Microsoft Teams is Microsoft’s take on chat-based communication for business, its answer to competing platforms such as Slack and Atlassian’s HipChat. In its simplest form the service allows users to set up Teams, each of which is essentially a hub for group chatrooms, which are called channels.

However, Microsoft is pushing the platform as being more than just a chat hub. Teams is integrated with Microsoft’s online office suite Office 365, which means it is tied to other Microsoft Office services, such as Word and Excel, as well as its cloud storage and sharing services such as SharePoint. PowerPoint, OneNote, Planner, Power BI and Delve are also integrated with Teams.

TechRepublic’s cheat sheet about Microsoft Teams is a quick introduction, as well as a “living” guide that will be revised periodically as new updates are released.