Hello, Teams! A transition for video conferencing

Posted July 29, 2021 by Academic and Institutional Technology
Tags: Department News

Hello, Teams! A transition for video conferencing

Effective Date: July 29, 2021

As we follow the Thunder, Stronger initiatives, one cost-saving effort is to stop paying for Zoom and start utilizing Microsoft Teams as the video conferencing solution for the entire campus.  Once our campus license expires in the fall, Zoom will become an unsupported tool.

Key Benefits and Features

  • Microsoft Teams provides comparable video conferencing across campus and for people outside our organization.
  • Microsoft Teams comes at a cost savings for Wheaton College.
  • Microsoft Teams is a robust platform that offers much more than simple video conferencing.

Impact on College Community

For those of you exclusively using Microsoft Teams for video conferencing at this point, there will be no action items for you.  But for those who are still using Zoom, there may be some action items for you:

  • As training and informational materials are provided via email and in person, please keep an eye out for opportunities to dive into Teams.
  • If you have any recurring meetings already set up in Zoom, you will want to update them to be Microsoft Teams meetings.
  • In order to assist with the cost-savings efforts, Wheaton College credit cards will no longer be authorized to pay for Zoom.
  • As a reminder, you should begin the habit of ensuring Microsoft Teams is running each day as you start work, so others in our organization can get a hold of you, as needed. We will also be sharing some “Netiquette” tips with you about how Wheaton College faculty and staff will use Teams well together.

If you have any questions, please contact us at ait.service.desk@wheaton.edu or call 630.752.4357 (HELP).