<s>
Microsoft	B-Application
Teams	I-Application
is	O
a	O
proprietary	B-Application
business	O
communication	O
platform	O
developed	O
by	O
Microsoft	O
,	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
Microsoft	B-Operating_System
365	I-Operating_System
family	O
of	O
products	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Teams	O
primarily	O
competes	O
with	O
the	O
similar	O
service	O
Slack	B-Protocol
,	O
offering	O
workspace	O
chat	O
and	O
videoconferencing	B-Application
,	O
file	O
storage	O
,	O
and	O
application	O
integration	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Teams	O
replaced	O
other	O
Microsoft-operated	O
business	O
messaging	O
and	O
collaboration	B-Application
platforms	I-Application
,	O
including	O
Skype	B-Protocol
for	I-Protocol
Business	I-Protocol
and	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Classroom	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Throughout	O
the	O
COVID-19	O
pandemic	O
,	O
Teams	O
,	O
and	O
other	O
software	O
such	O
as	O
Zoom	B-Application
and	O
Google	B-Protocol
Meet	I-Protocol
,	O
gained	O
much	O
interest	O
as	O
many	O
meetings	O
moved	O
to	O
a	O
virtual	O
environment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
August	O
29	O
,	O
2007	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
purchased	O
Parlano	O
and	O
its	O
persistent	O
group	O
chat	O
product	O
,	O
MindAlign	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
March	O
4	O
,	O
2016	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
had	O
considered	O
bidding	O
$8	O
billion	O
for	O
Slack	B-Protocol
,	O
but	O
Bill	O
Gates	O
was	O
against	O
the	O
purchase	O
,	O
stating	O
that	O
the	O
firm	O
should	O
instead	O
focus	O
on	O
improving	O
Skype	B-Protocol
for	I-Protocol
Business	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Qi	O
Lu	O
,	O
EVP	O
of	O
Applications	O
and	O
Services	O
,	O
was	O
leading	O
the	O
push	O
to	O
purchase	O
Slack	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
the	O
departure	O
of	O
Lu	O
later	O
that	O
year	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
announced	O
Teams	O
to	O
the	O
public	O
as	O
a	O
direct	O
competitor	O
to	O
Slack	B-Protocol
at	O
an	O
event	O
in	O
New	O
York	O
on	O
November	O
2	O
,	O
2016	O
,	O
and	O
was	O
launched	O
worldwide	O
on	O
March	O
14	O
,	O
2017	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Slack	B-Protocol
ran	O
a	O
full-page	O
advertisement	O
in	O
the	O
New	O
York	O
Times	O
acknowledging	O
the	O
competing	O
service	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Though	O
Slack	B-Protocol
is	O
used	O
by	O
28	O
companies	O
in	O
the	O
Fortune	O
100	O
,	O
The	O
Verge	O
wrote	O
executives	O
will	O
question	O
paying	O
for	O
the	O
service	O
if	O
Teams	O
provides	O
a	O
similar	O
function	O
in	O
their	O
company	O
's	O
existing	O
Office	B-Operating_System
365	I-Operating_System
subscription	O
at	O
no	O
added	O
cost	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
response	O
to	O
Teams	O
 '	O
announcement	O
,	O
Slack	B-Protocol
deepened	O
in-product	O
integration	O
with	O
Google	O
services	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	B-Application
Teams	I-Application
is	O
a	O
web-based	O
desktop	O
app	O
,	O
developed	O
on	O
top	O
of	O
the	O
Electron	B-Operating_System
framework	I-Operating_System
from	O
GitHub	B-Application
which	O
combines	O
the	O
Chromium	B-Language
rendering	O
engine	O
and	O
the	O
Node.js	B-Language
JavaScript	O
platform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
May	O
3	O
,	O
2017	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
announced	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Teams	I-Application
would	O
replace	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Classroom	I-Application
in	O
Office	B-Operating_System
365	I-Operating_System
Education	O
(	O
formerly	O
known	O
as	O
Office	B-Operating_System
365	I-Operating_System
for	O
Education	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
July	O
12	O
,	O
2018	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
announced	O
a	O
free	O
version	O
of	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Teams	I-Application
,	O
offering	O
most	O
of	O
the	O
platform	O
's	O
communication	O
options	O
for	O
no	O
charge	O
but	O
limiting	O
the	O
number	O
of	O
users	O
and	O
team	O
file	O
storage	O
capacity	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
January	O
2019	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
released	O
an	O
update	O
targeting	O
"	O
Firstline	O
Workers	O
"	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
improve	O
the	O
interoperability	O
of	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Teams	I-Application
between	O
different	O
computers	O
for	O
retail	O
workers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
September	O
2019	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
announced	O
that	O
Skype	B-Protocol
for	I-Protocol
Business	I-Protocol
would	O
be	O
phased	O
out	O
in	O
favor	O
of	O
