Microsoft Teams has proven itself in the world of business communication and collaboration tools. But for businesses that need an extra edge, Microsoft introduces Teams Premium. This article delves deep into Teams Premium features and why it might be the game-changer your business needs.
Overview of Teams Premium and Its Benefits
Microsoft Teams Premium is a new offering that builds on the familiar experience of the Teams app built into Microsoft 365 Business plans. Over the past few years, Microsoft Teams has emerged as the premier collaboration app. Designed and built for hybrid work, Teams is a cloud-powered experience that enables business teams to stay informed, organized, and connected—all from a single app that works on any device.
It is the hub for team collaboration in Microsoft 365 that integrates:
- People
- Content
- Tools
The integration of people, content, and tools helps your team be more engaged and effective.
Microsoft Teams Premium features expand upon what is found in the standard version of Microsoft Teams that comes with Microsoft 365. Including functions that help make online meetings conducted either in the Teams app or in the web browser experience even more personalized, intelligent, and protected.
Microsoft Teams Premium also enables premium capabilities for additional meeting scenarios, such as virtual appointments and webinars.
At a high level, here are some of the differences between Microsoft Teams vs Teams Premium:
|
Features |
Microsoft Teams |
Microsoft Teams Premium |
|
Group chat and collaboration |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Audio and video calls |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Screen sharing |
Yes |
Yes |
|
File sharing |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Integration with other Microsoft apps |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Unlimited chat history and message search |
No |
Yes |
|
Scheduled meetings and calendar integration |
No |
Yes |
|
Meeting recording and transcription |
No |
Yes |
|
Live event streaming for up to 100,000 attendees |
No |
Yes |
|
No |
Yes |
A case can be made for most IT leaders that Microsoft Teams Premium is a better fit over other communications options for organizations needing a comprehensive suite of features to enhance business-to-customer engagement.
One of the features in MS Teams Premium that is particularly important is Virtual Appointments. This Premium-exclusive feature integrates with the Microsoft Bookings app built into all Microsoft 365 Business plans. Bookings allow users to manage and schedule appointments, often as an online video call using the secure Teams platform.
Virtual Appointments in Microsoft Teams Premium introduces new functionalities into these Bookings, such as analytics, queue management, and on-demand appointments.
Analytics
Exclusive to the Virtual Appointments app in Teams Premium is the ability to view analytics related to appointments. Gathering analytics in an app sounds like something nerdy for only the IT department, but they are extremely useful to management and finance groups in an organization. Analytics in Virtual Appointments are relatively detailed, and the data delivered can provide the insights managers need to evaluate an employee’s performance. For example, analytics in Virtual Appointments can tell a sales manager exactly how long the meeting lasted, if the attendee was engaged during the presentation, and other key statistics. These employee insights can also be rolled up to the human resources and finance groups to provide data-driven justifications for performance review scoring. In many ways, the analytics available in Virtual Appointments can level the playing field for employees and managers alike, so workplace decisions are always backed by hard data (Microsoft Viva helps with this—another built-in feature in Teams) rather than hard feelings.
Queue Management
Another feature of Virtual Appointments is the ability to manage a queue of appointments. The queue system can be particularly useful for businesses or professionals who might have unpredictable availability or for services where immediate attention might be required, such as IT support or consultation services. When a customer wants to make an appointment with an employee, they can join a queue. The employee (or representative with administration rights over the employee’s calendar, such as an executive assistant) can then view this queue to see who is waiting and for how long. In addition, the Virtual Appointment queue system is considerate of the normal business hours employee works. So, when clients try to join the queue outside of designated business hours, they will be notified that they are outside of the operational times and will either block the appointment or suggest another time. Even though much of the queue management process is automated, it is crucial to manage the queue actively to ensure a smooth and efficient experience for all parties involved.
