Microsoft's answer to Slack just got a huge update, giving it a brand-new app store, app integrations, chatbots, and improvements across the board to make the workplace-based messaging and collaboration platform better.
It serves as the biggest update to Teams since its launch last year, according to the Redmond company. The latest update focuses on integrating apps and services within the Teams ecosystem, a page it probably took off Slack's playbook.
Microsoft Revamps Teams
The new and updated Teams boasts integrations, revamped search and discovery features, commands, and a lot more.
For one, Teams now boasts a newly minted app store, which should expand the list of things that can be done within the client. Just for comparison, Slack also boasts its own app library, giving users the ability to perform all sorts of tasks directly within its platform, something that has made it a popular choice among businesses and enterprises who often collaborate online.
Personal Space
Microsoft's implementation is a little bit different, however, as it focuses on apps one's organization has added and assigned them to, streamlining the workflow and narrowing down what one needs to accomplish. There's a new "personal space" where all this is displayed, including all items one has been assigned to, such as tasks in Planner, or issues in Jira Cloud.
Microsoft also created its own app called Who, which is powered by Microsoft Graph. It lets users search across their organization for people by name or by topic.
Slash Commands
What's more, the new Teams also allows app launching directly from the command box. Users can query or command an app right from the box, which allows them to search for information from an app, then add the result right into a chat — all in a single, uninterrupted workflow. Microsoft says it's still trying to improve this process, and that Teams will get better at enabling users to perform much more complicated tasks, such as creating a new task in one's PM app.
It now also supports slash commands, which lets users accomplish tasks or access different parts of Teams just by typing in a "/" followed by a specific command.
The new features, which Microsoft has detailed in a blog post, are rolling out now, and Teams users should see them in their clients shortly. Microsoft is soliciting suggestions and feedback on how to make the platform better. If you have anything to share, submit them via UserVoice.
Thoughts about Microsoft Teams? Do you think it's better than Slack? As always, feel free to sound off in the comments section below!
