Teams users will be able to collaborate with external partners in a single channel without setting up guest accounts, something rival Slack already offers.
With the launch of Teams Connect at this week’s Ignite conference, Microsoft Teams users can now collaborate with external partners and clients in shared channels. Available in private preview ahead of a full roll-out later this year, Teams Connect shared channels are accessible within the main Teams app view alongside regular channels. Users can continue to access Teams features such as text chat, video and voice within shared channels, as well as share content and co-author documents with external users in real-time. When launched, Shared channels will appear as an option from the channel creation menu along with standard and private channels. External Teams users can then be invited to join the shared space, with Teams admins given “granular controls” over external user access to data and information.