On-Demand Appointments
The "on-demand appointments" feature and "queue management" are closely related, but they serve different purposes within the context of Microsoft Teams Premium's Virtual Appointments. On-demand appointments allow clients or customers to request a meeting with a staff member or service provider without a pre-scheduled time slot. Instead of booking an appointment for a future date and time, clients can request to be seen as soon as the staff member is available. When setting up the Virtual Appointments app, there's an option to offer employee time as "on-demand." On-demand appointments allow clients to request immediate service without a pre-scheduled slot. This enables a client to visit the booking page and see two options: one for scheduling a specific appointment and another to "see a staff member now" which is for the on-demand option. If they choose the on-demand option, they'll be added to the queue. So, queue management is the system that organizes and manages these on-demand requests.
Two of the most impressive features of Virtual Appointments are:
- The ability for clients to join directly from any modern web browser
- The ability to receive short message service (SMS) text reminders of appointments.
The benefit of joining a Teams meeting directly from a web browser should be obvious. What if the person you want to meet with does not have Teams on their device? Joining a meeting instantly after clicking on a meeting link enhances the overall user experience because clients are no longer required to have the Teams app installed. Although many people joining a Teams meeting from an Apple iPhone or Google Android-based smartphone might already have the Teams app installed on their device, sometimes their Teams notifications are silenced. However, a text message reminder can often help users due to the psychological compulsion many seem to have with answering the “ding” noise of receiving a text message. But all joking aside, there is no denying that the flexibility to receive SMS reminders for appointments is a valuable feature in Teams Premium.
When a CIO or other corporate IT decision-maker performs a Teams Room Standard vs. Premium comparison, it's evident that the premium version stands out, especially when facilitating a smooth customer journey. It allows external participants to receive timely text reminders and access custom-branded virtual appointments right from their mobile devices. If you're still wondering, "Why spend the extra money on Teams Premium if the existing version of Teams in Microsoft 365 already gives my employees the capability to conduct meetings?", then consider:
- The Virtual Appointment feature in MS Teams Premium offers tighter integration with Outlook for scheduling customer and prospect books with deep meeting analytics and appointment management tools.
- Teams Premium license holders gain exclusive features for setting and keeping appointments, including queue management, SMS notifications, custom waiting rooms, and detailed analytics.
- Teams Premium empowers your employees to facilitate successful customer journeys with text reminders and custom-branded virtual appointments accessible on mobile devices that extend your corporate brand in ways that a standard Teams meeting cannot.
When you sum it all up, MS Teams Premium's Virtual Appointments is the go-to solution for scheduling, overseeing, and executing business-to-customer interactions. This means Microsoft Teams Premium is not just another communication tool; its advanced features, integrations, and security measures elevate how businesses communicate, collaborate, and operate.
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Importance of Maximizing Business Returns with Teams Premium
In today's competitive business landscape, every investment counts. Microsoft Teams Premium costs more than Teams (hence the “Premium” in its name), and its plethora of added features should be worth the money. However, businesses want to ensure they get value for their money and see tangible returns in terms of productivity, cost savings, and more.
Top 6 ROI of Microsoft Teams Premium
To get the most out of a Microsoft Teams Premium subscription, businesses need to know how it can help boost productivity, collaboration, security, and more. At a high level, there are six ways a business can maximize its ROI with Teams Premium:
- Enhanced Productivity
- Cost Savings
- Improved Communication
- Enhanced Collaboration
- Scalability and Flexibility
- Security and Compliance
Enhanced Productivity Using Teams Premium ChatGPT Integration
Users of Teams Premium have an AI-driven assistant to streamline tasks, making collaboration efficient and smooth. ChatGPT, the powerful artificial intelligence-powered chatbot developed by OpenAI, is integrated into the Teams Premium ChatGPT offering. This integration of Teams Premium with ChatGPT leverages cloud-based AI to enhance and simplify meetings in Teams. For example, the Teams Premium ChatGPT feature can automatically generate real-time captions and translate them into 40 different spoken languages at the time this blog post is being written. In addition, the AI can also automatically take notes and recommend tasks based on conversations had during the call.
