Collaboration is an important part of achieving productivity in today’s fast-paced business environment. As the average workforce becomes more diverse and dispersed, companies are constantly searching for simpler ways to provide every worker with the resources they need to communicate and create.
Team workflow apps like Microsoft Teams and more recently, Amazon Chime have begun to arise as an essential part of the average business environment. The problem is, it’s often difficult to determine which app is right for your company. Both applications are secure, work on desktop and mobile, offer great communication features, and more. Here’s how you can distinguish between the two.
Microsoft Teams vs Amazon Chime: The Basics
While Microsoft’s popular communications product “Skype for Business” comes with a free-to-use version, Microsoft Teams is yet to offer its own basic package. While reports suggest that a free option is on the horizon, the application currently falls behind the range of UC solutions that do have their own basic package like Amazon Chime.
Amazon Chime’s free plan comes with 1:1 calling, screen sharing features, video calling features, and access to a chat feature with 30 days of message history. Chime is also available to auto-call participants when meetings start so that people don’t have to worry about remembering numbers and usernames.
Microsoft Teams vs Amazon Chime: Ease of Use
One of the major selling points of Amazon Chime is that it’s simple to use, with very little need for training at deployment. Chime works much in the same way as other standard UC platforms, though it has some unique features like the ability to mute another participant in a call that might be disturbing the flow of the conversation.
While it’s true that Chime is intuitive and easy to use, the same could certainly be said about Microsoft Teams, which is often the perfect solution for companies that have already gotten used to the Office 365 framework. Microsoft’s Teams products delivers the full depth and of Office 365 to the business space while giving users a unique chat-based hub for more fluid communications. Out of the box, it includes Azure Active Directory and integrates with other services within the Office 365 network.
Microsoft Teams vs Amazon Chime: Features
After the basic free option, Chime comes in two higher-tier plans called “Plus” and “Pro”. These offerings come with everything you would expect from a UC app, including conferencing, chat, call recording, and instant messaging. At the same time, there are a handful of user management tools available too.
The highest-tier option available, Amazon Chime Pro, comes with screen sharing abilities, the opportunity to share custom URLs for meetings, and more. On the other hand, Microsoft Teams comes as part of the Microsoft Office 365 subscription and works as an extension of the platform of corresponding products.
Teams comes with a real-time chat solution, meetings and calling, and easy access to the rest of the components of Office 365. This solution offers a hub of productivity for teamwork that’s perfect for everyone from small companies to enterprise-level organisations. Customers can also extend Teams with connectors, and bots available as apps in the Teams marketplace.
Which Should You Choose?
Ultimately, the decision between Chime and Teams will be influenced by your personal preferences, and what you’re looking for as a business. If you’re looking for a simple and effective communication tool with a free tier, then Amazon Chime may be the right option. On the other hand, if you want a complete portfolio of business and collaboration products, then Microsoft Teams with Office 365 could be ideal.
