Are you thinking about subscribing (or resubscribing) to Microsoft Teams this year? You’re not alone.
This team communications platform was built for Office 365 users. It has many desirable features that any remote worker would love. But when it comes to hosting online meetings, the software leaves much to be desired. Sure, Microsoft Teams has come a long way since it launched a few years ago, but before you sign any contracts or commit to another year of lame, glitchy remote meetings, ask yourself these questions.What do we want out of our online meetings?
Is it a unique, high-quality broadcast experience done from your home? Would you like to wow your company with something that looks and sounds like it was produced in a national television studio? Sorry, you won’t get it with MS Teams.
How many people do we want to participate?
Microsoft Teams restricts access to your online meeting to 500 people. For 3,000 remote employees, you would have to conduct the same meeting 15 times to get your message to everyone!
What type of message does our executive team want to send?
Does your team want to project confidence and professionalism? Hosting a meeting with spotty Wi-Fi and an annoying echo when everyone speaks is not the way to do that. Watching Steve blow his nose while Lisa is attempting to present her slide does not send the best message to your organization.
What about Teams Live Events?
Microsoft’s solution to “participant limits” is their Teams Live Events. It is a compelling way to live-stream several presenters to an audience of thousands, so long as one-way video is acceptable. Heads-up: The learning curve is steep, and there is little event-based support. Your comms team must create and produce the broadcast on their own.
Technical problems are bound to come up before, during and after our online meetings. Which begs the most important question of all:
Do we want our team to spend their time and energy troubleshooting these problems?
Communication is a specialized skill set, and your comms team are experts at it. Likewise, video production is a specialized skill set. Mixing audio, switching cameras and troubleshooting video problems can be tricky. Taking on these outside the box roles can lead to a stressful and clunky experience.
We recently spoke to a client who attended the Microsoft Teams Live Events Webinar who said:
“We watched, and while the platform made sense, we were all filled with anxiety as we thought about how our team would run these technical meetings. We were so stressed thinking about how we would make sure nothing went wrong for our executives presenting. It wasn’t our ball-game”.
Lime Crane is a better alternative.
If you are used to poor quality online meetings with Microsoft Teams, hosting with us will seem like a dream. Webcasting your virtual town hall means no limit to how many people can access your meeting. You can include literally tens of thousands of people.
Our television-trained operators know how to make your presenters look their best. We conduct a screen test with each presenter a week before the meeting. We make sure their location is well-lit and that all the necessary technology is working as it should.
If you have a produced video to play, there is no more of the stuttery “screen share” appearance to the video. Our operator plays the video straight to the web in full HD quality that looks and sounds impressive. We direct the audience’s attention so that the message has a much better chance of sticking with them.
So, if you want to host a meeting that looks and sounds professional, you won’t achieve this with Microsoft Teams. In contrast, Lime Crane offers a one-of-a-kind, high-quality webcast experience. Your presentation will look like something produced in a national television studio.
To learn more about our corporate video communications services or find out how we can make your remote business meetings more effective, contact us or call (404)-954-1930.
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