- Difference Between Slack And Teams
- Using Slack And Teams
- Slack And Teams Connector
- Slack And Webex Teams Integration
Both Slack and Microsoft Teams offer fairly similar conversation threads for messages, including plain text and tagging. Both support GIFs as well, though Teams provides a more robust way to fully. Slack charges for the SaaS subscription plans that are most comparable to Microsoft Teams. Teams is a better solution for larger enterprises as it enables more users than Slack. Slack is a solid solution for smaller businesses needing to incorporate many external guest participants for free or businesses or want more third-party app choices. Slack holds an edge over MS Teams in terms of the sheer numbers of apps that integrate with the software, with more than 800 third-party apps working well with the platform. Among the most commonly used integrations are Google Drive, Zendesk, Dropbox, GitHub, and Trello. 'It's difficult to find tools that integrate MS Teams and Slack. Thanks to Mio, we have direct communication from MS Teams with all our Slack users. The technical support is super! We recommend it 100%.'
7 Ways to Connect Microsoft Teams and Slack in 2021
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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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Ultimate Guide to External Federation in Slack, Microsoft Teams, & Webex
Everything you need to know about external federation between your combination of Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Cisco Webex.
This page will act as your library. All resources for federation between Slack and Microsoft Teams, Slack and Webex, and Microsoft Teams and Webex are contained on this page.
Each section below also branches off to its own page dedicated to a specific element of external federation.
We’ve designed this page to be an educational experience for those interested in better connecting their external communications experience.
Alternatively, if you’re already clued up on external federation and are just looking to sign up, you can install directly to the app of your choice.
Table of Contents
An Introduction to External Federation
External federation is the process or technology required for team collaboration apps to communicate with each other across domain.
This, translated into team collaboration speak, means that users within multiple organizations, i.e. a supplier <> customer relationship, become a single group that can collaborate together.
The origins of external federation stem from the Microsoft world.
In the old days, we used Lync and Skype for Business federation to connect to other businesses that also used Skype for Business.
As a Skype for Business admin or user, you may recall adding contacts from other organizations like this…
In the modern-day of team collaborations tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Webex, federation exists in the following options:
- Slack shared channels (or Slack Connect for up to 20 organizations)
- Microsoft Teams Connect (available later in 2021)
- Cisco Webex external accounts
Federation exists for the use case of external parties collaborating via the same team collaboration app, like Slack to Slack.
However, in 2021, there is no native functionality for cross-platform and cross-domain chat.
So teams and external contacts wishing to communicate without switching from one app to another are at a loss.
Some teams don’t know any other way. Others are fed up with the productivity and momentum losses each time they have to move to another app to cater for a different partner or contractor’s app requirements.
But, it’s not all doom and gloom! Mio is doing something about it.
5 Expectations vs 5 Realities
When you chat with external parties (suppliers, partners, customers etc), you likely have the expectation that technology is on your side.
And it is.
As long as that external contact uses the same technology.
Let’s say you live in Slack. Everyone in your company uses Slack and you’ve got a bunch of integrations installed to improve efficiencies throughout your digital work.
Difference Between Slack And Teams
Your working day is working at optimum productivity.
UNTIL
Using Slack And Teams
You need to provide feedback to a contactor. Or you’ve been putting off replying to clients because your inbox is a mess.
Or you can no longer put off that impending notification that’s been there for hours on Microsoft Teams. You only use Teams for one client, so you know who it is. But, you also know that if you move to Teams, you’ll get consumed in that client so you should probably close Slack.
Or how about you call them, interrupt their day, leave a voicemail that they won’t check then follow up by email again?
External communications can be a chore. Make sure you get your expectations and realities in check.
Where Will External Federation Be 1 Year From Now?
If I was going to look into my optimistic crystal ball, my answer to this would be everybody uses Mio for external federation; team collaboration chaos is no more.
The reality is that there are a few techy and business intricacies along the way. So, it’s important to understand how we got the state of external communications we find ourselves in today before we predict the future.
In this section, we cover some stats that we uncovered when conducting research for our Workplace Messaging Report. By looking at the state of internal communications, we can make good estimates about the state of external communications.
Stats include:
- 91% of businesses use at least 2 messaging apps
- 66% of companies using Microsoft Teams say they are also Slack customers
- 3.3 is the average number of workplace chat apps used by each respondent
Slack And Teams Connector
Also covered in this section are uses cases driving the acceleration of federation for apps like Slack and Microsoft Teams.
You might be the VP of Business Development and chat with partners all day every day.
Instead of keeping documents in one app and messaging with your favorite shortcuts and integrations, you spend hours every week learning how the partner works in order to protect the relationship.
With external federation, you could be building better relationships, making faster decisions, and keeping communications in one place
Finally, I reach out to industry experts, Dom Black at Cavell Group and Irwin Lazar at Nemertes Research, for their prediction for where external federation will be in 1 year.
7 Problems And How You Can Fix Them
The problems with external federation between apps like Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Webex have only accelerated the customer demand to find a solution.
It’s important to know why external federation isn’t a standard feature on the Slack pricelist, a plugin for Webex, or downloadable from the Teams app store.
In this section, I asked business leaders that manage multiple apps without external federation what their biggest problems were.
I also reached out to some familiar faces from the team collaboration industry for their take on what has been holding back federation among external contacts.
From complete collaboration overwhelm to no native interoperability between messaging platforms, we’ve compiled the biggest blockers to joining up the collaboration experience with external contacts.
Sign Up for External Federation
As I said at the top of this post, you may already be clued up about external federation.
If you weren’t, hopefully, the posts included in each of the sections above have provided you with everything you need.
If that is the case, great!
Mio provides external federation for Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Cisco Webex.
A little like our tool for connecting teams internally, you can federate your platform choice with the choice of your external contacts.
If you need to message cross-platform to collaborate with external contacts like contractors, partners, or customers, install Mio here and start chatting to external contacts from the platform of your choice.
Slack And Webex Teams Integration
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