Navigation Overview

Activity is the first button on the upper left hand navigation taskbar. This screen will show all of your mentions, who mentioned you in which post. The activity section will also show you any updates to the replies of posts that you were mentioned in. Similar to other platforms, when you have not clicked on a message or a post, those messages in the chat overview will be bolded.

The Chat window is the second button in the left hand navigation taskbar. Chat will be the destination for all of your private messages with your team.

The people icon brings you to the Teams section. This section of Teams Messaging displays all of your teams and the subfolders within each team.

The Calendar is used to create or schedule a meeting with your team through your Teams shared calendars. This is where you can put weekly meetings on Repeat for recurring meetings, establish uninterrupted project time through No Meetings time and Create Project Check-Ins to enhance team communication.

The phone icon brings you to the Calls section for making and receiving phone calls. This will also be the section where you will manage contacts.

Files is the last section in the left hand navigation taskbar. This is where you will find all the files you have shared and downloaded within Teams.

Your Picture Icon in the upper right hand corner of the window will be the location to change your picture and availability status - available, busy, etc. This is also the location for basic settings of your Teams Messaging and where to sign out.

Messaging Functionality

Let’s explore the messaging functionality within Teams. When you first start utilizing this tool, there will be no messages listed in the Chat overview. To begin a message with someone, clink on the search bar, type in someone’s name and select their name from the dropdown. Now their name will appear in the Chat overview and will be the message previewed in the main window.

Check marks by your messages confirm that your message was sent. Once the message has been viewed by someone, the check mark will turn into an eye icon.

Additional people can be added to your chats by searching their name in the search bar, which will start a new chat window and add their name to your Chat overview listing as messages history. Contacts listed in your chat overview can be added to your favorite contacts by right-clicking and selecting “Add to Favorite Contacts”. This action will add the individual to a listing under Contacts, found under the carrot menu next to the Chat title in the Chat overview.

In addition to basic chat functionality, you can also share files with other users. This is done by tapping on the paperclip icon within a message and choosing the file location: OneDrive, upload from my computer or through drag and dropping the file into the message. Once the file is fully uploaded, you can send the file message to someone. The recipient can now easily download the file to their computer or click on the file and open it up within Teams. When opening the file through Teams, all users within the chat can edit the files at the same time.

Screen sharing is a great tool within Chat as well. Tap on the middle icon in the upper right hand corner of the screen to start the screen sharing functionality. You will be prompted to choose which screen you want to share: desktop or current open windows. Once users accept your screen share, they can view your screen and request permission to control your screen.

Multi-chats are another capability within Teams Messenger. Within a current message, click on the plus person icon within the upper right hand corner of the screen and search the desired team member. A new multi-chat will be created once you’ve selected the new message recipient. There is no limit to the number of individuals that can be added to a multi-chat message and the functionality found with single recipients is seen with multiple users as well such as sharing files, sharing screen and messaging. To find the count of how many people are within the message, you can check the upper right hand corner with a people icon or directly above with a listing of each person. You can also pop out individual chats into their own window. This allows you to keep chatting with a person while continuing to utilize other functionality of Teams.

Thanks for joining us and learning more about Teams Messaging. Stay tuned as we continue to provide more guidance on Microsoft Teams to help you get the most out of your investment. Next on the docket we will take on Teams Video Conferencing. Contact our support team for additional guidance outside of this video series.