Microsoft Teams is here!
18 Aug 2020
Microsoft Teams now available for all staff and postgraduate research students
IT Services is excited to announce that Teams, the new digital hub for communication and collaboration across our University, is now licensed for all staff and postgraduate research students (PGRs).
Teams is part of the Microsoft 365 suite of applications and provides a space to chat, hold meetings, make calls and share files, all together in one place. With Teams you can:
- Make and receive voice and video calls with others across the University.
- Set up and attend Teams meetings online.
- Use the chat and messaging features.
- Collaborate on documents and file share with others inside our University.
Get started with Microsoft Teams
A website dedicated to Microsoft Teams is now live. There’s information on how to download and install Teams and a range of ‘how-to’ guides covering functionality such as meetings, calls, files, collaboration and chat. There’s also an extensive range of FAQs for topics such as accessibility and data storage, and information on Teams orientation events.
If you have a managed University computer you can download Teams from the Software Center, and for unmanaged/personal devices from the Microsoft website. Step by step instructions are available on the guides and resources page of our Microsoft Teams website.
You can also login and use Teams online (in a web browser) if you don't want to download it.
Using Teams
The creation of new Teams is currently by request only and a process is in place if you need to set one up – please see our website:
Guest access to Teams (to allow collaboration with colleagues external to the University) is currently not possible, however we are working to introduce this shortly and will make an announcement on our website when it’s available.
Support for Teams
We have accelerated the launch of the Teams platform to be in time for the start of Semester 1, and a support model of ‘self-serve first’ is in place.
Visit our dedicated Microsoft Teams website to get started.
Colleagues in IT Services have worked with Microsoft to take advice and best practice from other universities that have already launched Teams. The model of ‘self-serve first’ is widely used, mainly because of the range and quality of Microsoft information and training that already exists online. This model means that colleagues can learn about Teams and the Microsoft 365 suite of applications at their own pace using the Microsoft Training Centre, Microsoft Instructor Led Training and Microsoft for Education resources, amongst others.
Teams for Teaching and Learning
The introduction of Teams will enhance and strengthen our communication and collaboration capabilities – especially for our academic and student communities. Existing Virtual Learning Environments such as Blackboard will continue to be the primary mechanism for the delivery of scheduled online teaching (discussions, presentations, tutorials etc), and tools such as Zoom will continue to be available too.
Undergraduate and postgraduate taught students will get access to Teams in September, in time for the start of Semester 1. Some of the features and functionality will be slightly different to what staff and PGRs have.
Teams replaces Lync/Skype for Business, which will be decommissioned in the very near future.
Microsoft 365
Teams is part of Microsoft 365 (formerly known as Office 365), which gives you access to a whole ‘ecosystem’ of useful applications – some of which are available right now.
Visit the IT Services website to see the range of applications and services currently available. For each one there’s detailed product information including what support we have and how you can access it.
Questions?
You may be able to find an answer to your question on our Teams website and Frequently Asked Questions pages:
You can also ask our Technology Champions via our Microsoft 365 Yammer group:
If you need further help and support, contact the IT Support Centre: