7 Ways to Connect Microsoft Teams and Slack in 2021

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This post exists to answer the question: Does Microsoft Teams integrate with Slack?

We know chat must be native, seamless, and simple to administer. But with both Microsoft Teams and Slack dominating the team collaboration market, enterprises using both apps need to connect Slack and Microsoft Teams. Mitchell on demand 2017 torrent.

Most notably, we hear from customers that were thinking about moving from Slack to Microsoft Teams or blocking Slack in favor of Microsoft Teams, and vice versa.

Does Microsoft teams integrate with Slack?

Rather than continue working in silos, we’ve highlighted 7 ways to connect Slack and Microsoft Teams then gone out and found a better one for internal use and a better one for external use.

1 – Connect Slack and Microsoft Teams without introducing a new chat client

Native federation

Pros:

There are services in the marketplace that allow you to federate with other enterprises via their own chat client, but this doesn’t resolve the issue of multiple chat platforms in a single organization.

It does, however, bring them together in a slightly improved chat client.

Natively, apps like Skype for Business also provide this functionality. Skype for Business users just need to turn on the federation facility within their Office 365 admin portal.

Cons:

Some UC providers have started to introduce cross-platform messaging into their collaboration offerings.

Whilst this does remedy the issue of switching between multiple apps, the solution here is to totally replace the solution you are already invested in.

You can message any number of other businesses using most chat apps. But, this comes with the disadvantage of giving up the native app that everybody uses.

Guest access

Pros:

Take the typical example where your engineering team loves Slack and your IT and Sales teams prefer Teams.

Guest access on both platforms allows external parties to join in the conversation, but access is limited.

Cons:

Removing either (or both) of Slack and Microsoft Teams, in favor of a catch-all UC solution, almost always results in using Slack and Teams for some services.

Obviously, this is the ideal scenario for the UC provider. However, they may not always be the best fit for the business.

Moving your messaging stack to a new product could still leave you heavily invested in Microsoft Office 365 – a waste of a powerful app already paid for in your Office 365 strategy.

2 – Configure webhooks for Slack & Microsoft Teams

Pros:

By using webhooks, you have a low-cost solution to a complex enterprise issue.

Webhooks also take little time to configure per scenario. If the issue exists in a single channel, webhooks are a good solution to a large scale problem.

Cons:

The downside to using webhooks revolves around the amount of manual configuration required.

When you are dealing with multiple channels in an enterprise scenario, webhooks are simply not scalable.

They also don’t tend to display in a native way, and instead, from a bot.

End users have to re-train behavior in order to message cross-platform, and who has time for that? You? Didn’t think so.

In an organization of a few hundred or more, remembering who uses what platform becomes impossible to mentally track.

News also broke in April 2020 when it was discovered some Slack webhooks has been exposed as potential phishing hooks.

Researchers said there are nearly 131,000 Slack webhook URLs available on the Internet.

3 – Use APIs & bots to connect Slack & Microsoft Teams

Pros:

Bots for Slack and Microsoft Teams are on the rise. Bots can be leveraged to create a more native experience.

Microsoft publishes a Slack connector in its connector inventory that enables some Slack and Microsoft Teams crossover.

You will benefit from functionality like joining a Slack channel and can even set triggers for certain events.

However, limited functionality stops experiments pretty quickly. For example, direct messaging goes totally unmentioned.

Cons:

Most users, especially in the enterprise space, are still in the experimental phase in terms of users being comfortable using them.

One Github community working on a tool to connect Slack and Microsoft Teams expressed concerns that various API and migration tools are limited to basic functionality.

Most of these solutions are still configuration based.

This means you will spend incredible time and resource making each channel work for you – and maintain this configuration as you add and modify channels.

4 – Create your own app using an app builder

Pros:

Generally, app builders are simple to use.

With a no-code approach, you don’t need to hire a specialist engineer to connect Slack and Microsoft Teams

You can get a free trial to play around with your requirements.

Most app builders support a wide range of apps to integrate like Slack, Google Sheets, and Trello.

Cons:

Functionality is limited by the supported features available on a particular app builder.

One user got in touch with Mio for a replacement solution to using an app builder stating:

“I tried an app builder but it was too limited. Threads didn’t work, and users name matching was absent. “

The functionality will also be limited by your own building skills and requirements gathering.

While support is available with most app builders, it is considered a DIY approach to connecting Slack and Microsoft Teams.

5 – Slack and Microsoft Teams calling integration

The integration between Slack and Microsoft Teams VoIP functionality arrived as part of a comprehensive update at Enterprise Connect, April 2020.

Pros:

The update allows for Microsoft Teams calls to start through Slack. You can access the integration through the shortcuts button on Slack. This lightning-bolt shaped icon near your message input field allows you to start a Teams call instantly.

If you prefer the Slash command option on Slack, then you can opt for the /Teams-Calls to launch your Teams call from Slack instead.

Cons:

Unfortunately, the Slack and Teams calling integration is limited. It only connects one aspect of Slack and Microsoft Teams.

You can start a call through Microsoft Teams in Slack this way, but you can’t send instant messages or send files from someone on Slack to someone on Teams.

Tom Arbuthnot, Principal Solutions Architect at Modality Systems and Microsoft MVP, agrees the Slack and Teams calling integration is not a complete solution for connecting Slack and Microsoft Teams.

“The Slack “integration” to Microsoft Teams, while clever, is really just Microsoft Teams meeting join link in Slack that fires up Microsoft Teams to join the Teams meeting.”

Users often ask for further integration like being able to directly call or chat from one platform to another.

Team collaboration tools should allow access to a wide range of communication options. That makes the latest integration restrictive. After all, there’s a lot more to Slack and Microsoft Teams than just calling.

Slack For Outlook Add-in

In an interview for UC Today, our CEO Tom Hadfield commented on news of the integration:

“The future of intercompany collaboration relies on full interoperability between Slack and Microsoft Teams. Cross-platform calling is a good start, but our customers tell us what they really need is cross-platform shared channels and direct messaging.”

6 – Use the Microsoft Graph API to migrate Slack to Teams

Microsoft is working on a migration API to help IT managers and Microsoft admins migrate chats from Slack to Teams.

As of September 2020, Microsoft has made documentation available and certain tenants can sign up to the beta program.

In theory, Microsoft wants to allow Slack messages to be migrated over to Teams without a delay or break in service and/or conversation.

Slack For Outlook Add In

The in-scope and out-of-scope items are included below:

Pros:

Previous attempts to migrate Slack to Teams have resulted in a loss of historical data and messages. The new migration API changes that.

As Tom Morgan, Product Innovation Architect at Modality Systems, pointed out his blog, an organization might be moving from Slack to Teams but have 5+ years worth of message history in Slack.

Previously, in this scenario, there have been workarounds that result in a disjointed and almost unworkable experience. With the migration API, theoretically, all messages and message information should be transferred over.

For businesses who decide they must migrate from Slack to Teams, instead of choosing interoperability between the two apps, this is the most likely option of keeping your Slack users happy.

Cons:

A game changer for most businesses is that messages can only be imported into public channels. If you plan to use private channels, Microsoft doesn’t offer support for this.

One further restriction is the lack of support for backups.

As documented by Tony Redmond, Principal at Redmond & Associates and Author of the Office 365 for IT Pros Book, this process doesn’t include a backup.

“The lack of a backup and restore API for Teams that covers team structure and content is regrettable. Because Teams is interconnected with the rest of the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, it is a difficult application to backup. But that’s no reason for Microsoft to ignore the need.”

Tom Morgan also pointed out that the whole process made his head hurt.

“It’s a ‘behind the curtain’ operation that changes how I think about Teams messages. These aren’t operations for the every day, but if you need to migrate over messages from third-party systems into Microsoft Teams, these API calls will give you the power you need to achieve it. Just, make sure you don’t break any other parts of the delicate balance of time and space whilst you’re at it.”

7 – Federation to connect to external guests across Slack and Teams

Do you communicate with people outside your organization as well?

According to research, they’ll likely be using Slack or Microsoft Teams, but not necessarily the same as you.

It’s hard to chat with freelancers, contractors, and suppliers when you’re not on the same platform.

When this is the case, it becomes extremely unproductive moving out of your app to accommodate your guest.

Or even worse, end up resorting to email like it’s the 90s. (Okay, email has a purpose but you get the point).

That’s why Mio has created universal channels for Microsoft Teams with Slack.

Slack For Outlook 365

You can stay in Teams and send messages to your contractors, suppliers, or clients that use Slack.

They stay in their platform too and Mio translates the messages across platform.

And it’s not just messages that are supported! GIFs, emojis, channels, DMs, and message edits/deletes are all supported.

If this sounds like something you need, try your first universal channel for free here. Your first three are completely free.

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In recent months, organizations around the globe have transitioned to remote work to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. As a result, remote teams are leveraging a vast suite of collaboration tools like Slack and Zoom as part of the virtual workday. Rather than using these tools individually, it's possible to connect some of these platforms for added functionality. A popular platform pairing involves syncing Slack with Outlook Calendar.

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Once synced, Outlook Calendar will automatically update statuses in Slack to let others know when a team member is busy or inaccessible throughout the workday. Additionally, the app will send a notification at the start of each day to provide a concise rundown of scheduled engagements. The app will also notify people before scheduled meetings and provide links to Zoom, Skype, Webex, etc., to streamline the process. Below, we've detailed a step-by-step-guide explaining how to sync Outlook Calendar with Slack.

How to sync Outlook Calendar and Slack

First, people will need to select Add Apps below the apps section on the left sidebar in Slack. Next, the apps page will open with a search bar at the top and suggested apps below. If Outlook Calendar appears as one of the top apps on the page, select this option. If Outlook Calendar does not automatically load under your top apps type Outlook Calendar in the search bar and press Enter.

SEE: SEE: How to unsend an email in Outlook: A step-by-step guide (TechRepublic)

A page will load detailing the myriad capabilities enabled by syncing Outlook Calendar and Slack and people must next select Connect Account at the bottom. This will open a new tab where individuals will need to enable Outlook Calendar to access their Slack workspace by selecting the green Allow button at the bottom of the page.

Integrate Slack And Outlook

If you have successfully synced your Outlook Calendar and Slack workspace, an Outlook Calendar option should appear below the apps section on the left sidebar on Slack. People will also receive an Outlook Calendar app Slack notification with the option to enable automatic status updates. To enable these automatic updates, select Turn On below the message, at which point, the accounts should be synced.

Slack Add-in For Outlook

People may want to test the cross-platform functionality to ensure the connection has been successful. To do so, schedule an imminent meeting in Outlook Calendar. If a Slack notification is sent via the Outlook Calendar app to coincide with the scheduled meeting, the two platforms are synced.