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Microsoft Launches Standalone Teams Essentials

December 2, 2021

Not everyone has a subscription for Microsoft 365 and Microsoft knows it. The Verge reported that Microsoft created a standalone version of Teams specifically targeting small businesses and intended to be a competitor to Zoom. According to the post, “Microsoft Teams Essentials will be priced at $4 per user per month and provide access to the core meeting features of Teams without the typical Office app bundling that requires a more expensive Microsoft 365 plan.” Jared Spataro, head of Microsoft 365, stated, “It’s the first standalone offering of Microsoft Teams designed specifically with small businesses in mind. It brings together features small businesses need to serve customers, including unlimited group video calls for up to 30 hours, group chat, file sharing and calendaring.”

The pricing is pretty attractive, but will it really attract small business users? My guess is no. I see small business users embracing a subscription for Microsoft 365 for access to the Office applications which comes with Teams too.

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