Once languishing in a rarely used corner of O365, it is now the go-to powerhouse communication platform for more than a billion businesses.
Initially a pandemic workaround, its most basic virtual meeting functionality is now just one aspect of its transformational, all-in-one-place unification of collaboration, calling, messaging, and file sharing.
Today, it is a business-critical component of users' tech stacks: an increasingly-complex entity that is often integrated with third party plug-ins designed to break down workflow silos and seamlessly connect all elements of an enterprise technological ecosystem.
Users, of course, simply need it all to work. However, for IT teams, the task of optimizing performance is also now a highly complex and challenging one.
MS Teams itself provides limited back-end transparency with which to troubleshoot when things go awry. But truly effective, end-to-end, single-pane-of-glass visibility of multiple integrations, multiple vendors, and multiple end points requires the smarts of a specialist partner.
"Enterprises' complete dependence on Microsoft Teams to do business means that any level of sub-par performance can have a massive impact on productivity - being able to easily detect issues and quickly deploy an automatic fix is business-critical," says Randah McKinnie, VP of Product at leading digital experience management software provider Martello, whose Vantage DX solution is purpose-built to ensure 24/7 Microsoft Office optimization.
"Unfortunately, there is often a gap between users' perception of the Teams experience and the capacity of IT teams to ensure it is always a high-quality one."
Here, McKinnie shares five top tips on how to close that gap - maximizing performance by getting ahead of problems before they arise...
Microsoft Teams issues are notoriously difficult to find and resolve, largely due to the real-time nature of the platform and multiple complex dependencies on network performance, ISPs and often telephony components such as session border controllers (SBCs). Start with the data that Microsoft provides in its native tools, which offer some monitoring and administration capabilities. This can often help validate that an issue has occurred. However, to dig deeper to understand the root cause of the issue, enterprises should consider a third-party monitoring tool like ours; something purpose-built for Microsoft Teams that can provide end-to-end visibility, detection and tools for resolution.
According to research, the top issues that Teams users face are authentication, poor video and audio quality, and screen sharing problems. When these issues are reported to IT, you need a monitoring tool to provide insight into the root cause. Ideally, you would also be alerted when a problem is detected but before the user is impacted. This will ensure you can address the large percentage of Teams issues that are never reported to IT by users.
Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTRs) represent a significant investment in enabling an equitable meeting experience for both remote and in-person participants. Given this investment and the heavy usage of MTRs by VIPs, there is tremendous pressure on IT managers to ensure they work flawlessly. Microsoft offers tooling to help, which focuses on MTR device health and status. However, third-party monitoring tools can alert you right away if an MTR has issues, which can help you resolve them before a VIP complains that a meeting is delayed due to technical issues. In addition, by recognizing the unique challenges of remote work and providing tailored support, you can ensure a smooth virtual work environment.
It's often difficult to establish ownership of issues. Look for tooling like Martello's that aggregates data from multiple sources into a single platform, allowing you to easily demonstrate to other teams where the problem is, or to prove to an ISP that the problem is caused on their end. This can extend to regular reports that tangibly illustrate performance against established SLAs.
Most frontline workers, who use Teams regularly and face challenges frequently, choose not to report them. They try workarounds and troubleshooting by themselves. But this just delays the process of resolution and leads to reactive firefighting. Encourage users to report Teams issues to IT immediately. That way, IT managers don't need to wait for reports or tickets from other users impacted by the same problem. Instead, they can address them before others even notice. Also, conduct regular performance audits, and stay ahead of emerging challenges. Establish a feedback mechanism to gather insights from Microsoft Teams users and use this information to fine-tune performance parameters and improve the user experience.