Top 5 apps that integrate with Microsoft Teams

The Microsoft Teams platform is a great solution for business communications and teamwork. There are more than 600 apps that integrate with Microsoft Teams. This number grows as more developers create Teams-compatible tools and services.

Microsoft Teams offers a wide range of collaboration tools for effective work. Many employees who use Teams confirm that they save time as all their tools are located in the same place. Over 1 million organizations and over 320 million customers are using Microsoft Teams around the world. 

 Key benefits of using Microsoft Teams:

• A variety of communication forms: chats, audio and video meetings with both internal teams and external partners and clients;
• Creating collective chat channels on specific topics and immediate access to them; combining all communication channels in one application window;  
• collaboration on projects and documents: in the channel window the user can take notes, plan and control tasks, manage projects, call colleagues, and edit documents. The history of correspondence and the necessary documents are stored indefinitely; 
• full integration with Microsoft Office 365: access to OneDrive file storage, Sharepoint service, Outlook mail client, Exchange, etc.
• effective for remote teamwork: all modern mobile devices are supported;
• building a chatbot assistant;
• instant access to the information and secure storage of the processed documents 

However, Microsoft Teams is not an all-powerful tool. That is why many SaaS tools integrate with Teams, enhance its functionality, and facilitate streamlining the most important business processes right in the Microsoft Teams environment.

We’ve made a list of the most interesting ones and outlined key aspects of their functionality. So, let’s dive into it!

1. Approveit

A user-friendly platform for streamlining and automating approval processes for various tasks, projects, or documents.

In Approveit, you can create your seamless approval workflows for any department. This platform allows you to speed up the approval process, automate bill, invoice, or purchase order management, modernize vendor management, assign tasks to your teammates automatically, view and download file attachments, and much more. Approveit reduces your invoice processing time by 80%, minimizes errors in your accounting, ensures compliance with external regulations and internal company policies, and helps you control the decision-making process better.

Key benefits:

• automated workflows
• easy onboarding
• perfectly scalable
• wide scope of use cases: from bill management to streamlining hiring process
• integrations with Microsoft Team, Slack, NetSuite, Xero, QuickBooks Online, Zapier
• mobile apps for iOS and Android are available

Limitations:

• customer needs an active Approveit account to use this app
• no free version

 2. Asana 

Well-known project management software that integrates with Microsoft Teams. Asana is a system of tools for project management and interaction between company employees and customers. It allows to track project progress, deadlines, and results. Asana can be used both to work on projects and as a personal task manager, so it will be interesting for both freelancers and the management of large corporations.

Key benefits:

• simultaneous work with several projects
• the ability to detail tasks
• efficiency and speed of operations
• real-time synchronization for different devices

Limitations:

• project templates are missing
• no incoming push notifications
• free version for up to 15 people with limited functionality

3. Creately

A tool for brainstorming, planning, and building an idea and analyzing a project. With Creately, users can collaboratively create diagrams, graphs, and mental maps to visually demonstrate the process of working. The tool is available as a web application and as a desktop version. With the help of specialized libraries of forms, users can create organizational charts and complex diagrams.

Key benefits:

• 1000+ professional templates and examples
• supports 70+ diagram types
• there is free access
• fast and intuitive

Limitations:

• only 5 free projects
• export only in image format

4. Smartsheet

A software product for collaboration and work management. Smartsheet helps teams to create spreadsheets, to manage projects, to automate tasks, to share documents and files. It offers multiple views, notifications, templates. In Smartsheet, you can do tables for project management from scratch or use ready-made templates. The service is available as a browser version and as a mobile application.

Key benefits:

• convenient dashboards
• storing data that can be accessed by multiple teams at a single point in time
• great processing speed for huge amounts of data
• intuitive interface
• variety of integrations
• customizable 
• useful analytics and reporting feature

Limitations

• no free tier
• non-friendly UI in the mobile version
• fewer formulas to use as compared to MS Excel

5. AttendanceBot 

An app designed to track and analyze work hours. It helps you control leaves, absence, time off, employee shift planning, sick days, remote work and work hours. AttendanceBot allows you to keep track of work hours and export timesheets right within Microsoft Teams, to check the time spent on specific projects and clients and visualize all data on a dashboard.

Key benefits:

• simple process setup
• fully customizable leave types
• calendar integration (Outlook, Google, or Apple)
• helpful for remote teams

Limitation:

• AttendanceBot is only free for teams of 5 or fewer.
• Limited approval functionality

To conclude

Microsoft Teams can solve any communication and collaboration issues, especially when enhanced by integrations with other tools.  It is an effective and safe tool to simplify teamwork, boost efficiency, increase personal productivity, and ensure data security and confidentiality. Microsoft Teams is a highly scalable product that can be used in both small and large companies, for any number of employees and teams. 

By integrating Microsoft Teams with Approveit, Asana, or any other platform listed above, you will simplify and improve your internal processes. Streamlining all the workflows in one communication channel is the best way to ensure and maintain productivity and transparency.