What’s Microsoft Groups?
Microsoft Groups is a communications platform for workgroups that competes with the likes of Slack, Zoom, and Cisco Webex, nevertheless it presents significantly better integration with the Microsoft Workplace ecosystem. Groups enables you to arrange chats with teammates, take part in video conferences, and share recordsdata.
Is Microsoft Groups free?
Microsoft Groups is free for private use or for organizations as much as 300 customers. A number of the limitations on the free plan embody video group conferences for as much as 60 minutes, as much as 100 individuals per assembly and 5 GB of cloud storage per consumer.
Can I be a part of a Microsoft Groups assembly with out having an account?
Sure, you may be a part of a Microsoft Groups assembly with out an account from any gadget. The one requirement is that the assembly must be open for visitors.
Chat for as we speak’s groups
At the start, Microsoft Groups offers a contemporary dialog expertise for as we speak’s groups. Microsoft Groups helps not solely persistent but in addition threaded chats to maintain everybody engaged. Workforce conversations are, by default, seen to your complete crew, however there’s in fact the flexibility for personal discussions. Skype is deeply built-in, so groups can take part in voice and video conferences. And everybody can add character to their digital workspace with emojis, stickers, GIFs and customized memes to make it their very own.
A hub for teamwork
Second, Microsoft Groups brings collectively the complete breadth and depth of Workplace 365 to offer a real hub for teamwork. Phrase, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, OneNote, Planner, Energy BI and Delve are all constructed into Microsoft Groups so individuals have all the data and instruments they want at their fingertips. Backed by the Microsoft Graph, clever companies are surfaced all through the workspace to assist with info relevancy, discovery and sharing. Microsoft Groups can also be constructed on Workplace 365 Teams—our cross-application membership service that makes it simple for individuals to maneuver naturally from one collaboration software to a different, protect their sense of context and share with others.
Customizable for every crew
Third, since all groups are distinctive, we have invested deeply in methods for individuals to customise their workspace, with wealthy extensibility and open APIs accessible at common availability. For instance, Tabs offers fast entry to continuously used paperwork and cloud companies. Microsoft Groups additionally shares the identical Connector mannequin as Trade, offering notifications and updates from third-party companies like Twitter or GitHub. Additional, we’re together with full assist for the Microsoft Bot Framework to convey clever first- and third-party companies into your crew atmosphere.
Safety groups belief
Lastly, Microsoft Groups offers the superior safety and compliance capabilities that our Workplace 365 prospects anticipate. Information is encrypted in transit and at relaxation. Like all our business companies, we have now a clear operational mannequin with no standing entry to buyer information. Microsoft Groups will assist key compliance requirements together with EU Mannequin Clauses, ISO 27001, SOC 2, HIPAA and extra. And, as prospects would anticipate, Microsoft Groups is served out of our hyper-scale world community of knowledge facilities, routinely provisioned inside Workplace 365 and managed centrally, simply as another Workplace 365 service.
What’s New
New Groups
We have now been listening to your suggestions which has culminated in a reimagining of Groups from the bottom as much as present a quicker, easier, and extra versatile expertise. New Groups is constructed on a basis of velocity, efficiency, and adaptability, that can assist you save time, and work collectively extra effectively.
With the brand new Groups app that launches as much as 2X quicker and lets you be a part of conferences as much as 2X quicker, you may deal with what issues most to you. The brand new Groups has been optimized for extra environment friendly use of system sources, utilizing as much as 50% much less reminiscence. It provides assist for customers that collaborate throughout organizations and handle a number of work or faculty accounts. You could be signed into a number of organizations and accounts concurrently and obtain notifications for all of your accounts, regardless of which one is at the moment in use. The brand new Groups additionally ensures simplified IT administration and enhanced information safety.
Quicker and extra useful resource environment friendly
We made a major funding to overtake the Groups platform to fulfill our objective for brand new Groups to be twice as quick whereas utilizing half the system sources.
To optimize navigation, we prioritized the consumer interactions that happen most continuously, together with switching between completely different chats, channels, and actions. On common, a typical consumer switches ten thousand instances monthly, emphasizing the significance of a quicker and extra responsive expertise. With new Groups, switching between chats, channels, and actions will likely be instantaneous, with out having to attend for content material to load. A quick-scrolling expertise is essential so that you can entry related info shortly and effectively. With the brand new Groups, we have now lowered shimmering and diminished wait instances. The change allows quicker app responses to your actions. The brand new Groups app has been optimized for useful resource utilization to unlock reminiscence and disk area for different purposes and supply compatibility with a broader vary of computer systems.
We partnered with an impartial benchmarking agency, GigaOm, that examined the efficiency of recent and traditional Groups throughout three completely different laptops (low-end, common goal, and high-performance). GigaOm carried out exams evaluating new Groups to traditional Groups on areas similar to set up habits, utility responsiveness, and affect on system sources similar to reminiscence and disk area.
These are a few of their findings on new Groups’ velocity and efficiency enhancements.
