Microsoft adds Communities to Teams

(Image Courtesy: Microsoft)

Microsoft has announced the addition of Communities to its professional Instant Messaging (IM) client Teams.

The Redmon technology and hardware major announced that the feature will be added to the free versions of Teams, expanding to the widest possible audience.

"Whether your group is a recreational sports team, event planning committee, parent-teacher association, or even a small business, this new experience gives groups of all kinds a digital space to stay connected before, during, and after gatherings," Microsoft said in a blog post on December 7.

To get started, users simply need to create a community by browsing the suggested groups on the Teams home screen. From there, they can add custom group profile icons and other elements to make the community stand out.

Once that is done, a user can invite others to join by sharing a link or a QR code. Community administrators will be able to moderate content, remove or add new users.

A Community allows a user to share and store documents within a dedicated group and it has a filter function to quickly dig through photos, videos and other media.

Users can also organise virtual, hybrid or in-person events using the new tool. They can add events, meetings, track attendance, and even follow-up with individual attendees through personal messages.

For virtual events, users can add dial-in details or links to allow others to join. Attendees can join the event using any device via audio or video.

For in-person events, users can add the location and a map for easy directions.