Microsoft Teams service description

Microsoft Teams is the hub for teamwork in Microsoft 365. The Teams service enables instant messaging, audio and video calling, rich online meetings, mobile experiences, and extensive web conferencing capabilities. In addition, Teams provides file and data collaboration and extensibility features, and integrates with Microsoft 365 and other Microsoft and partner apps.

Available plans

For detailed plan information on subscriptions that enable users for Microsoft Teams, see the Microsoft 365 business plan comparison and Microsoft 365 Enterprise plan comparison.

For detailed plan information on subscriptions that enable users for Microsoft Teams and are currently available in European Economic Area (EEA) countries and Switzerland see the Microsoft 365 business plan comparison for EEA and Microsoft 365 Enterprise plan comparison for EEA.

Feature availability

The following table lists the major Microsoft Teams features available across plans. Certain caveats apply. See the footnotes for further information. This table may change without notice. Refer to Microsoft 365 Message Center notifications for core service change messaging and to the Microsoft licensing terms reference documentation.

Feature Small business Enterprise plans GCC GCC - High DOD Education
Teams Apps Yes Yes Yes Yes1 Yes1 Yes
Audio conferencing Yes Yes Yes Yes2 Yes2 Yes
Channels - Standard Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Channels - Private Yes Yes3 Yes Yes Yes Yes
Channels - Shared Yes Yes Yes No No Yes4
Chat Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Live Events No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Meetings Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Screen sharing PowerPoint Audio/Video Desktop Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Teams Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Voice (Teams Phone)6 Yes Yes Yes Yes2 Yes2 Yes
Webinars Yes Yes Yes No No Yes5
Town Hall Yes Yes No No No Yes

1 Third-party applications and application publishing are not available in these clouds at this time.
2 Direct routing must be configured for Microsoft Teams voice and audio conferencing to work in GCCH and DoD.
3 Microsoft Planner is not currently available to access in private channels.
4 Shared channels are not supported with Class teams.
5 For Education A1, SMB Plans only support up to 300 person limit for webinars.
6 Requires purchase of additional Teams Phone license.

Additional Services

Microsoft Teams Rooms

Teams Rooms turns any meeting space into an easy-to-use and inclusive collaboration space where everyone has a place at the table, regardless of where they sit.

Virtual Appointments

The Virtual Appointments app provides a central hub for all your virtual appointments needs in Microsoft Teams. The app enables a seamless end-to-end experience for business-to-customer engagements, integrating Bookings schedules, analytics, and management options, all in one place.

You can schedule, view, and manage virtual appointments, get real-time status updates in a queue view, send appointment reminders, view analytics and reports to gain insight into virtual appointments activity, and configure calendar, staff, and booking page settings.

With any Microsoft 365 license, you can use basic the Virtual Appointments capabilities to schedule and join business-to-customer meetings. For example, you can schedule appointments in the Bookings calendar and external attendees can join through a browser without having to download Teams. Teams Premium unlocks the advanced Virtual Appointments capabilities that your organization can use to manage and personalize the experience. These include a queue view of scheduled and on-demand appointments, SMS text notifications, custom waiting rooms, and analytics.

Users can find the Virtual Appointments app in the Teams app store, or you can share the installation link to help them find it. You can use an app setup policy to pin the app for your organization, or your users can pin the app themselves.

Available plans

For detailed plan information on subscriptions that enable users for Microsoft Teams Virtual Appointments, see the Microsoft 365 business plan comparison and Microsoft 365 Enterprise plan comparison.

For detailed plan information on subscriptions that enable users for Microsoft Teams Virtual Appointments and are currently available in European Economic Area (EEA) countries and Switzerland see the Microsoft 365 business plan comparison for EEA and Microsoft 365 Enterprise plan comparison for EEA.

Feature availability

The following table lists the major Virtual Appointments App features available across plans. Certain caveats apply. See the footnotes for further information. This table may change without notice. For the most up-to-date, complete list of Virtual Appointments App features across plans, see Virtual Appointments with Microsoft Teams.

Feature Small business plans Enterprise plans Education plans Government plans Developer plans
Virtual Appointments App Yes1 Yes1 Yes1 Yes1 Yes1
Mobile browser join Yes Yes Yes No Yes
Forms integration Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
SMS notifications Yes1,2 Yes1,2 No No Yes1,2
Custom waiting room with branding Yes1 Yes1 No Yes1 Yes1
Bookings: scheduling, appointment management and email notifications Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
On-demand queue Yes1 Yes1 No Yes1 Yes1
Scheduled queue Yes1 Yes1 No Yes1 Yes1
Departmental analytics Yes1 Yes1 No Yes1 Yes1
Organizational analytics Yes1 Yes1 No Yes1 Yes1

1 Basic capabilities are available as part of any Microsoft 365 and Office 365 license; advanced features are included in a Teams Premium subscription. Learn more about Teams Premium licensing to take advantage of the Virtual Appointment advanced features.
2 SMS notifications are currently only available in US, UK, CAD.

Career Coach for Microsoft Teams

Career Coach has been retired as of June 30, 2023.

Microsoft eCDN

Microsoft eCDN (enterprise Content Delivery Network) is a webRTC-based solution that reduces bandwidth usage and the load on the corporate network for delivering seamless live video streaming in Microsoft Teams Live Events. Its mesh networks are self-balancing and automatically scale as the number of viewers increases. The technology does not require additional installation on user endpoints or changes to the physical network infrastructure. For more information, go to Microsoft eCDN or Introducing Microsoft eCDN for a New Era of Communications - Microsoft Tech Community.

Learn more

Teams Rooms: Learn more about plans, pricing, capabilities, and certified devices at Microsoft Teams Rooms | Calling & Meeting Room Solutions with additional information on service capabilities on Microsoft Learn.

Microsoft Teams Essentials: Microsoft Teams Essentials is a standalone Teams subscription that provides an all-in-one solution with meetings, chat, and collaboration for small businesses. Learn more about Teams Essentials and how to get started here.

Microsoft Teams subscriptions: All supported subscription plans are eligible for access to the Microsoft Teams web client, desktop clients, and mobile apps. Microsoft Teams is not available as a standalone service.

Microsoft Teams technical information: For technical information about Microsoft Teams, refer the following resources:

Skype for Business Online has retired: Microsoft-assisted upgrades to Teams begin July 31, 2021. Organizations that are scheduled for assisted upgrades after July 31, 2021, will be able to use Skype for Business Online until their upgrade is complete. For more information, see The Skype for Business Online service has retired.

Accessibility: Microsoft remains committed to the security of your data and the accessibility of our services. For more information, see the Microsoft Trust Center and the Office Accessibility Center.

Licensing terms: For licensing terms and conditions for products and services purchased through Microsoft Commercial Volume Licensing Programs, see the Product Terms site.

Messaging: To keep track of upcoming changes, including new and changed features, planned maintenance, or other important announcements, visit the Message Center. For more information, see Message center.

Virtual Appointments: For more information about Virtual Appointments, check out the following resources: