Posted June 30, 2021 by Academic and Institutional Technology
Tags: Department News
Microsoft Teams Platform
In order to facilitate effective communication across campus as we move to our new phone and communication system, all employees are required to be logged in to Microsoft Teams. Once you’ve logged in for the first time, Microsoft Teams will remember you and automatically log you in each day! Just as our email communication is unified in Microsoft Outlook, our chat, phone and conferencing will be unified in Teams.
How can you be sure Teams is running? On a PC, click the small “up” arrow (caret) in the bottom right of your screen and then look for Microsoft Teams logo. Mac users can open it from Applications. If you can't find it, click on top right-hand corner (magnifying glass) and search for it.
The last day that Wheaton College will be using Zoom as a video conferencing platform will be Wednesday, June 30. Beginning on July 1, 2021, all Wheaton College video conferencing business will be conducted via Microsoft Teams.
Key Benefits and Features
- Streamlining communication among our faculty and staff as each employee will be easier to reach via Microsoft Teams.
- Providing a consistent platform for all of campus to use for our video conferencing needs. No need to transition back and forth between video conferencing systems going forward.
- Microsoft Teams provides HIPAA-compliant storage for recordings.
- Employees will be able to see at a glance when their colleagues are free or busy, which will simplify quick communication. Sometimes a phone call is not needed, and a simple chat can solve a problem without the back-and-forth of an email string.
- Improved collaboration tools for file sharing, chatting, and notes during meetings.
Impact on College Community
You should begin the habit of “launching” Microsoft Teams each morning if you are not doing so already. On a PC, this will be found by clicking on the small “up” arrow (caret) in the bottom right of your screen and then clicking on the purple “T” of the Microsoft Teams logo. For Mac users, open it from your applications. If you can't find it, click on top right-hand corner (magnifying glass) and search for it.
There are Teams settings to “Auto-start application” and “Open application in background.” You are able to set those once and then not have to manually open every day.
Special note: Once you have logged into Microsoft Teams for the first time, it will always be running in the background unless you “quit.” You do not need to login to it each day, or to “open” it or “launch” it, since it will still be running even if you can’t see it. For simplicity of phrases, we’re using the words “open” or “launch” in quotations. What we mean is that you will begin utilizing the Microsoft Teams interface.
A modest amount of additional training is needed to use Teams in a HIPAA-compliant way. Please contact the AIT Service Desk if you do any tele-health or tele-counseling. We can point you in the right direction.
We will have more information soon to share about “netiquette” for using Microsoft Teams and what the expectations are for faculty and staff as we use this platform. Keep an eye out for that!
You can learn more about Microsoft Teams from our Answers articles. You can also find tons of short recordings on LinkedIn Learning that may help. Additionally, we will be offering some live trainings soon.
If you have any questions, please contact us at ait.service.desk@wheaton.edu or call 630.752.4357 (HELP). You are also welcome to reach out to your MIOT rep at any time.