Cost Savings by Reducing Expenses Associated with Travel & In-person Meetings
With the high-quality video conferencing delivered by Teams Premium, businesses can drastically cut costs related to in-person meetings. One of the most direct savings is reducing or eliminating travel expenses. This includes costs for flights, hotels, meals, transportation, and other related expenses. If a meeting can be conducted virtually, participants do need to travel. In-person meetings often have associated costs like catering, printed materials, and equipment rentals. While sometimes overlooked as an expense, it should be noted that online meetings conducted in Teams Premium can also help reduce an organization’s carbon footprint, which can be a part of corporate social responsibility initiatives–which can also lead to potential savings in terms of carbon credits or tax incentives.
Improved Communication with High-quality Audio and Video Conferencing
Teams Premium ensures that every call is crystal clear, enhancing the communication experience. Add to that instant messaging and file-sharing capabilities, and you have a comprehensive communication solution. In some cases, the ability of Teams Premium to enable impromptu meetings without the need for physical presence creates more direct communication between employees of various job levels and business groups. This flexibility can lead to quicker decision-making processes, eliminating the need to wait for key personnel to be physically present.
Enhanced Collaboration Using New Teams Premium Intelligent Recap
Missed a meeting? No worries. Teams Premium uses AI to generate intelligent recaps to provide a concise summary, ensuring everyone is on the same page. The Teams Premium Intelligent Recap tool aims to reduce employees' time sifting through their meeting minutes and extracting action points. The Teams Premium Intelligent Recap will record and analyze your meeting notes using Open AI’s GPT-3.5 large language model (LLM) and then automatically generate suggestions for tasks and actions derived from meetings. Beyond just automating note-taking and task suggestions, Microsoft touts how the Teams Premium ChatGPT offering uses AI-generated chapters to divide meetings into easily searchable sections so that attendees (and anyone else) reading the notes after the fact can effortlessly find the content most pertinent to them.
Scalability and Flexibility
Teams Premium grows with you as your business grows, ensuring seamless communication no matter where your team is located. Microsoft Teams Premium offers not only new AI-powered features but also the proven collaboration features of screen sharing, whiteboarding, and file sharing to enable employees to perform at their highest quality no matter where they choose to work. These tools can sometimes be more effective than traditional in-person collaboration tools, reducing the need for follow-up meetings and further reducing costs. In addition, the robust online collaboration afforded by Teams Premium can improve employees' work-life balance. If an employee can be more productive working from home (as all Amaxra employees do today), this will lead to increased job satisfaction while reducing turnover and associated recruitment and training costs.
Security and Compliance
Teams Premium strongly emphasizes security. New features available for Teams Premium include a watermark on the screen displaying the user's name (also known as the “user’s principal name” or UPN) to deter unauthorized screen captures, end-to-end encryption with a verification code, and the ability to apply sensitivity labels to Teams meetings. Microsoft Teams Premium shares all the cyber-security features included in its standard sibling available as part of the Microsoft 365 suite. Its security, encryption, and compliance features are closely tied to the broader Microsoft 365 security and compliance infrastructure. Here's a table detailing some of the key security measures, advanced encryption, and compliance certifications for Microsoft Teams:
|
Feature/Certification |
Security Measures |
|
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) |
Requires users to provide multiple forms of identification before accessing an account. |
|
Conditional Access |
Allows organizations to set policies on user access based on conditions like location, device, user risk, and application sensitivity. |
|
Data Loss Prevention (DLP) |
Identifies, monitors, and protects sensitive information across Microsoft Teams. |
|
Secure Guest Access |
Allows organizations to collaborate with external users while maintaining control over their data. |
|
Safe Attachments/Documents/Links |
Protects against malicious files and links shared in Teams. |
|
In-Transit Encryption |
Data is encrypted when it's transmitted between devices and Microsoft data centers. |
|
At-Rest Encryption |
Data stored in Microsoft data centers is encrypted. |
|
Service Encryption with Customer Key |
Allows customers to control and manage their own encryption keys. |
|
Feature/Certification |
Security Measures |
|
ISO 27001 |
Demonstrates that Microsoft follows international standards for information security management. |
|
ISO 27018 |
Shows compliance with international standards for cloud privacy. |
|
HIPAA |
Ensures that Microsoft Teams can be used in environments that require Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act compliance. |
|
FERPA |
Ensures that Microsoft Teams can be used in educational institutions that require Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act compliance. |
|
GDPR |
Microsoft Teams complies with the General Data Protection Regulation, ensuring data protection and privacy for individuals within the European Union. |
|
FedRAMP |
Microsoft Teams meets the security and compliance requirements to be used by U.S. government agencies. |
Integration with Microsoft 365
From Outlook to SharePoint and OneDrive, Teams Premium ensures that all your tools are interconnected, enhancing productivity and collaboration.
