available - divide the meeting into sub-groups to facilitate discussions and brainstorming sessions (12/9/2020)