Kaizala and Microsoft Teams
Important
Microsoft Kaizala has retired on August 31, 2023. We recommend using Microsoft Teams for continued connection, sharing, and collaboration.
In August of 2022, we announced plans to retire Microsoft Kaizala on August 31, 2023. That announcement reflects our ongoing commitment to Microsoft Teams. Over the past few years, we've worked closely with customers to help drive Teams innovation, and we can confidently recommend it as the preferred solution for Kaizala users.
Open the door to an entirely new way of doing business with Microsoft Teams. Teams extends the capabilities of Kaizala - bringing together chat, meetings, calling, collaboration, app integration, and file storage into a single interface. Teams helps customers realize more value from their investments and improves the frontline workers' day-to-day experience.
Teams improves workplace collaboration by helping organizations move from an array of disparate apps to a single, secure hub that brings together what teams need, including chat, meetings, and calling, all with native integration to the Office 365 apps. Currently, organizations worldwide use Teams to collaborate across locations, time zones, and languages.
Microsoft Teams is replacing Kaizala as the primary communication client in Microsoft 365 for both internal employees and people in your extended networks.
Kaizala Pro capabilities are now available in Teams and include Kaizala actions that are now available as Teams app templates, such as polls, surveys, checklists, quizzes, and training. We've recently released the capability for any Teams user to interact with external users through their phone numbers. For more information, see the blog and article.
Enabling every member of an organization’s network with digital communication and collaboration tools can transform the way work gets done. This overview helps you start your transition from Kaizala to Microsoft Teams today.
Move from Kaizala to Microsoft Teams
This section provides information regarding the migration from Kaizala to Microsoft Teams for the following entities:
Small and mid-size businesses (SMB) users
Small and mid-size business (SMB) users can move from Kaizala to Teams Essentials, a component of Microsoft Teams, by subscribing to Microsoft Teams Essentials.
Teams Essentials is an affordable and professional meeting solution designed with small businesses, such as restaurants, retailers, professional services, and so on, in mind. This solution enables communication and collaboration in an easy and reliable way. For more information on Microsoft Teams Essentials, see Microsoft Teams Essentials QuickStart guide for small businesses.
Enterprise users
Enterprise users can move from Kaizala to Microsoft Teams for Work by subscribing to Microsoft Teams Built for hybrid work.
Microsoft Teams for Work provides the most productive and secure experience. Microsoft Teams for work allows your teams to work together seamlessly from anywhere and anytime, and to stay in the flow of your work.
Consumers
Consumers can move from Kaizala to Microsoft Teams (free), a free app.
Get started with Microsoft Teams (Free), which includes built-in online meetings and audio and video calling, seamless file sharing, and the ability to communicate and collaborate inside and outside your organization. For more information, see Introduction to Microsoft Teams.
FAQ
When should my organization move from Kaizala to Teams?
We encourage all Microsoft 365 and Office 365 customers to start using Teams today to take advantage of the rich capabilities it provides. These capabilities include a simple and powerful experience for mobile users in 46 languages and 181 markets. Empower your frontline worker staff with capabilities such as shift management, guest access, and support for custom workflows and apps with Microsoft Flow and PowerApps. For specific Kaizala functionality that isn't yet available in Teams, we'll be posting an updated timeline in the future.
How can I get started with Teams?
Download Teams from the app store, and then access training and resources in our help center to get started. You can also join the Teams Tech Community to give feedback, vote on feature requests, and engage with an awesome community.
What can I do to prepare for the transition of Kaizala to Teams?
Start using Teams today for solutions that can empower communication across your organization. Teams isn’t just an upgrade for Kaizala, but also a powerful tool that opens the door to an entirely new way of doing business. Teams is uniquely positioned for various frontline worker user scenarios, thanks to the introduction of Teams Essentials designed for SMB and the ability to collaborate with external users by entering the phone number or full email address with Teams for personal use.
Will I be able to use Teams to collaborate with customers and partners outside my organization using a phone number?
Yes, with Teams Connect, you can invite any Teams user to chat by entering the full email address or phone number you want to reach, and start a one-to-one or group chat with anyone with a Microsoft personal account. No tenant switching is required. A range of controls and tools are provided to the IT administrators and Microsoft personal account Teams users to ensure security. View the support page. For more information, see the blog.