The Microsoft Teams community call is our regular event for developers to stay in sync with Microsoft Teams. We’ll share updates, tips, and connect you to the product teams behind Microsoft Teams. In addition, we’ll have a technical deep dive on a specific topic.
This month’s topics included:
“Building Modern Apps on Microsoft Teams Platform” – Microsoft Teams is all about increasing your productivity in an integrated workspace that truly empowers businesses and individuals to do more and be more. One of the unique way Teams fulfils this vision is by surfacing workflows that matter to you as apps right inside the workspace. Learn why you should care and go about building immersive apps on the Microsoft Teams platform.
Watch the call here.
View the presentation here.
Questions and Answers:
When will Skype for Business Online be shut down?
There is no firm deadline by which customers need to move from Skype for Business Online to Micrsoft Teams. We’ve made our roadmap for Teams available, so customers can assess the capabilities for Teams relative to their needs and plan their move accordingly. Customers can determine the timing for moving to Teams that best meets their needs.
It would be nice to “publish” apps/links to all users, or certain users to the left rail. (as an admin)
Thank you for voicing this ask. We’re aware of this ask from many app developers as well as customers and are actively evaluating to add support for this among other platform enhancements.
Is there any more information from announcements raised at SPCNA where SharePoint SPFx extensions can be surfaced in Teams?
We announced a preview for the SPFx capabilities coming to v1.7 of the framework (due in October).
Does anyone have any good links on using Microsoft Teams vs SharePoint sites and when you want to use one vs the other or better yet how to effectively use both of them together?
Glad you asked. Be sure to check out Bob German’s “SharePoint and Teams: Better Together” blog post on TechCommunity
Is there any existing ServiceNow app?
We continuously work with leading SaaS app providers to surface their integration on the Microsoft Teams platform. Apps such as Workato and YellowAnt live on the app store can be used to command ServiceNow right within Teams.
How would we find out more about the Service Now app if it is not yet in the store?
We continuously work with leading SaaS app providers to surface their integration on the Microsoft Teams platform. New additions to the Teams app store are often announced by the partner as well as Microsoft on various media such as social handles as well as on the “What’s New in Microsoft Teams” monthly blog posts on the Teams Blog.
Does anyone know if there’s a complete list of Apps published to Microsoft Teams?
Head over to AppSource for 3rd party and partner apps available for use in Microsoft Teams today.
Is there a way for a Bot to reach out to user, without the user contacting the bot in the first place (i.e. send adhoc notifications)?
Bots inside Microsoft Teams can send proactive messages to start a conversation with a user in personal scope or drop a message in a channel.
Is there any license we need to buy for existing O365 customers?
Please refer to the information here for finding out how to start developing on the Microsoft Teams platform.
Can we configure Tab through Graph API?
Microsoft Graph APIs currently do not support configuring a dynamic Tab in Microsoft Teams. However, this is an ask we’ve received multiple times and are actively evaluating to add support for this among other platform enhancements.
Are there any examples or plans of integrating Teams functionality with Dynamics 365?
I’ve been building a couple of those D365 integrations and demoing on conferences (next up European SP conference). Working on get the code published on Github (keep an eye on my Twitter account for updates)
Isn’t it sometimes better to build a Powerapp instead of building for Teams? Powerapps can be used in other places, for instance embedded on a SharePoint page.
I would imagine it would depend on how it is intended to be used. In some ways, I think of Teams as a dashboard that surfaces info and functionality in a single tabbed experience
Can we use App Studio in company teams instance?
Yes, App Studio is available as a 3rd party app in the Microsoft Teams app store. In case you’re not able to see it, please double check with your IT admin to confirm 3rd party apps are enabled for your O365 tenant.
Where do we unblock third party apps?
Please use the “Allow external apps in Microsoft Teams” control to manage in detail which third party apps can be used in Microsoft Teams. More info can be found here. For corp apps you can do whatever you want, but for published apps there’s pretty good documentation on how an app must and should behave: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/admin-settings
Can we try App studio in Live teams (company teams) to develop and test Custom App?
Yes, you can use App Studio in any Teams instance – developer or your company instance. To test any custom app, your IT admin should have enabled the “Allow sideloading of external apps” control for your tenant as the article details here.
Can you share a link to free teams to try App studio and side loading?
Sign up today for Microsoft Teams Free here: https://products.office.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/free
When will Microsoft Graph APIs for Teams be GA? Is there a tentative schedule you could share? Thanks!
We’ll be releasing the current Teams Microsoft Graph APIs from preview to general availability, including: create and deleting teams, adding members and owners, adding and removing channels, change team settings very soon. Stay tuned to announcements coming from Ignite last week.
What schema version is required for multiple cmd extensions?
You should use the latest manifest version 1.3.
Is there a testbed that can be leveraged to simulate load?
Microsoft Teams apps are essentially web services surfaces inside the Teams client UI. You can use existing, familiar web development and testing tools to simulate traffic (load) – nothing different is advisable for Teams.
Can we expect individual analytics for each team accessible for the end users?
Microsoft Teams usage reporting currently supports activity reports to see how users in your organization are using Microsoft Teams at an aggregate level. Find out more about the same here.
We encourage you and your team to refer to the following resources that will immensely help you in familiarizing yourself regd. building on the Microsoft Teams platform:
- What is an App for Microsoft Teams? https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/platform/concepts/apps/apps-overview
- Microsoft Teams Developer Documentation (all-encompassing and continuously updated): https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/platform/index
- Microsoft Teams Design Guidelines (full guidance, complete with style recommendations and examples): https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/platform/resources/design/overview
- Sample Teams App Code on GitHub (you don’t have to start from zero; download our sample here): https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/platform/samples/code-samples
- How to publish your app? Everything you need to get your app live is here: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/submission
- Some inspiration in the form of very short videos showing how few global apps currently live on the Teams platform are designed: Trello, Zoom.ai, Adobe Creative Cloud, Wrike, SurveyMonkey, SignEasy
Other Microsoft Teams Resources:
- Yeoman generator to build Teams apps – https://github.com/OfficeDev/generator-teams
- Microsoft Teams developer documentation – https://aka.ms/teamsdevdocs
- Microsoft Teams issues and technical questions – StackOverflow
- Microsoft Teams recommendations and suggestions – Microsoft Teams User Voice
- Ask the Experts – Discussion and Blogs – Microsoft Tech Community
Additional resources
- Office Developer repository – https://github.com/OfficeDev
- Join the Microsoft Office 365 Developer Program – https://dev.office.com/devprogram
Next month’s call is on Tuesday, November 20, 2018 at 8:00AM PDT. Download the calendar invite at https://aka.ms/microsoftteamscommunitycall
