Groups in Office 365

What are Groups?

Groups are a collaborative option in Office 365. A group will have its own email address, space for file sharing, and access to Planner within Office 365. Group conversations are archived within Office 365.

Who can use it?

Groups are available at no cost for all 우삶app faculty, staff and students as part of the Office 365 Suite.

Features and benefits:

Conversations 桂

Having a Group Conversation is similar to having an email thread, but only Group members participate. Conversations are saved in a Group, so new members will have access to all past conversations. See桂.

Calendar

Each Office 365 Group gets its own calendar. Events can be scheduled on this calendar and invites are automatically sent to all Group members. It is recommended that events be added to the Group calendar through the web interface at office365.du.edu rather than through the Outlook application.

Files

Each Office 365 Group has an area for file storage. This can be used to store files that are needed by the Group rather than storing the files in an individual's OneDrive. Files storage in Office 365 using a 우삶app account is HIPAA and FERPA compliant, per the 우삶app's contract with Microsoft.

Notebook

Each Office 365 Group has an online OneNote notebook where group members can add notes from within Office365.du.edu. These notes can be viewed and edited by all group members in the web interface (Office365.du.edu).

Connectors

Groups in Office 365 have the option of using Connectors. Connectors are a variety of third party programs that can be synced into an Office 365 Group for added functionality. 桂Some Connectors are free, some need to be purchased. The 우삶app does not have subscriptions for any Connectors, and the terms of use have not been reviewed, so no connector should be used to access or share any information that is protected by HIPAA or FERPA laws. A Technology Review form must be submitted to request new Connectors. Please also note that the IT Help Center does not support any of the Connectors found in Office 365.

Planner

Planner is a feature that is available within Office 365 Groups that allows plans to be created, tasks to be created and assigned to Group members, and progress to be tracked. Planner is available within Microsoft Teams and Office 365 Groups (Office365.du.edu). For more information, see .

Why should I use Groups?

When you set up an Office 365 Group in Outlook, you can choose a set of people that you wish to collaborate with and easily set up a collection of resources for those people to share. You don�셳 have to worry about manually assigning permissions to all those resources because adding members to the group automatically gives them the permissions they need to the tools your group provides.

Groups can be a great replacement for a ListServ. See桂.

Groups are ideal for departments who want basic collaboration tools, but don't need the full functionality of Teams.桂Keep reading桂for a comparison of Groups and Teams.

Note: Groups is just one option in our list of communication and collaboration tools along with Zoom, Teams, Cisco Jabber, and more. For a full list of alternatives, see the桂Collaboration Software page.

What is the difference between Groups and Teams?

Teams builds on the functionality of Groups. Learn more about Teams here.

겐껸끅곗桂	넙곶늡넵김끅桂	겐깎껸낼끅桂
겻늡낼낼넵꾈쓩낌껸넨쓩늡꾈桂
Group email address桂	녔桂	녔桂
Internal and external communication (guest access)桂	녔桂	녔桂
Create channels (sub-groups)桂	桂	녔桂
Start a chat with individuals or groups桂	桂	녔桂
Turn a chat into a call桂	桂	녔桂
Share a file with people in a chat桂	桂	녔桂
Share a file with offline participants桂	桂	녔桂
Add emoji桂	桂	녔桂
And GIFs and memes桂	桂	녔桂
Threaded and persistent conversations桂	桂	녔桂
@mention, #tag, and like conversations桂	桂	녔桂
Search for files, content, and people桂	桂	녔桂
File Sharing桂
Group file storage桂	녔桂	녔桂
Restricted access to files (files are public by default)桂	녔桂	녔桂
Document collaboration (real-time in Edge only)桂	녔桂	녔桂
Meetings桂
Shared calendar桂	녔桂	녔桂
Schedule a meeting from Outlook桂	녔桂	녔桂
Record meetings桂	桂	녔桂
Automatically share meeting recordings with group桂	桂	녔桂
Share desktop or app桂	桂	녔桂
In-meeting access to chat and files桂	桂	녔桂
Persistent chat before, during, and after the meeting桂	桂	녔桂
Calls桂
Make, forward, and transfer calls桂	桂	녔桂
Make calls outside the university桂	桂	녔桂
Mobile桂
Chat, call, and meet from your device桂	桂	녔桂

桂

How do I start using Groups?

桂

The following article provides instructions for creating a group on Windows, Mac, web or mobile.

Some things to consider when桂creating a group:

Should the Group be public or private?

Content in a public group can be seen by anybody in your organization (in this case, all students and employees at 우삶app) and anybody at 우삶app can join the group.

Content in a private Group can only be seen by the members of the Group and anyone who wants to join will need to be added by the Group owner.

Information Technology桂recommends that most桂Groups in Office 365 be designated as private.

What should I pick for a Group name and email?

Your Group name should reflect the use of the group (for example, if the Group is intended for Office Support staff in Department A, the Group name should be something like "Department A Office Staff). Groups email addresses are designated by a -g at the end, so the email format is departmentname.groupname-g@du.edu.桂Group email addresses cannot be the same as a Departmental email address. If the email address that you select already exists, we will work with you to select a new one.

Who should be the owner?

The initial owner is the person who creates the group. Each Group can have up to ten (10) owners, so if you would like to have more than one owner for a Group,桂you can .

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