We’re living in an era where collaboration is both more critical and more challenging than ever. Companies know that their teams need to work cohesively together if they want to thrive. However, as remote working and mobile staff become more common, it can be challenging to ensure that disparate people remain on the same page.
New applications that combine unified communications with the rising need for collaboration can help businesses to get more control over their front and back end. The right solution will give your employees the support they need to be efficient and productive in any environment. The question is, which application is correct for you?
As we enter the age of UC 3.0, it's time to examine each of the leading options in the marketplace in closer details. Here's your guide to Microsoft Teams and Workplace by Facebook.
Microsoft Teams vs. Workplace by Facebook: User Experience
The only way to get real value from any new investment is to ensure that your staff feels comfortable using your new technology. That means investing in excellent user experience. Fortunately, most vendors know that they need to put accessibility first when building a new collaborative solution.
Microsoft introduced the Teams application as a crucial component of its Office 365 productivity suite. Because countless people now use Office 365 to create and share documents around the world, the Teams solution feels like a natural extension of their existing workflow. Microsoft Teams comes with the option to access dial-in numbers from more than 400 global cities. What's more, your users can access their Teams experience when they're on-the-go from smartphone devices.
Microsoft Teams users even have the option to explore additional hardware available from leading vendors to improve their UC experience. Microsoft has strong relationships with companies offering everything from desk phones, to huddle room solutions. All that, and there's a free tier so you can try before you buy.
- Try-before-you-buy free tier
- Integrations with the Office 365 productivity suite
- Integrations with countless great tools
- Easy-to-use UI for collaboration
- Access from any device
- Dial-in number around the world
Workplace by Facebook is another excellent example of a tool that puts usability first. As the most popular social media channel in the world, there's a good chance that some of your staff members already have an account with Facebook. Using Workplace by Facebook feels very similar, with access to things like instant communication via real-time messaging, live video streaming, and even news feeds.
Workplace by Facebook conveniently connects with the apps you already use in the workplace, such as Office 365 and Box, so you can access everything you need from the same environment. Additionally, the software behind Workplace by Facebook is designed to learn and get more intelligent; the more you use it. You can get real-time responses in chat, use machine learning to make your alerts more relevant, and more.
What's more, Facebook delivers its business apps via any device through specialist apps for your smartphones and tablets.
- Access from any device
- Feels just like using the consumer Facebook
- Machine learning so your experience gets better over time
- Integrations with your favourite tools
- Excellent one-click video calling
Microsoft Teams vs. Workplace by Facebook: Team Experience
Both Workplace by Facebook and Microsoft Teams are designed to get workforces working together more effectively. No matter where your team members are or what they're doing, these tools will give them access to both knowledge, and co-workers.
A crucial part of the Office 365 environment, Microsoft Teams, aligns with all the productivity tools that your employees use each day, including email, excel spreadsheets, and even PowerPoints. You can launch meetings directly from your calendar and switch from instant chat to video chat within a matter of seconds. Whether you're looking for direct messaging or phone conversations, Microsoft Teams has you covered.
To make team collaboration more productive, Microsoft has also invested in various partnerships with leading hardware vendors too. That means that you can build out your conferencing experience with everything from the Microsoft Surface, to leading IP phones and headsets.
- Integrations with Microsoft and third-party tools
- Instant messaging and group chat
- File sharing and real-time editing
- Collaboration with leading hardware vendors
- Easy meeting acceleration
As experts in social media connections, Facebook knows how complicated it can be to bring people together on the same page. That's why you can do everything from sharing live video, to automatically sharing information via newsfeeds to keep your people connected. Businesses can create private spaces where teams can collaborate on projects via file sharing and live video. There's also cutting-edge AI built into the newsfeed to make sure that the right people get the right messages.
Businesses can make sure that their team members are engaged by running polls and surveys. Additionally, there's the option to built-in bots and intelligent services like Safety Check so that you're never too far from any member of your team. One particularly impressive feature from Workplace by Facebook is the integration of auto-translation so that people from different countries can still communicate across geographic boundaries.
- Support for 46 languages in auto translate
- Safety check to find people quickly
- File sharing and live video
- Instant chat, group chat, and notifications
- Video conferencing
- Machine learning news feed
Microsoft Teams vs. Workplace by Facebook: Customer Experience
To create a truly unified communication environment, it's essential to combine the back-end discussions in your workforce with the front-end conversations with customers. Many vendors are beginning to realise this, which means that they're building contact centre tools into their collaboration environments.
