Microsoft launches independent Teams subscription for SMBs

Microsoft has launched Teams Essentials, a standalone version of Teams aimed at small businesses.

Traditionally, Teams (other than the limited function free version) has only been available in bundles with other Microsoft services. The new Teams Essentials tier provides a way for small-medium businesses (SMBs) to purchase the tool independently at a reduced cost.

The subscription service supports video conferencing with up to 300 people, group chat, and organization features through a single app. It also features Outlook and Google Calendar integration. Moreover, it features group chat templates to host meetings with stakeholders, teams, and polls.

Microsoft Teams for Business features list

Features Teams Essentials Teams Business Basic Teams Business Standard
Max group meeting size 300 300 300
Meeting length 30 hours 30 hours 30 hours
Cloud file storage per user 10GB per user 1TB + 10GB per license 1TB + 10GB per license
Office suite No Yes Yes
Transcription No  Yes Yes
Webinar hosting No No Yes
Customer appointment management No No Yes
Attendee registration and reporting tools No No Yes
Single-sign on No Yes Yes
Enforced multi-factor authentication No Yes Yes
Advanced auditing and reporting No Yes Yes
Configurable user policies and analytics No Yes Yes
Price CA$5.10 per user per month CA$6.40 per user per month CA$16.00 per user per month

Microsoft Teams is now available from various Microsoft Cloud Partners including Ingram, TD Synnex, and Crayon, as well as directly from Microsoft. Find the full feature breakdown on Microsoft’s website.

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Jim Love, Chief Content Officer, IT World Canada

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Tom Li
Tom Li
Telecommunication and consumer hardware are Tom's main beats at IT World Canada. He loves to talk about Canada's network infrastructure, semiconductor products, and of course, anything hot and new in the consumer technology space. You'll also occasionally see his name appended to articles on cloud, security, and SaaS-related news. If you're ever up for a lengthy discussion about the nuances of each of the above sectors or have an upcoming product that people will love, feel free to drop him a line at tli@itwc.ca.

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