Never Miss a Message Again
You’re in the midst of a crucial project - let’s say you’re organizing a large-scale event.
Lots of tasks and discussions are happening in Microsoft Teams.
And then you realize you somehow - gasp - missed an important message, simply because you weren’t alerted. We’ve all been there, the oops, followed by frustration over a small, yet critical piece of information missed, all because of overlooked notifications.
Timely notifications are our friends. So how do we make sure we don’t miss them?
We’ll show you how, and will help you understand the importance of enabling notifications, how to customize your notification settings, and how to specifically enable Clerk Chat SMS notifications in Microsoft Teams.
Understanding Microsoft Teams Notifications
Despite the urge to turn off notifications for deep-focus sessions, there are a few reasons notifications are necessary: instantaneous conversations, urgency, and real-time collaboration. Here’s the breakdown:
Instant Reach, Anytime, Anywhere: You certainly don’t have to worry about location and device constraints. Whether you’re at your desk, in a meeting, or on the go, SMS ensures that important messages reach you instantly.
Urgency: Some messages demand immediate attention. It’s just how it goes. In critical situations or time-sensitive updates, you definitely don’t want to miss that message, and depending how you customize your settings, the most essential messages won’t get lost in the shuffle.
Real-Time Collaboration: These days so many people work remotely, across different time zones. Keep notifications on to make sure everyone is on the same page and reduce delays in decision-making.
It’s true that too many notifications can lead to frustration and decreased productivity. So take the time to set yours up properly in a way that works for you.
Types of Notifications in Microsoft Teams
The Microsoft Teams notifications option is a handy feature that keeps everyone informed even when not glued to the app. Let’s take a look at the different types of notifications you can enable:
Activity Feed - located in the top left corner of Teams, (also notice the bell icon!) this is a quick rundown of everything happening within your Teams and channels. You can filter through mentions or limit the list to notifications you haven’t seen yet.
Sidebar - other alerts, such as a new chat message or being added to a new team, will show up here, underneath the Activity tab on Teams. Click on each tab for more information about the notification.
Desktop/Banner - on your device, outside of Teams, and these can show the actual messages you’re receiving or alert you if you’ve been mentioned in a conversation. You can select a Show Message Preview option, too.
Email Notifications - activate email notifications if you want to know what’s happening in Teams when you’re not logged into the app. You can choose how often you’d like to receive a missed activity email.
Getting Started with Notification Settings
The familiar three dots on the top right hand corner of Microsoft Teams is the key to your heart - we mean, notifications. It’ll take you to Settings & More. Here is where you customize your notification preferences and stay in the loop.
Microsoft Teams even has an option for personalized sounds. You can choose whether a sound accompanies incoming notifications and calls.
If you haven’t checked out the settings before, then you might not know that you’re probably using the default settings, which means desktop notifications and activity feed alerts when mentioned, direct messages, and the start of new conversations or mentions in channels or teams you’re a part of. You can tailor these settings to align with your preferences or work style.
There are also three ways you may receive notifications:
Activity Feed: Located in the top left corner, it keeps you informed about happenings across your teams and channels.
Chat: Positioned on the left side, it’s where your group and one-on-one conversations unfold, counting and organizing your messages.
Banner: On Windows, they pop up in the bottom right corner; on Mac OS, they appear in the top right corner.
Also, if you regularly use the mobile Microsoft Teams app, you’ll have to choose whether to receive notifications on your phone always or only when you’re inactive on desktop.
And if you really want to get specific, you have the option to set preferences per channel.
Turning On Clerk Chat Notifications in Microsoft Teams
It’s safe to assume you’re reading this post because you’re currently running on Microsoft Teams, in which case you already know it’s great for talking to colleagues, sharing documents, having a quick meeting, and hopping on a call. But, you run into a problem when it comes to communicating with customers and clients.
That is, unless you choose a third-party tool, like Clerk Chat, to send SMS.
And we make it easy to get started:
- Install Clerk, add to Microsoft Teams, and log in with your email.
- You can pick a new number if you choose, but if you’re already using a Teams number for your business, you can activate that number instead.
Once you’re set up, it’s recommended that you make sure notifications are properly enabled. Here’s how:
- Start in Clerk Chat. Navigate to Settings, then Notifications.
- A Microsoft Teams admin from your company will need to click Enable Notifications.
- Once that’s done, you’ll need to make sure your Clerk Chat notifications are enabled within the Teams app. When you’re in Teams, click on the familiar three dots, which takes you to Settings & More. Choose the Notifications tab from the Settings menu.
- Scroll down to Clerk SMS, and select Edit.
- You’ll immediately see your current Settings. Your three options are Off, Banner and Feed, or Only Show in Feed.
Always test the settings by sending yourself or a colleague a message.
A Few Friendly Reminders
Missed messages can be a hurdle. Understanding the rationale behind notifications and how to enable them will help you make sure you’re always in-the-know about the things you need-to-know. Find your balance between urgency and overload.
Setting up Clerk Chat notifications is as simple as navigating to the settings menu and clicking on the notifications tab. But remember, your admin team needs to enable notifications for Clerk Chat to send them.
Communication is the key to success in any team. And with Clerk Chat, we’re making sure you’re always in the loop.
