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 full subscription comparison table.

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
Apps, Bots, & Connectors 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 Yes Yes Yes Yes2 Yes2 Yes
Webinars Yes Yes Yes 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.

Additional Services

Career Coach for Microsoft Teams

Career Coach is a Microsoft Teams for Education app powered by LinkedIn that provides personalized guidance for higher education students to navigate their career journey. Career Coach offers educational institutions a unified career solution for students to discover their career path, grow real-world skills, and build their network all in one place. To learn more about Career Coach, see Purchase, configure, and enable Career Coach for Microsoft Teams and Career Coach - Microsoft Education.

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

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.