In early 2020, our IT Department launched Microsoft Teams just a few weeks prior to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and saw an incredible utilization rate of Teams during the pandemic. Since then, Teams has quickly become employees’ primary form of communication. In the last 180 days alone, there have been 10,938 messages sent by 356 active users and 59 guest users. 

“The IT Department recognizes GUC’s dependency on Teams and its new role in the communication culture at GUC,” said IT Applications Manager Todd Cannon. “As part of IT’s mission to stay current with the latest tech developments, we are beginning to gradually introduce employees to Microsoft's new version of Teams while testing its compatibility with key GUC systems.” 

All GUC employees now have access to the “New Teams,” which is what Microsoft currently calls it while phasing out the “Teams Classic.”  

New Teams Features 

The new Microsoft Teams is faster, simpler, smarter, and more flexible. Check out some of its new key features.  

Faster 
Users can launch the app and join meetings two times faster, switch chat and channels almost two times faster, and use 50% less memory on devices.  

Simpler 
The new Teams has less clutter for notifications, search, and messages; a more personalized experience with threaded conversations, group chat avatars to help ID different chats faster; and simplified meetings with a meeting app, meeting stage, and presenter views.  

Smarter 
A next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) foundation is built into the upgraded Teams experience to level up our productivity. The new AI capabilities help with organization and workflows. 

More Flexible 
The new Teams also offers the option to add other Team accounts, like personal or guest accounts, to our GUC accounts (example: City of Greenville guest access). We can seamlessly chat with users both inside and outside of GUC and stay signed into multiple accounts simultaneously, receiving real-time notifications. It also has improved people search across accounts. 

“We encourage all employees to try out the new version,” said Todd. "You have the option to switch back and forth between Teams Classic and New Teams at your leisure to test and find familiarity between the two.” 

Employees are encouraged to send feedback and can submit responses here Teams Feedback Form.