Microsoft Teams Helper Bots: Its History and Usage

What is Microsoft Teams Helper Bots? Better yet, let us start with the basics first: what does it mean by bots? Is it a mechanical robot, you say? Nope. Artificial intelligence? Almost there. Virtual reality. Not even close. If you search on Google, the answer will be: “An autonomous program on the internet or another network that can interact with systems or users.” The operative words here are “autonomous program,” “internet,” and “interact.”

Why Are the above Answers Wrong?

First, it does not need to have a physical body, mechanical or otherwise. Meanwhile, artificial intelligence is expensive stuff and is not accessible to the masses. For that reason, it does not qualify as a bot. Though virtual reality relied much on interaction, bots do not really need augmented reality as a function. Another key point is the argument that bots are “simple automated tools, used to make tasks easier.” With that, we now have new operative words in the mix, like “simple” and “make the task easier.” If that is the case, let’s take a trip from the memory lane and see how Microsoft Teams Helper Bots got in their current form.

The Evolution of Bots

In particular, bots have gone through much evolution. That also coincided with the growth of the computer. Right off the bat, bots are meant to make the task easier; it got to be simple; must interact with humans; has a program, and there is an internet involvement. But wait a minute, the internet was only present during the last quarter of the 20th century. Remember, that computer is not always synonymous with the internet.

It all started with a punch card as a way of storing data. Notably, this kind of data storage was even used until the turn of the century. In fact, in the hotly contested US election of the year 2000, America used punch cards then. It was the presidential election between former Vice President Al Gore and George W. Bush, Jr., son of former President George Bush, Sr.

Hence, a simple as a slightly thick sheet of paper can be categorised as a bot since it is a simple item that helps simplify tasks.

Another significant evolution in the computer age is the introduction of the CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) monitor. That is the predecessor of the flat LED. screen that we are using today. At the same time, the CRT screen is around; there is now a command prompt. Even then, it was a hassle to keep remembering the codes. And the computer interacts with the users using codes. So, programmers devised a menu to serve as an interface. That text-based interaction goes by the name command-line interface. Afterwards, we got the Graphics User Interface (GUI), now this is the precursor of the digital interface we are using today. We can thank the man and women of Xerox for producing the first commercial GUI in 1981.

Afterwards, accompanying GUI is the computer mouse. It is because of this invention that we have drag-and-drop features. From here, we got the touch screen, and the rest is history as we know it.

Five most used Microsoft Teams Helper Bots

At this point, we are now acquainted with what bots are; here are five of the most used Microsoft Teams bots:

Polly

With this Microsoft Teams Helper Bots, business leaders can conduct and analyse polls or surveys within their team. That is a great tool to serve as a barometer. Employers can know the employees’ pulse to realise what the company is missing all this time. Among the many features are instant responses, managing various parts of the polls, and allowing anonymous voting. Also, this bot can generate a quick assessment. Its practical application gives a brief quiz after orientation to instantly know how much and how many got the information right. This is a valuable tool for the human resources department.

Zoom.Ai 

Scheduling and setting up meetings can be a hassle. That is where Zoom.Ai comes into the picture. This bot can automate schedule notification scheduling, video meetings, give meeting briefings, set up group meetings, and many more. Moreover, with Zoom.Ai, you can sync it with Customer Relationship Management (CRM), calendars and others. So, there will be no need to leave the Microsoft Teams all together, which can shave some minutes off from opening other apps and tinkering on it then returning to MS Teams. There are free tiers available, and there is a paid version that can make a difference. Amongst the Microsoft Teams Helper Bots, Zoom.Ai is one of the most popular out there.

Whobot

There is no need to remember your new colleague’s name and what they do in the company; Whobot got you covered. That also goes by the simple name of Who. All it takes is to key in any information with this bot, and Whobot will collect data on it and give you relevant information related to it. It is almost the same concept of a sniffing dog pointing you in the right direction. In this case, the right person. More than providing the names of those involved in whatever information you are looking for, it collects data and shows it to you. This bot is a Microsoft built-in, unlike other bots. So, rest assured that this will not fail you.

Mio

With the awareness that Microsoft Teams is not the only team collaboration software around, it added a bot to allow inter-connectivity with other apps. These include an interconnection with Slack or Cisco Webex Teams. That is because Microsoft is fully conscious that some companies use some other software, so they made a bot to circumvent this issue. Because it is “extremely unproductive” to leave Microsoft Teams and go back again during the duration of a busy day. So, the Microsoft Team established a universal channel to gain access to the two software as mentioned earlier. Moreover, many large and small companies encountered this problem, and interconnectivity across many platforms is the solution. Hence, Mio is the answer.

Furthermore, the first three universal channels are free.

YellowAnt 

Speaking of tools that save you time from moving between different devices, the Microsoft Teams Helper Bots—YellowAnt is designed for this purpose. It will integrate with other apps like YouTube, Wikipedia, Gmail and others. This easy-to-use tool is a one-stop solution for all your ChatOps needs.

Among these many features include: