Does anyone use Teams?

[OneWorld]

I used to be a regular user of Skype, though it was nowhere near as good as its predecessor, Messenger was it? simple, fast, intuitive, it worked a dream

Anyway I learned to get along with Skype but the various incarnations of it made it increasingly irksome - the usual gubbins - dropped connections, video stuttering, sound vanishing, whatever

I and a few friends in various parts of the world came to rely on it - more fool us, because MS has foisted Teams on us and simply cannot figure it out. In theory, yes there is the Contacts list down the left ALA Skype, but one of us is able to make contact.

So we tried to add each other as a new contact but we simply cannot find 'Add Contact' I have been onto the internet and the options run to several pages and I am none the wiser. Is there a simple 1, 2, 3 step process, and we do not want to use our cell phones, just use Teams on the browser as per Messenger, Skype

[Drew Stephenson]

I only use it at work, but I suspect that you'll need to have it linked to a Microsoft account and have your friends' details in the Outlook contacts list. Then Teams will find them from there. It's really not designed to be used as a standalone app but part of the MS suite.
If you just want a standalone messaging app, and don't want to use WhatsApp, then Signal is probably the way forward.

[ef37a]

This post has just come right for me. I too was a Skype user and regularly spoke to my son in France. We rarely had any trouble and often talked and viewed for over 2 hours with nary a glitch.

Gone now and so have all the contacts. I was thinking of going for Teams but do not really want to get embroiled with Ms accounts. Signal I shall investigate!

Ta muchly.

Dave.

[Stuart79]

WhatsApp? You can download a desktop version and sync it to your mobile version. If you're only making calls and/or video calls it's worth a look.

[ef37a]

WhatsApp? You can download a desktop version and sync it to your mobile version. If you're only making calls and/or video calls it's worth a look.

My next step Stu'. Looked at Signal and it seems you have to install it on your phone first but then it seems I cannot do that without also getting Tik bloody Tok which I certainly don't want!

It all seems extremely nosy like wanting my EXACT birthday...haven't even told Microsoft that!

Dave.

[BillB]

I use Teams out of necessity for working with Councils, but it is the most opaque bit of software. Everything gets tied up with your MS ID. I am still indicated as being part of group I was in when I first used it, about 5 years ago, even though I have nothing to do with that group. Attempting to change any settings risks breaking it, so I just keep things as they are.

Out of preference I use Zoom (subscribed account, so can have meetings of any length). But the free version lets you have 40 minutes and (I think) allows you to repeat as often as you want.

[Nazard]

I too, use Teams at the university and the NHS for short meetings, but it only works well if everyone is on the contacts list, e.g. NHS teams tends to throw a hissy fit with non NHS email addresses. For qualitative research (its transcription, audio to text tool is excellent), it's Zoom all the way for me.

Zoom works better and without drama and has very good audio settings, if you need to use them. And it has end to end encryption.

[Drew Stephenson]

WhatsApp? You can download a desktop version and sync it to your mobile version. If you're only making calls and/or video calls it's worth a look.

My next step Stu'. Looked at Signal and it seems you have to install it on your phone first but then it seems I cannot do that without also getting Tik bloody Tok which I certainly don't want!

This makes no sense Dave, Signal and Tiktok are completely unrelated.

Zoom is a good video conference alternative to Teams, but it's not a messenger tool. WhatsApp can do both but only if you're happy to get into bed with Meta.

[ArrownetN]

How about Discord?

[ef37a]

"This makes no sense Dave, Signal and Tiktok are completely unrelated."

What I mean is Drew, when I click to install Signal I get Tik tok on the same page above the install button.

I think I shall just stay with Whatsapp on my smart phone.

Dave.

[Wonks]

Where are you trying to install it from?

https://signal.org/download/

[James Perrett]

My lad is trying to persuade all his friends to use Jami but I'm not sure that it is quite ready for general use yet.

Edit to add link

https://jami.net/

.

[OneWorld]

All the points above seem to confirm my reasons for reluctance, the issue being that MS is becoming more and ore insidious. I do have an MS account but I want to keep it well away from parts of my computing life, I simply do not trust them, and the same goes for META (CIA database) more and more companies are now asking for photo verification and why do they need my phone number?

It does seem that Teams is not designed for simple 1-2-1 during Covid the small not-for-profit I am involved with turned to Zoom and it worked so well and was so easy to use, but now we are back in the normal world, we have gone back to face-2-face, by far the preferred option, and anyway Zoom wasn't meant for 1-2-1 anyway.

