Frequently Asked Questions
Why would I use Microsoft Teams?
Rethink collaboration and productivity – Microsoft Teams is the new way to work.
Often, email communication on projects are rigid and important documents are all over. With Microsoft Teams, everything the team needs is in one hub and new members get updated about the project easily. There is no extra cost to Office 365 users. Microsoft Teams comes with a broad and deep integration with Office 365 apps within a single interface, while offering advanced security and compliance capabilities.
Can we store NUS Confidential documents on Microsoft Teams?
NUS Confidential data can be stored/shared in NUS Microsoft Office 365 (including Teams and OneDrive), provided the individual files are encrypted.
Alternatively, you may add a tab for website with the URL mynbox.nus.edu.sg to access files in nBox without exiting Teams interface.
What is the different between TeamUp, Microsoft Teams and Skype for Business?
Here is a brief comparison of chat-based collaboration tools:
Setup | TeamUp | Microsoft Teams | Skype for Business |
|---|---|---|---|
Available to | NUS Staff and Students | NUS Staff and Students with Office 365 (excludes NUSEXT & Alumni) | NUS Staff and Students (Search for NUS Students via SFB client) |
NUS Directory Integration |
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External Guest Access |
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Server | On-premise | Microsoft (Azure Cloud) | Microsoft (Azure Cloud) |
Integration | Chat in LumiNUS | With Office 365 apps | - |
Team Size | Maximum 3000 | Maximum 5000 | - |
Desktop & Mobile Apps |
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Collaboration Features | TeamUp | Microsoft Teams | Skype for Business |
Team Conversations | Asynchronous (Persistent and threaded) | Asynchronous (Persistent and threaded) | Synchronous |
Private Chat (1:1) |
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Private Group Chat (1:many) |
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Online Presence |
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Rich Text and Emojis |
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| Emojis only |
Like and @mentions |
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File Sharing |
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File and Folder Management |
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Search and Filter |
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| No (only individual chats if history enabled) |
Call/Meeting Features | TeamUp | Microsoft Teams | Skype for Business |
Telephone Calls |
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VoIP Calls (Audio/Video) |
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Schedule Online Meeting |
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Join Meeting | With meeting link via Zoom | On web, desktop or mobile (iOS/Android) app for members already in team | With meeting link |
Screen Sharing |
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Whiteboard |
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Record Meeting |
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Meeting Chat |
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Note:
- Using Zoom for TeamUp
- To start a Zoom meeting, Sign in first via the web portal: https://nus-sg.zoom.us to activate your NUS Zoom account. For more info on Zoom refer to: Zoom
Can I have a sub-group discussion within the team?
Yes! Create a private channel and add selected members who are already in the team.
Can I collaborate people outside NUS into my team?
Yes! Read more here about Inviting a Guest.
Can I invite external guests using the "join code"?
No. Guests can only be invited one by one using email addresses.
Can Microsoft Teams be used in China?
Yes. Microsoft Office 365 tenants hosted outside of China are accessible from within China. Services under Office 365 are not blocked by consumer firewall or ISPs at this time.
Users' experience may vary by service and network as Microsoft has no control over consumer internet services. They are advised to download client apps (instead of using web-based client).
If your users experience network performance issues, they should report this to NUS ITCare for troubleshooting, who can then escalate to Microsoft support.
Can the team members or guests leave the team on their own?
Yes. Any member or guest can leave the team at any time via Teams web or desktop clients.
How do I make sure people in a team or channel see my post?
The best way is to @mention them. Type @ before someone's name and they will get a notification if they are not online.
To get the attention of the entire team, type @team before your message and all your teammates will receive notifications.
What happens when I create a new team?
For every team, a team site is created on SharePoint Online. Each channel in a team gets a folder within the default team site document library.
Where are the files created and shared within Microsoft Teams stored?
Each team has a team site in SharePoint Online, and each channel gets a folder within the team site document library. Files shared within a conversation are automatically added to the document library, which can be found under Files tab at the top of each channel.
Files that you share in a private or group chat are stored in your OneDrive for Business folder "Microsoft Teams Chat Files", and are only shared with the people in that conversation. These will be found in the Files tab at the top of a chat.
Are my files and conversations in Microsoft Teams secure?
Microsoft Teams is built on the Office 365 hyper-scale, enterprise-grade cloud, delivering the advanced security and compliance capabilities. Data is encrypted in transit and at rest.
Files are stored in SharePoint and are backed by SharePoint encryption. Notes are stored in OneNote and are backed by OneNote encryption.
What are connectors and how do I use them?
Connectors are online apps, tools and services (e.g. Twitter, Trello, Bitbucket etc) that can be hooked up to your channel. Integrate these external services which your team needs regularly to receive relevant updates within your Teams channel. Note: Third party apps are not enabled in NUS at the moment.
Will there be new features in the future?
Please see Microsoft 365 Roadmap for Microsoft Teams.
