Microsoft Teams (aka Teams or MS Teams)is a unified communication and collaboration platform that combines persistent workplace chat, video meetings, screen sharing, file storage (including real-time collaboration), and team organization. Only information with a classification rating of low confidentiality may be be stored in MS Teams. Microsoft hosts a series of free, live,online instructor-led training classes designed to get you up and running with Microsoft Teams. To get the most out of Teams Meetings, be sure to check out our General Meeting Guidance.
Please seek approval from Data Governance and Legal to share information with a classification rating of moderate or high confidentiality on MS Teams.
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft SharePoint
Microsoft Teams
Speed
Slow
Difficult to know if your email has been read or when you will hear back
Average
Content is updated less frequently
Fast
Suitable for instant communication
Audience
Varies
Can be used for audiences of any size
Varies
Sites should be used to broadcast a message, share content for viewing but not editing, or to showcase services
Varies
Designed for smaller teams or groups with a focused and defined purpose
Tone
Formal
Professional setting
Formal
Content is more permanent with the organization in mind
Informal
Suitable for team members who work together closely and understand the information presented; can be conversational but should remain suitable for a professional work environment
Information Sharing
Not Easily Shared
Forwarding attachments back and forth makes traceability difficult and inhibits versioning control
Easily Shared
With either the entire organization (on the Intranet) or external partners (on External SharePoint sites)
Easily Shared
Information is shareable in various formats and methods and includes collaboration with others who have access to the Team Channel
Knowledge Transfer
Not Recommended
Any knowledge artifacts within a mailbox are only available to the mailbox owner and may be lost after a user's account is deactivated
Recommended
Particularly for external audiences; Ensures a consistent user experience and effective organizational management of information
Recommended
Changes in Channel membership have no impact on content availability; Newly added members have access to all historical data/conversations as long as these settings were selected when adding the new member.
Confidentiality
Average
Only the sender and recipient have access to the email and its contents but can be accidentally forwarded/sent to the wrong parties
High
Provides the most control over permissions, sharing and security controls
Average
Only members to the Channel have access to the shared information and data, however, confidential information may be exposed if permissions settings are not properly managed and maintained
Version Control
None
Documents sent via Outlook must be downloaded before edits can be made; each recipient will have their own file with no ability to collaborate within the document itself
High
Version history on all documents are maintained by SharePoint by default
High
Must access the Channel's File tab, then select Open in SharePoint; When viewed in SharePoint, version history is readily available
Function
Description and Limitations
Adding New Members to an Established Chat
When a current member of a Chat invites a new member, the invitee has the option to include all historical chat records, but not all shared files. The new member will not be able to see any files shared as part of the chat prior to when they were added as a member. When a file is shared in a Chat it is stored in the OneDrive account of the chat member who shared it and Teams will automatically provide access to all current members of the chat to the shared file(s). However, new chat members will still be able to see the previously shared files and can request access to them.
Mobile vs. Desktop features and functions
The web and and smartphone cloud apps are slimmed down versions of the desktop app. You may notice some missing functionality, such as the inability to edit wiki pages in the IOS and Android Apps, or the inability to share your screen during a chat in the web browser.
Email sent to a Team Channel
The ability to Email a Channel has been permanently disabled. The team is associated with a Microsoft Group which does have an associated inbox. Individuals outside the team or external to the ITS tenant can email the group inbox in order to get information to Team member, however the email and content will not be present in the Team.
Sharing your Screen in a Chat
You will need to use the Teams Desktop app to share your screen within a chat or if using the desktop app is not an option you can schedule a meeting with the person and share your screen while in the meeting.
File Storage
Files larger than 10GB cannot be uploaded into Teams. Additionally, because file storage in Teams runs off the same architecture SharePoint is built on, certain characters in the file name may cause problems during upload. If a file or folder you’re trying to upload to SharePoint contains any of the characters listed below, it may prevent files and folders from syncing. Rename the file or folder to remove these characters before you upload it.
Quotation Marks
Asterisks
Colons
Carrots
Question Marks
Back and Forward Slashes
Vertical Bars
Leading/Trailing Spaces
"
*
:
< >
?
/ \
|
Connections to SharePoint
An externally-facing NYSERDA SharePoint site cannot be connected directly to a Team or Channel, though an Intranet SharePoint site can.
Browser Support
Chrome: General support for the latest version plus the two previous versions. Meetings are supported on Chrome 59 or later. Support for Calls is coming soon.
FireFox: General support for the latest version plus the two previous versions. Calls and Meetings aren't supported. Users who try to join a meeting on Firefox will be directed to download the Teams desktop client.
Internet Explorer: Calls and Meetings are not supported. Users who try to join a meeting on Internet Explorer 11 will be directed to download the Teams desktop client.
Microsoft Edge: Calls and Meetings supported on Edge RS2 or later.
Safari: Not supported. Users who try to open Teams on Safari will be directed to download the Teams desktop client.
If this is your first time using Microsoft Teams, we recommend that you begin exploring the materials below, starting with the Interactive Demo prepared by Microsoft to acclimate new users to the tools and functionality within the application. After understanding the basics of Microsoft Teams, you can begin to explore more complex subjects by clicking the alternate tabs above.
If you would like to register for or watch recordings of virtual, instructor-led training sessions sponsored by Microsoft, please use the link below to access a list of available courses and recordings.
NYSERDA Microsoft Teams is recommended as a collaboration tool only, not a file repository for Records. Draft and final versions of documents should be clearly labeled.
MS Teams is approved for collaboration to nyserda.ny.gov and greenbank.ny.gov email addresses and to other State entities in the ITS system. Legal consideration and approval may be needed in the following cases
To invite interagency staff or other NYSERDA program/departments (i.e., other NYS agencies and authorities) to participate on a NYSERDA MS Team.
When Information Assets have a Confidentiality rating of Moderate or High.
MS Teams Chats must only contain Low Confidential information
Note the timing for the creation of the MS Team is dependent on NYS ITS; NYSERDA does not build the MS Team.
Each team needs at least two Owners to manage (add/remove) team members.
Team Owners should conduct periodic reviews of Owners and Members associated with their Team(s) and Channel(s) to ensure that user access is current.
To request a new team, submit an IT request via the NYSERDA Service Desk, selecting Data Governance/Maps/Visuals > Request a New MS Team.
Provide the following information in the request form:
Summary
Team Name (must begin with NYSERDA.365)
Description
Service Desk Ticket # for the Information Asset Identification Worksheet
Confidentiality Classification Rating from Information Asset Identification Worksheet
Name of two Team Owners (each team must have at least two owners to ensure coverage)
If you intend to collaborate within your department or across departments
A brief description of expected team interactions
Approximate number of team members
Legal Contact for your program/department
You can expect the following actions after submitting your MS Teams Request
Notification that the Teams request has been submitted to ITS
Notification that the Team has been created
A link to the Teams Quick Start Documentation on Confluence
A link to a survey to share your experiences and candid feedback
Some functionality reviewed in the links below requires access to a Team or Channel as an Owner and cannot be accomplished by users with only Guest or Member access.
Working with Teams
Working with Channels
For Team Owners
NYSERDA users can chat with other users from any NYS entities within the NYS-ITS O365 Tenant (e.g. Department of Health, Department of Tax and Finance, etc.).
NYSERDA users cannot chat with users from a business or consumer email account, such as Outlook or Gmail.