FAQs
What is Microsoft Teams Premium?
Microsoft Teams Premium is an add-on license that enhances the Teams experience with features like personalized meetings, enhanced meeting protection, advanced management capabilities, and advanced virtual appointments.
How Does Teams Premium Compare to the Standard Teams?
Teams Premium offers additional features on top of the standard Teams, such as organization branding for meetings, live translated captions, and advanced webinar functionalities.
Are There Any Features That Were Previously Available in Teams but Have Now Moved to Teams Premium?
Yes, features like live translation of meeting captions, live chapters, and certain virtual appointment features have moved to Teams Premium.
What Are the Requirements to Purchase Teams Premium?
Organizations need to have one of these Microsoft 365 licenses:
- Business Standard
- Business Premium
- E3
- E5
Teams Premium cannot be purchased as a standalone app and is available on any Microsoft 365 commercial, worldwide public sector, educational, or non-profit cloud tenant.
How Much Does Teams Premium Cost?
A Microsoft Teams Premium license cost is based on a per-user/per-month price. At the time of this blog post’s publication, the retail price of a Teams Premium license is $10 per user/per month with discounts available through various sellers.
Which Users Should Be Assigned Teams Premium Licenses?
Teams Premium should be assigned to users who need access to the enhanced features it offers. When a meeting organizer has a Teams Premium license, certain features extend to all meeting participants.
Can Organizations Try Teams Premium Before Purchasing Licenses?
Organizations can access a 30-day trial license for Teams Premium.
How Can Organizations Purchase Teams Premium Licenses?
Licenses can be purchased through preferred purchasing channels and then assigned to users via the Microsoft 365 admin center.
How Does Teams Premium Differ From Teams Rooms Pro?
Teams Premium licenses are for individual users, while Teams Rooms Pro licenses are for Microsoft Teams Rooms devices.
Is Additional Configuration Required After Assigning Teams Premium Licenses to Users?
Many Teams Premium features require IT admin configuration before users can access them.
What Enhancements Does Teams Premium Offer for Meetings?
Teams Premium provides enhanced features like sensitivity labels for meetings, watermarking, and end-to-end encryption for enhanced security.
How Can Meetings Be Customized With Teams Premium?
Teams Premium offers meeting templates, themes, custom backgrounds, and custom together-mode scenes for a personalized meeting experience.
What Are the Advanced Features for Webinars in Teams Premium?
Teams Premium offers advanced registration capabilities, customized visual experiences, and detailed registration overviews and management for webinars.
What Are the Advanced Virtual Appointment Capabilities in Teams Premium?
Teams Premium provides features like SMS notifications, custom waiting rooms, appointment queues, and analytics for virtual appointments.
Conclusion
Microsoft Teams Premium is more than just a communication tool; it's a comprehensive solution designed to elevate your business operations. If you're looking to truly transform the way your business communicates and collaborates, Teams Premium is the answer.
Considering the leap to Teams Premium? It's a decision you won't regret. Amaxra can work with you to determine which licensing option for Teams Premium with Microsoft 365 will fit your business needs. Contact us now to find the perfect premium collaboration solution for your business.
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