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Microsoft Teams Offers Huge Security Advantages Over Zoom

Even before the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic caused video conferencing to explode, Zoom had some bugs it had to work out and the real differences between Microsoft Teams and Zoom were not yet apparent. But given the huge uptick in the use of teleconferencing for communicating and collaborating remotely, the differences in both tools are becoming more apparent, and the biggest difference is security.

Teleconferencing has taken off and more and more we are accustomed to working from home or a remote location. While the technology allows for greater flexibility in choosing where and when to work, security still needs to be top of mind for all businesses who want to protect their data and keep their conversations private. Just recently Zoom came under fire over security and privacy as poor technology protocols allowed online pranksters to invade Zoom meetings calling it, “Zoom-bombing” and calling it a federal offense. Nevertheless, the invasion of privacy and security breach of the Zoom product has Microsoft is showing off the privacy and security features for video conferences in Teams in the hope of making it the go-to video-conferencing app.

But Zoom has taken a battering in recent weeks over security issues and the rise of Zoom video-conference hijacking or ‘zoombombing’. New York City Department of Education this week started banning Zoom over security and telling teachers to instead use Microsoft Teams. Google also issued a ban on the use of the Zoom teleconferencing platform for employees. The company is citing security concerns with the app that has arisen since Zoom became one of the most popular services for free video chatting during the COVID-19 pandemic. The news was first reported by BuzzFeed News earlier this month.

In a new blogpost, Jared Spataro, corporate vice president for Microsoft 365, doesn’t mention Zoom by name but highlights how Teams privacy and security controls can prevent zoombombing, how Teams encrypts data, and how Microsoft handles law enforcement requests – all areas that Zoom has been criticized for in recent weeks.

Now more than ever, people need to know that their virtual conversations are private and secure. At Microsoft, privacy and security are never an afterthought,” says Spataro.

Unlike Zoom, Microsoft allows users to “decide who from outside your organization can join your meetings directly, and who should wait in the lobby for someone to let them in. In addition, you can also remove participants during a meeting, designate ‘presenters’ and ‘attendees’, and control which meeting participants can present content, demonstrating Microsoft’s Teams superior security controls already in place today.

Another added benefit that many users do not initially consider, but Teams data is not used to serve ads and it does not track participants’ attention in meetings. While Zoom recently removed its attendee tracker feature, many businesses are still skeptical about its ability to keep conversations safe.

Microsoft also deletes user data after a subscription has expired or been terminated. And Spataro says Microsoft takes “strong measures to ensure access to your data is restricted and carefully defines requirements for responding to government requests for data”.

Feature for feature it is hard to beat the Teams teleconferencing that comes bundled into the Microsoft 365 suite and at no additional cost. And the benefits don’t stop there. According to Blue Fox Group partner, Mike Lindsley, “Office 365 and Microsoft products, in general, are a huge value for businesses with a remote workforce. Microsoft provides virtual desktops, which immediately reduce the security risk of hacked data, business phone services, secure email, cloud storage, and enterprise security you can’t find anywhere else.”

Watch What Our Blue Fox Group IT Experts Have to Say About the Advantages of Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Complexity, Simplified

While Office 365 may appear to be easy to use, there are certain complexities built into the backend that make programming Office 365 applications to the network, not as easy as they look. At Blue Fox Group we have both the IT and the business phone expertise know-how to help consolidate non-Microsoft applications under the Microsoft 365 umbrella. We can help you bring together your entire video, text, chat, file share, and business phone systems into the Microsoft 365 fold by helping you mirror your business phone experience in Teams and remove the complexities around porting and programming your business phone system to work the way it does today. We also help your team secure internal communication, maximize functionality, and enable staff members to work seamlessly from any location without skipping a beat. The Microsoft 365 suite is powerful but only if it set-up to work the way that supports your staff and operations. Don’t waste time trying to cobble together disconnected business applications. Look to the Blue Fox Group Team for help and guidance.

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