Using Teams for Videoconferencing? You must Know Something I Don’t!

Full disclosure, I was a long-time paying customer of Zoom. Then, during the pandemic, it was revealed that Zoom had overstated their product’s encryption level and possibly exposed users to risk. Well Zoom, you had one job; just one. I was out.

Since Microsoft is our email and cloud provider, the switch to Teams seemed like a natural substitute for Zoom. Our expectations; tighter integration with Outlook and our scheduling tools, the option to run meetings in the app or browser, better security, direct linking to documents in OneDrive, and more. Our experience; none of the above.

This morning I clicked on a Teams link in my calendar about 4 minutes before I was scheduled to join a meeting. What happened next would have been comical if not for the people waiting on me in a time zone 11 hours ahead of my own. A browser window opened, followed by 2 blank app windows, and about 3 minutes later, a Teams window that allowed me to select my camera and audio settings. But wait, there’s more.

As I scrolled down to select my settings, I was greeted with a link encouraging me to enhance my experience by signing in. Mind you, I’m already signed in to Outlook, OneDrive and as a consequence, Microsoft 365. But it seems that’s not good enough for MSFT, because Teams requires a special pass. So I took the bait and signed in.

The result was that I joined the meeting late. A total of 5 minutes was irretrievably lost to this unnecessary runaround. Then I recalled that the exact same thing happened the last time I used Teams! Contrast that to the Google Meet experience; one click, and the meeting has started. Or, schedule a future meeting just as easily. As long as you’re logged into the Chrome browser, you’re authenticated. That’s it. It works!

Now I’m sure that it’s just me. I clearly don’t understand the breadth and depth of the Teams app. It’s probably not even intended for schmucks like myself, but more targeted at big-shots, with really important things to do. I just happened to stumble across it thinking that it was another version of Zoom, but in reality, it’s much, much, way much, more. But what if it isn’t?

What if it really is intended to be a substitute for Zoom?

As product developers we always need to remain focused on our users; who they are, what they need, and how our products address their needs. In that context, I understand where Zoom fits in the videoconferencing space, and exactly how they differ from Google Meet. And, I use both interchangeably depending on who sets up the call; the latter being my preference when I initiate meetings. I have no idea what Teams is about.

It's easy to rail on MSFT as the bloated giant exhibiting monopolistic tendencies as the root cause of debacles like what Teams is to me. But deep within that monolith is a product team, real people, who ought to know better. Or maybe that’s not even part of the job description anymore inside a company of tenured millionaires with little incentive to innovate. After all, wasn’t this the group that presided over the ruin of Skype, the first mover in the cross-platform video calling space?

No organization is immune to complacency, it is insidious. Like weight gain, it sneaks up on you. But organizations that stay ahead are constantly watching for and preventing its infestation. And others just aren’t.?