Microsoft came this week With a new option for businesses that don’t have a Microsoft 365 subscription, but want to use the Teams collaboration tool. This new subscription is called Teams Essentials and will be designed specifically for small businesses and other businesses with tight budgets.
Among the functions offered are group video, group chat, file sharing and calendar functions. The latter currently supports Outlook calendar, but Google Calendar integration will also be ready soon.
More resources
Compared to the free version of Teams, which is still available, Teams Essensials includes more storage space and the ability to hold larger and longer meetings.
The free version currently includes 5 GB of storage space per user. With Teams Essensials, this has doubled to 10 GB.
Users of the free version can participate in group meetings with up to 100 participants, in meetings of up to 60 minutes. With Teams Essensials, this is expanded to 300 participants and 30 hours.
Included in the price Priced at 35.30 NOK + VAT. Per user per month is also around the clock phone and online support. Given that moving to Microsoft 365 Business Basic costs no more than an additional nine kroner per user per month, Teams Essensials may not be the natural choice for everyone.
Microsoft 365 Business Basic includes mobile and web versions of the most popular Office applications, 1 TB of storage per user and Exchange-based email, plus what’s included in Teams Essensials.
“Web specialist. Lifelong zombie maven. Coffee ninja. Hipster-friendly analyst.”
