How To Federate Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams serves as an effective tool for team collaboration, enabling smooth teamwork. Nonetheless, to cooperate with external partners or clients on different platforms, federating your Microsoft Teams account might be necessary. This article will clarify the concept of federation and guide you on configuring it for Microsoft Teams.

What is Federation?

Federation is a process that allows different communication platforms to connect and communicate with each other. In the context of Microsoft Teams, federation allows you to collaborate with external partners or customers who use different platforms such as Skype for Business, Slack, or Cisco Webex.

Setting Up Federation for Microsoft Teams

To set up federation for Microsoft Teams, you need to follow a few steps. Firstly, you need to enable federation in your Microsoft Teams account. To do this, go to the Microsoft Teams admin center and select “Org-wide settings” under “Settings.” From there, select “External access” and enable federation.

Once you have enabled federation, you can start adding external contacts to your Microsoft Teams account. To add an external contact, go to the “People” tab in Microsoft Teams and select “New chat.” From there, enter the email address of the external contact you want to add and click on “Add to chat.”

Managing Federated Chats

Once you have added an external contact to your Microsoft Teams account, you can start chatting with them. However, it’s important to note that federated chats are different from regular chats in a few ways. Firstly, you cannot add more than one external contact to a federated chat. Secondly, you cannot use the “Meet now” feature in federated chats.

Conclusion

Federating your Microsoft Teams account can be a powerful way to collaborate with external partners or customers who use different platforms. By following the steps outlined in this article, you can set up federation for your Microsoft Teams account and start collaborating with external contacts seamlessly.