I shall have a look at the other options.

I am just asking why can't we have a simple, intuitive, reliable fast non-intrusive chat/messaging app that just works? Other countries can manage it (we know who!) why can't we?

Teams? have you never heard of 'individuals?' I don't wanna be in your gang, thanks but no thanks

[ef37a]

All the points above seem to confirm my reasons for reluctance, the issue being that MS is becoming more and ore insidious. I do have an MS account but I want to keep it well away from parts of my computing life, I simply do not trust them, and the same goes for META (CIA database) more and more companies are now asking for photo verification and why do they need my phone number?

It does seem that Teams is not designed for simple 1-2-1 during Covid the small not-for-profit I am involved with turned to Zoom and it worked so well and was so easy to use, but now we are back in the normal world, we have gone back to face-2-face, by far the preferred option, and anyway Zoom wasn't meant for 1-2-1 anyway.

I shall have a look at the other options.

I am just asking why can't we have a simple, intuitive, reliable fast non-intrusive chat/messaging app that just works? Other countries can manage it (we know who!) why can't we?

Teams? have you never heard of 'individuals?' I don't wanna be in your gang, thanks but no thanks

Pretty much how I feel One. Skype was SO good for us! I ran son's sound out of my Tannoys via my M4 and spoke to him through a Citronics CCU3 USB mic.
This all made for a very relaxed conversation.

For the less than once a week use we would make of it, £10+ per month (Zoom) is too much and the free 40 minutes would fly by and be very frustrating I would think.

Dave.

[BJG145]

Unlike the rest of you I have to do real work for a living. I live and breathe Teams.

[ef37a]

Unlike the rest of you I have to do real work for a living. I live and breathe Teams.

Cheeky clucker! I did REAL WORK from 16 to past 65 and in that time companies had PEOPLE to answer the telephone and you could usually speak to the right person with a minute or two of calling. They were not all about the last quid profit for the overseas shareholders.

Dave.

[The Elf]

Had to use Teams once... never again, if I can help it. What a convoluted pile of junk.

[BJG145]

Had to use Teams once... never again, if I can help it. What a convoluted pile of junk.

Welcome to the 21st century workplace.

[Albatross]

When I use it to communicate with Mrs A ... just go down the left pane, click 'meet', then 'create a meeting link'. The thing will pop up a titled link. Copy that to an email and the recipient clicks the link off their email.

Back to your screen and you should see the meeting you just created under 'meeting links'... click that and wait for them to join. You can send that link to one or more people.

I'm sure it could be better but I've nothing to compare it with as I never did any of this before.

[OneWorld]

Unlike the rest of you I have to do real work for a living. I live and breathe Teams.

Doesn't stop it being a crock of krap

[Drew Stephenson]

There's nothing wrong with it when it's used to do the job it's designed for.
But that doesn't appear to be what a lot of you want.
Wonks has posted the Signal link right there in the thread.

[BWC]

My lad is trying to persuade all his friends to use Jami but I'm not sure that it is quite ready for general use yet.

Edit to add link

https://jami.net/

.

At a glance, it looks pretty good! What about it makes you hesitate to recommend it for general use?

[OneWorld]

Had to use Teams once... never again, if I can help it. What a convoluted pile of junk.

Welcome to the 21st century workplace.

"Welcome to the 21st century workplace."

That's what they said about Betamax and goodness knows how many other flops you'll have had foisted upon you, 18th century snake oil, 19th century snake oil 20th century snake oil 21st century snake oil and all snake oil that follows, is still snake oil - welcome to reality and the convoluted junk that comes with it, all that is new is not needed just because it's new, MS will create a dependency, once done, they whack a charge on it - you read it here first

[S.Crow]

For the less than once a week use we would make of it, £10+ per month (Zoom) is too much and the free 40 minutes would fly by and be very frustrating I would think.

It's similar to what landline companies do where they offer free calls for up to an hour.
This has been going on for decades and the workaround is to set a timer and call back once it goes off.
I'd rather do that than use a Meta app.

[James Perrett]

At a glance, it looks pretty good! What about it makes you hesitate to recommend it for general use?

I'm only relaying things second-hand from my son but it appears that you need to be online to receive calls and isn't quite as fool proof as Skype was. However, the idea looks great and my lad and his friends are still using it so maybe it will work better for him once he gets used to it.