Teams	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Hosted	O
Skype	B-Protocol
for	I-Protocol
Business	I-Protocol
Online	O
was	O
discontinued	O
for	O
new	O
Office	B-Operating_System
365	I-Operating_System
customers	O
that	O
same	O
month	O
and	O
was	O
discontinued	O
entirely	O
on	O
July	O
31	O
,	O
2021	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
November	O
19	O
,	O
2019	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
announced	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Teams	I-Application
reached	O
20	O
million	O
active	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
March	O
19	O
,	O
2020	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
announced	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Teams	I-Application
had	O
hit	O
44	O
million	O
daily	O
users	O
,	O
in	O
part	O
due	O
to	O
the	O
COVID-19	O
pandemic	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
reported	O
that	O
by	O
April	O
2020	O
,	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Teams	I-Application
had	O
hit	O
75	O
million	O
daily	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
December	O
2019	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
released	O
a	O
public	O
preview	O
of	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Teams	I-Application
for	O
Linux	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2022	O
it	O
discontinued	O
support	O
for	O
the	O
Linux	B-Application
client	O
to	O
focus	O
on	O
a	O
progressive	B-Application
web	I-Application
app	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
June	O
22	O
,	O
2020	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
announced	O
that	O
its	O
acquired	O
video	O
game	O
live	O
streaming	O
service	O
Mixer	O
would	O
shut	O
down	O
in	O
July	O
of	O
that	O
year	O
and	O
that	O
its	O
staff	O
would	O
be	O
transferred	O
to	O
the	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Teams	I-Application
division	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Participants	O
can	O
message	O
using	O
text	O
,	O
emojis	B-Application
,	O
stickers	O
and	O
gifs	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
sharing	O
links	O
and	O
files	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Connectors	O
include	O
MailChimp	B-Application
,	O
Facebook	B-Application
Pages	I-Application
,	O
Twitter	B-Application
,	O
PowerBI	B-Application
and	O
Bing	O
News	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ad-hoc	O
groups	O
can	O
be	O
created	O
to	O
share	O
instant	B-Application
messaging	I-Application
,	O
audio	B-Application
calls	I-Application
(	O
VoIP	B-Application
)	O
,	O
and	O
video	B-Application
calls	I-Application
inside	O
the	O
client	O
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Teams	O
has	O
a	O
plugin	O
for	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Outlook	I-Application
to	O
schedule	O
a	O
Teams	O
Meeting	O
in	O
Outlook	O
for	O
a	O
specific	O
date	O
and	O
time	O
and	O
invite	O
others	O
to	O
attend	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Teams	O
Live	O
Events	O
replaces	O
Skype	B-Protocol
Meeting	I-Protocol
Broadcast	I-Protocol
for	O
users	O
to	O
broadcast	O
to	O
10,000	O
participants	O
on	O
Teams	O
,	O
Yammer	O
,	O
or	O
Microsoft	B-Protocol
Stream	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	B-Application
Teams	I-Application
for	O
Education	O
allows	O
teachers	O
to	O
distribute	O
,	O
provide	O
feedback	O
,	O
and	O
grade	O
student	O
assignments	O
turned	O
in	O
via	O
Teams	O
using	O
the	O
Assignments	O
tab	O
through	O
Office	B-Operating_System
365	I-Operating_System
for	O
Education	O
subscribers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Quizzes	O
can	O
also	O
be	O
assigned	O
to	O
students	O
through	O
an	O
integration	O
with	O
Office	B-Operating_System
Forms	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	B-Application
Teams	I-Application
is	O
based	O
on	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
Microsoft-specific	O
protocols	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Video	B-Application
conferences	I-Application
are	O
realized	O
over	O
the	O
protocol	O
MNP24	B-General_Concept
,	O
known	O
from	O
the	O
Skype	O
consumer	O
version	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
VoIP	B-Application
and	O
video	B-Application
conference	I-Application
clients	O
based	O
on	O
SIP	O
and	O
H.323	O
need	O
special	O
gateways	O
to	O
connect	O
to	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Teams	I-Application
servers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
the	O
help	O
of	O
Interactive	O
Connectivity	O
Establishment	O
(	O
ICE	O
)	O
,	O
clients	O
behind	O
Network	B-Protocol
address	I-Protocol
translation	I-Protocol
routers	O
and	O
restrictive	O
firewalls	O
are	O
also	O
able	O
to	O
connect	O
,	O
if	O
peer-to-peer	O
is	O
not	O
possible	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	B-Application
Teams	I-Application
has	O
integrations	O
through	O
Microsoft	O
AppSource	O
,	O
its	O
integration	O
marketplace	O
.	O
</s>
