The new service -- called Microsoft Teams -- will
be a part of Office 365, which includes Microsoft
Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Considering Office
365 has more than 85 million commercial monthly
active users, the company is hoping to lure those
core customers to the new platform.
Teams is designed to make chatting with
coworkers fun and easier. In addition to holding
conversations in chat rooms, Microsoft ( ,
Tech30) users will be able to reply with
comments in threaded conversations and video
chat with others. There's also an option to send
emoji, GIFs, custom memes and stickers via the
platform, and connect your Twitter feed.
The service has a heavy focus on bots, allowing
users to ask for details about people on the team
or chat directly with businesses. Partnerships
range from Alaskan Airlines, to help book tickets,
to startup Poncho, which gives weather and
lifestyle updates like how bad allergies might be
today.
Teams will be available to Office 365 customers
with certain plans, such as Business or Business
Essentials. It's currently in preview across 181
countries in 18 languages and will roll out
officially in early 2017. It will run on Windows,
Mac, Android, iOS and web platforms.
The service will directly compete with Slack, a
popular workplace chat tool with more than 5.8
million weekly active users.
The startup, whose customers include IBM ( ,
Tech30), LinkedIn ( , Tech30 ) and Conde
Nast, took out a full-page ad in The New York
Times on Wednesday ahead of Microsoft's
announcement.
Relate: Microsoft goes after Apple users with
sleek Surface desktop
That feeling when you think "we should buy a full
page in the Times and publish an open letter," and
then you do. �� pic.twitter.com/BQiEawRA6d
— Stewart Butterfield (@stewart) November 2,
2016
"Dear Microsoft... We're genuinely excited to have
some competition," the ad said. "We realized a
few years ago that the value of switching to Slack
was so obvious and the advantages so
overwhelming that every business would be using
Slack, or "something just like it," within the
decade. It's validating to see you've come around
to the same way of thinking."
Slack also offered "advice" for Microsoft, stating
"all this is harder than it looks."
Microsoft's news comes one week after it showed
off its first all-in-one Surface PC called Surface
Studio ($2,999), which has a strong focus on
creativity. The move highlighted the company's
desire for users to start thinking of its products
as more than just productivity tools.
It also unveiled its next-generation Windows
software -- called Windows 10 Creator Update --
that includes virtual reality, augmented reality and
3D support.
But its latest effort into the workplace chat game
is a part of a larger trend from tech companies.
Last month, Facebook ( , Tech30) unveiled
Workplace, which looks similar to its existing
social network but is designed for employees to
chat with one another. Users can visit online
bulletin boards for their company to see
announcements, organize events and watch work-
related live streams.
This isn't Microsoft's first shot at business-
focused social networks. The company acquired
Yammer for $1.8 billion dollars in 2012 and most
recently bought LinkedIn for $26. 2 billion
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