Teams is free during the corona crisis

More and more people are working from home

As the Corona virus / COVID-19 continues to spread and is increasingly affecting people and communities around the globe, the number of people working from home is also drastically increasing. In many places Microsoft's own departments are also encouraged to work at home, a trend that before long must be assumed to be global.

Microsoft itself emphasizes that their highest priority is the health and safety of their employees, customers, business partners and communities. But how can one of the world's largest IT companies help slow down the spread of Corona virus / COVID-19?

Free communication and collaboration platform

As most people have already become aware of, our best weapon for fighting the spread of Corona virus / COVID-19 is social isolation. The more we distance ourselves from other people, the less the risk of infection. To contribute to this part of the effort, Microsoft has therefore decided to make their online communication and collaboration platform Microsoft Teams (formerly called skype) accessible to everyone during the pandemic crisis free of charge. By making Team's applications available for free and thus making it available to as many people as possible, Microsoft hopes that it will help support public health and safety.

• What will happen when a user logs in through their work or school account?
  If you are already a licensed Team user, you will, as usual, be logged in and can use the solution as usual. If you are not a licensed user, you will be logged in and will automatically receive a free license for Teams that will be valid until January 2021. This license allows you to hold video meetings with up to 250 participants and Live events for up to 10,000 viewers. In addition, you will be able to record and screen share, as well as chat and collaborate
• What does the free version of Teams include during the Corona crisis include?
  The version of Teams provided by Microsoft for free until 2021 gives you unlimited chat, setting up groups, built-in group and one-to-one audio or video calls, 10 GB group file storage and 2 GB personal file storage per. user. In addition, you also get real-time collaboration with your Office 365 apps, including Word, PowerPoint and Excel
• Is there a user limit in the free version of Teams?
  As of March 10, 2020, Microsoft rolls out updates to the free version of Teams, which will lift restrictions on user limitations
• Is it possible to schedule my meetings in the free version of Teams?
  With the March 202 update, Microsoft will also allow users of the free version to schedule meetings. Until then, however, it is still possible to conduct improvised video conferences and calls
• How do our IT administrators gain access to Teams for Education?
  Teams have always been and still are a freely available communication platform for students and professionals in education, it is part of the Office 365 A1 offering