Microsoft Teams and Slack are two of the most popular messaging and collaboration platforms. While they both offer many of the same features, they can also be used together to create an even more powerful toolset. In this article, UC Today explains how to integrate Slack with Microsoft Teams. It also explores some of the benefits of using both platforms together.
Microsoft Teams and Slack: Top Two Collaboration Tools
Microsoft Teams is an essential part of Microsoft's "modern workplace" idea, which attempts to establish an agile and scalable system using cloud-based capabilities. Teams can be used as an alternative to — or even a complete substitute for — email and traditional telephony. Slack is a communication platform developed by Slack Technologies, now a Salesforce-owned company. It is a chat-focused workplace collaboration app that brings together conversations, tools, and files in one place.
Slack and Microsoft Teams are both tools that can be used on the computer or phone to communicate with teams and keep people up to date on essential news and events.
How to Integrate Slack with Microsoft Teams?
The three methods below will guide users in connecting Slack and Microsoft Teams for the best results.
1. Use the Teams Calls app for Slack
In April 2020, we discussed that Slack is currently working on a Teams Calling integration, and the feature is now available via a Slack app. This method is probably the easiest way to integrate Slack with Microsoft Teams. It assumes Slack will remain your primary collaboration platform while Microsoft Teams coexists in the background.
While chatting on Slack, sharing files, or performing any other task, the integration allows users to switch to a Microsoft Teams call quickly. Users will use their Microsoft credentials for calling purposes, and one can also benefit from Teams' ability to add more participants to a call. Here are the steps to follow:
- In the Slack App Directory, go to the Microsoft Teams Calls page.
- Add to Slack by clicking the Add to Slack button.
- To give Microsoft Teams access to Slack, click Allow.
- Users can log in to their Microsoft account to get started.
- To return to the workspace, click Open Slack when prompted.
This integration enables a couple of additional benefits. You can type in the /teams-calls command into Slack's address bar to launch a Teams call with minimal effort, and you can also set the Teams calls app as the default calling service. Further, the integration pushes any calendar notifications of Teams calls via Slack.
2. Use Zapier to set up integrations and automation
While the previous Slack-Teams integration method focused on video calling, this option lets you set automated workflows that cut across both platforms. Zapier currently has four pre-configured automation options, which you can start using right away. This includes automatically sending starred Slack messages to a Teams channel, receiving Slack notifications for Teams channel conversations, sending a Slack message whenever there is a new Teams message, and sending a Teams message whenever there is a Slack notification. Each event on one platform will trigger an automated action on the other platform.
