Getting Started with Microsoft Teams

Purpose

This article is designed to act as an overview of Microsoft Teams, showcasing how to access it along with some of the key features of the application.

Downloading Teams

• Please see the Download, Install and Set Up Microsoft Teams knowledge base article.
• You can also use Teams through a browser at office.uoregon.edu (see below).

Logging in to Teams

Microsoft Teams is accessed in three different ways: by the web, by its desktop application, or by its mobile application

Through a web browser

• Go to office.uoregon.edu and sign in using your @uoregon.edu email address.
  • Note: If you had created a Microsoft account prior to the university's site license was finalized, select Work or School Account to proceed.
• Enter your password to complete the sign-in process.
  • Note: You may see a prompt to reduce the amount that you will need to sign-on on the computer you are on. Do not check the box if you are on a public or shared computer.
• To launch Teams, click the Teams icon (purple with a white "T") on the left side of the window.

Through the desktop app

• Open the Microsoft Teams application from your computer
• Enter your @uoregon.edu email address and select Sign In to proceed
  • Note: If you had created a Microsoft account prior to the university's site license was finalized, select Work or School Account to proceed.
• Enter your password to complete the sign-in process.

Through the mobile app

• Open the application and select the Sign In button to proceed.
• Enter your @uoregon.edu email address and password when prompted.

Key Features

The Teams application allows for three major methods of communication along with many other integrations with Microsoft Office 365 applications like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and SharePoint. This section will go over how to create a chat, how to send text, audio- and video-based messaging, and how to create a Teams group of your own.

Creating a chat

First, click on the Create Chat button adjacent to the search field at the top of the window then search by using the Duck ID of the person you wish to chat with or their first and last name:

Audio chat, video chat, and screen sharing 

From the chat window for an individual or a group, you can use standard text chat or audio, video, or share your screen:

1. You can select one of the following methods of contact:
   • a) video chat
     • When connected to a video chat, you can choose to have the camera and microphone turned on or off
   • b) audio chat
   • c) screen sharing
     • When you click on this, you can have the option to:
       • Share the whole screen (or a specific screen if there are multiple displays connected)
       • Share any active window in an application
       • Share the active window or tab on a web browser.
     • If you want to pass control to another participant, you can click on the Give Control menu at the top of the screen to select them.
     • Note: You can also view the chat transcript by selecting it from the toolbar when connected
     • Note 2: If Teams suspects that you are trying to speak but your microphone is muted, you will see a message above the toolbar reminding that your microphone is muted.
   • d) adding them to favorites or Teams group.
2. There are three different views:
   • a) Conversations (default; shows all text-based messages within the conversation with an individual or group),
   • b) Files (which show all files shared with one another; saved to OneDrive), and
   • c) Activity (an individual activity across all channels)
3. Type here to enter the text as in a standard chat
4. A rich text editor view, attachments, emoji, GIFs, stickers, a meme builder, and additional extensions can be added then sent as well.
5. Either press Enter/Return on your keyboard or click the Send icon (paper airplane icon) to send a chat.

Creating a Teams group and channels

Teams allow for departments to organize their users into one large group. Once placed into a group, organizations can create smaller subgroups called Channels that allow for more focused conversation and collaboration for interested users. As Microsoft Teams is currently configured, channels may be subscribed to by all members of a Team and all files shared within it.

In the application window, the Team (marked as 1) will be above any Channel (marked as 2) below it.

Teams can be created simply by clicking on the Teams icon then selecting the Join or create a team link at the bottom of the Contacts frame of the application window. From there, a team can be created or you can join an existing team with a code provided by an existing team owner.

Click on Create Team

Select the Anyone option to continue.

Then at this dialog box, do the following:

Enter in a unique:

1. Team name
2. Description
3. Select a Privacy setting
4. If you want to create a Team using an existing team as a template or from an existing Office 365 group
   1. Note: If you would like to create a team using an existing team as a template or to create a team from an existing Office 365 group you may do so by clicking the link at the bottom of the dialog box. If you have the proper role within the existing team, you may select the desired team then click Choose team to proceed.
5. Once all of the information is entered, click Next to proceed.

This will create the Team.

Adding members to your Team

If you would like to add members to your new team, you may enter the email address(es) of the desired user(s) you want as members, then click Add to complete the process.

Once a Team is created, you can add click on the Options menu to Add channel.

Enter in a Channel name (1), Description (optional; 2), then click Add (3) to complete the process.