Ammon News - According to Demandsage, over 320 million daily users rely on Microsoft Teams for communication, file sharing, organization, and more. It's an easy and secure way to collaborate on Word or PowerPoint projects, which is one reason why companies switch from Google Workspace to Microsoft 365. Moreover, it's one of the most popular video conferencing apps, second only to Zoom, which makes the app ideal for remote workers across the globe. Teams has a lot of great productivity features, including some that are powered by AI, but you might not be making the most of all the platform has to offer.

If you're new to Microsoft Teams, there are some essential features you should know about that can change how you navigate and organize your workspace. There are also great accessibility features that are especially important for users with disabilities. You may have spotted some of these already, but if you haven't checked these features out yet, you should definitely consider adding them to your workflow.

Access everything from the command bar

Microsoft Teams' command bar makes it easy to navigate the platform, and that's because it's more than just a simple search function. Typing a forward slash (/) allows you to use slash commands for quick actions that you can complete without going to a different page. You can also type these shortcuts in the compose box, though not all work in both places, and slash commands overall don't currently work on mobile.

A full list of slash commands can be found on Microsoft's website, and simply typing "/" will bring up suggestions, but we'll go over some of the ones you'll probably end up using often. Shortcuts like "/available," "/brb," and "/dnd" make it easy to change your status so your co-workers know whether you're around and if they can expect a quick response. You can also quickly clear your status with "/reset."

Other useful slash commands include "/goto" (takes you to a chat or channel), "/meetnow" (start or join a meeting), and "/settings" (opens the settings menu). Adding certain apps to Microsoft Teams (more on that later) may add new commands that can also help you save time and work more efficiently.

Control how many notifications you see

If you're part of a large organization and find yourself in a lot of channels, you'll probably end up getting a lot of Microsoft Teams notifications. Major announcements and @ notifications are important, but depending on the channel, there may be a lot of messages that don't actually need your attention. Too many notifications clutter your digital workspace and can make it hard to stay focused on the task at hand. Conversely, you might have channels that require close monitoring, in which case you'll want to ensure you don't miss anything.

Fortunately, you can customize how many notifications you see from each channel, essentially allowing you to mute or boost certain ones. To do that, click More channel options next to the channel name and go to Channel notifications to set your preferences.

Additionally, there are options that change the notifications themselves, which you can access by going to Settings > Notifications and activity. You could set certain types of notifications to come with audio alerts and assign each different sounds, then select whether they play while you're in meetings. There are also display options to change the size of notifications, what's included in them, and where they appear on screen.

Microsoft Teams has apps for everything

Microsoft Teams comes with some apps by default to handle simple tasks like chat and calendar functionality, but you can also add first- and third-party ones to streamline your workspace. There are options for powerful productivity apps used for collaboration, file sharing, and education, such as Asana, Dropbox, Canva, and Turnitin. There are also various AI agents that can handle tasks like planning and note-taking, as well as some news outlets that make it easy to read and share articles without having to leave Teams.

Apps can also help meeting organizers and presenters prepare, improve, and send notes from Teams meetings. You can set up apps ahead of time for things you know you'll need (e.g. scheduling, note-taking, transcription) or open new ones mid-meeting if necessary. Using apps during meetings can facilitate real-time collaboration and feedback, making them more interactive for attendees and productive for everyone involved.

Favorites and pins are great organization tools

Speaking of apps, the best way to make the ones you use frequently easy to find is by using pins so they'll stay on the left-hand side of the screen. This is as simple as right-clicking an app icon and selecting Pin or Unpin. It's also possible to pin an app to the top of a channel or chat by clicking Add a tab, which is a great way to give everyone quick access to relevant tools, or pin a window to remain above other apps even if you click on something outside that window.

Users can also pin channels and chats by going to More options > Pin. You can also hide ones that you don't need or want to see, cleaning up your display without missing out on future chat messages or channel mentions and tags. Using Microsoft Teams' various pinning and hiding features allows you to organize your workspace so you can focus on what you need to get done.


Accessibility options

Last but certainly not least, Teams has a variety of accessibility options that make the platform more inclusive, particularly for users with vision, hearing, and motion-related disabilities. Microsoft's website has a full list of tools and tips that users and admins can use to make Teams more accessible. Many can be enabled by going to Settings and more > Settings > Accessibility.

There are several features designed to make Teams meetings more accessible for deaf or hard-of-hearing users, including auto-generated captions, live transcripts, and Sign language mode, which ensures sign language users can see any interpreters who are on the call. Other non-meeting features include screen reader support and keyboard shortcuts that provide another way to interact with the platform.

Additionally, a variety of Microsoft 365 programs have Accessibility Checker under the Review tab, which can assess messages, documents, and more for issues like missing alt text or poor color contrast. It can also give suggestions for how to solve any problems it finds, making it easy to facilitate a more accessible workplace.

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