- Set up app as much as 3X quicker
- Launch app as much as 2X quicker
- Be a part of conferences as much as 2X quicker
- Change chats/channels as much as 1.7X quicker
- Eat as much as 50% much less reminiscence
- Eat as much as 70% much less disk area
Collaborate extra successfully throughout organizational boundaries
We perceive how difficult it’s so that you can collaborate throughout organizations and handle a number of work or faculty accounts. You can not obtain real-time notifications throughout calls or conferences throughout organizations or accounts. Switching from one group to a different or from one account to a different interrupts your workflow because it requires you to log out and in continually.
New Groups will allow you to collaborate extra successfully throughout organizational boundaries by being actively signed into a number of accounts on the similar time and receiving real-time notifications regardless of which one is at the moment in use. You may seamlessly interact with customers throughout a number of accounts and organizations with out having to drop out of a name or assembly, guaranteeing no disruption to your workflow.
Getting began with the brand new Groups
If you’re within the public preview program, you should have fast entry to the Strive the brand new Groups toggle. If you’re within the Focused Launch program, you should have entry to the preview of recent Groups beginning mid-April 2023. For those who’re in manufacturing, your admins could have the choice to opt-in through the use of the Groups replace administration coverage to pick which customers in your group can see the toggle and get entry to new Groups.
Right here is how one can preview the brand new Groups expertise as we speak:
1. Open the Groups desktop app in your Home windows machine.
2. Activate the Strive the brand new Groups toggle on the prime left nook of the Groups app.
3. Choose Get it now from the pop-out dialogue. The brand new Groups will begin putting in.
4. Your Groups app will reboot to open the brand new Groups expertise. Any subsequent actions you’re taking will occur within the new Groups by default, like becoming a member of a Groups assembly from Outlook.
Earlier launch notes
Right now, we’re excited to announce the preview of extra new private options in Groups that may make it even simpler to handle and plan your days. To start with, now you can add your private account within the Groups desktop or internet app to speak with or name family and friends. With group chat and video calling now accessible on each desktop and cell, connecting and organizing with family members will likely be simpler than ever earlier than, particularly with holidays across the nook. We’re additionally including new options in preview within the Groups cell app, similar to the flexibility to speak with mates or household who haven’t got Groups on their telephones, location alerts that allow you to know when somebody leaves or arrives at designated places, and extra.
- Chat and name family and friends – proper out of your desktop
- Begin a private chat or create a gaggle chat with as much as 250 individuals.
- Seamlessly sync your present chats out of your telephone to your pc and carry-on conversations on the gadget of your selection.
- Discuss all day without spending a dime with family and friends through video or audio calls.
- Share video assembly invitations with anybody, even when they do not have Groups, and see as much as 49 of your folks and family members in a single body in Gallery view or Collectively mode.
- Add and share photographs and movies out of your pc in any private or group chat.
- To begin utilizing private options in Groups in your pc, comply with these steps:
- If you’re new to Groups, obtain the Groups desktop app and register with a private Microsoft account or create a brand new one to get began.
- For those who at the moment use the Groups desktop app at work, click on in your profile image on the top-right nook and choose ‘Add private account’. Upon profitable login, Groups will launch a brand new window containing your private chats and teams so it is simple to modify between your work and private accounts.
- Observe: We’re slowly rolling out the choice so as to add a private account to present business customers. So, should you do not see this feature so as to add your private account, you could have to attend till your app is up to date or to your IT admin to allow it inside your group.
- If you wish to use the private options in Groups in your internet browser, go to this hyperlink and register or create a brand new private Microsoft account to get began.
- Whereas you should use the Groups desktop and internet apps to speak with or name family and friends, we’re engaged on bringing all the opposite private options accessible within the Groups cell app to desktop and internet quickly.
- Chat with individuals in Groups, even when they aren’t utilizing the app
- When beginning a gaggle chat with your folks or household, you should not have to fret about whether or not they are going to miss your chats if they do not have Groups. For this reason we’re previewing a brand new function on our Groups iOS and Android apps that permits you to chat with contacts who haven’t got Groups put in on their telephones. Merely sort a contact’s title or telephone quantity so as to add them to a gaggle chat and, if they aren’t on Groups, they’ll obtain and ship replies to the group through SMS, holding the dialog flowing1. SMS individuals can even get a hyperlink to obtain the Groups app on their telephone making it simple to get began on Groups and take full benefit of wealthy media messaging and chat through GIFs, photos, or movies.
- Get notified when family members go away or arrive at a location
- As all of us start to responsibly step out of our houses, we’re releasing new location options in preview that may make it simpler to your family members to obtain updates about your bodily whereabouts. Beginning as we speak, you may enable your family members to obtain automated alerts everytime you go away or arrive at a delegated location2. So, in case you are stepping out of your property every day, you may select to let your loved ones get automated departure or arrival alerts in order that they know when you may be again house.
- Along with these, we’re additionally introducing the next new cell options:
- Add group occasions out of your chats to your gadget’s calendar.
- Get process and placement updates in your exercise feed.
- Add a photograph to your private Secure.