VK Teams (formerly MyTeam)

The main articles are:

• Instant Messengers (IM)
• Types and capabilities of modern VKS systems

VK Teams is a corporate superapp for communication and team collaboration. Superapp combines the functionality of a corporate messenger, audio and video calls, task management and working with documents, allows you to integrate corporate services using APIs and chat bots. VK Teams is available on all platforms: mobile, desktop and web. On-Premise can be deployed or SaaS can be used.

2024: Adding the Organizational Structure Module

In the on-premises version of VK Teams, a module is available - "Organizational Structure": it displays divisions and branches of a company or group of companies, divisions within each of them, as well as information about managers and employees. Platform users will be able to view the structure of the company, search for the necessary departments and colleagues and contact them. VK (formerly Mail.ru Group) announced this on February 13, 2024.

This functionality allows you to quickly find specialists by name, position or e-mail address, as well as understand the areas of responsibility of each department and find out who to contact on a particular issue. In the organizational structure, you can go to the employee's profile, contact him in the messenger, by mail or invite him to a meeting using the built-in calendar.

Partners who install the on-premises platform can integrate this module with enterprise management systems such as SAP and 1C. In this case, the organizational structure of the company is automatically loaded into the module and updated. You can also add or edit information in the Organizational Structure using the administrative panel.

The Organizational Structure module is available in on-premieses version VK Teams 23.12 and later. Users can work with it from any device: computer, tablet, smartphone.

2023

The ability to host webinars for more than 300 people

VK Teams has launched additional video conferencing tools. VK (formerly Mail.ru Group) announced this on December 6, 2023. Users will be able to hold webinars for more than 300 people, moderate and record calls, discuss issues in the chat of the meeting.

VK Teams has also expanded opportunities for conference communication moderation. Thanks to the Waiting Room option, the organizer can confirm or deny the user's request to participate in the call. This will keep meetings confidential. In the updated version, it is more convenient to moderate conferences: control the microphones of the audience in the call and reduce the influence of background sounds, as well as adapt the display of participants in the gallery. Another VK Teams option is call recording. The file will be saved on the server, and then the bot will send it to the messenger. The updated functionality is available to companies using the on-premium model, as well as users of the paid tariff of the cloud version of VK Teams.

VK

VK Teams superapp combines key services for employee interaction: messenger, Task tracker, integration with mail, calendar and internal services, audio and video calls. Thanks to this, employees can solve most of the tasks and work together with documents in a single digital space, "said Mikhail Chizhikov, head of communication products at VK Tech.

In the chat of the meeting, users can exchange messages, send files, conduct polls and set tasks thanks to the built-in organizer. If the meeting is regular, all correspondence will remain: during the next calls, you can find the necessary materials from past meetings in the history of the chat. For December 2023, the functionality is available according to the on-premium model, later it will be available in the cloud version.

In addition, SIP telephony technologies will be available to on-premium clients. Employees will be able to connect users to a video conference by phone number, make calls from VK Teams to city and mobile numbers. This will allow organizing the work of the call center with receiving calls to VK Teams and connecting users to video conferencing without Internet access.

Inclusion of Russian products for digital workplace in the map

In June 2023, the product was included in the TAdviser card "Employee Digital Workplace 2023."

Simultaneous work for 100 people

On June 6, 2023, VK (formerly Mail.ru Group) announced that VK Teams had expanded video conferencing tools. In the updated version, up to 100 people can call up at the same time. The ability to add external users via the link will make it easier to work with partners and customers. At the same time, the superapp provides reliable protection of calls and user data.

In the updated version of the service, automatic selection of video resolution works. The technology supports more participants and saves the device's charge. Sharing the screen has also become easier: even with low communication quality, the service is looking for the optimal balance to show images in high resolution. If necessary, the materials displayed by the interlocutor can be expanded to the full screen.

Video conferencing has become an integral part of the workflow. In order to solve problems faster, each of us makes several work calls a day. And we know how employees care about the quality of services and their reliability, "said Mikhail Chizhikov, head of communication products at VK Tech. - VK Teams is a superapp for business, which is used every day by 10 thousand VK employees. At the same time, we are actively helping partners implement this team collaboration tool. With additional capabilities, the solution will help companies make more efficient and reliable interaction not only between company employees, but also with partners and customers.

VK Teams can be used on all operating systems, including Windows, Mac OS, Linux, as well as on smartphones with Android and iOS.

Other tools will soon appear on the platform: it will be possible to record calls, use chats within a video conference and solve more collaboration tasks.

Availability of the built-in Task Tracker and Discussion Thread

Companies that use the paid version of VK Teams in the cloud now have access to a built-in Task Tracker and discussion branches (threads). Additional features will help improve efficiency by optimizing the process of solving problems and communicating in teams. This was announced on May 10, 2023 by VK (formerly Mail.ru Group).

The tusk tracker and threads have supplemented the basic functionality of the cloud version of VK Teams, which includes a messenger, as well as audio and video calls.

The Task tracker will allow users to manage their projects without leaving VK Teams: employees will be able to create tasks and track the process of their execution right in the messenger. You can create a task without leaving the chat: just select the text of the message and click on the corresponding button.

All team members have access to the current list of tasks with status and performers. For each task, you can set the category, priority and deadline, as well as configure notifications: when the status or due date changes, when new comments appear.

The Discussions service allows you to structure conversations and optimally organize communication within the team on various topics. Thanks to the function of commenting on messages, it is convenient to follow several discussions at the same time, find the necessary information on the topic for any period of time.

Thus, the emerging capabilities of the corporate superapp VK Teams simplify the interaction in the team and contribute to improving the efficiency of collaboration.

Previously, the options for setting tasks and creating discussions were only available to large companies that deploy VK Teams on their servers. Now they can be used by representatives of small and medium-sized businesses who choose the cloud version of the solution. The ability to conduct projects in the messenger and structure communication saves employees time and helps them focus on work tasks, "said Dmitry Pleshakov, Product Director of VK Teams.

Opening the Developer Platform

Companies that use VK Teams on their own or leased servers can integrate their own services and widgets into the platform. Due to this, any business can expand the capabilities of the platform and adapt them to its tasks. This was announced on April 11, 2023 by VK (formerly Mail.ru Group).

VK Teams combines messenger, work day planning and task setting applications, mail service, calendar and other tools. Partners who install the platform according to the on-premium model - deploy on their infrastructure - can complement solutions with their own useful services. For example, applications for adapting new employees, working with vacations, or for requesting accounting certificates and others.

Many messengers followed the path of creating superapps, and then launched versions for business. The VK team initially created VK Teams as a communication platform for corporate work, and then began to expand its functionality with additional services: integration with mail, calendar, task tracker and other tools. In order for the platform to be more flexible and efficient, partners can customize it for their tasks and supplement it with unique mini-applications, "explained Mikhail Chizhikov, head of communication products at VK Tech.

The installation of new gadgets in VK Teams takes place through a chatbot, the new service can be shared with colleagues via the link. It is also possible to install a widget for all employees - through the administrator panel. The developed services appear in all employees in the menu of the VK Teams superapp - this provides quick access without switching to other sites and applications.

For April 2023, developers can create gadgets on HTML5 and JavaScript. In the future, a designer will appear on the platform for simple and quick creation of simple services.

2022: Description

For March 2022, the solution description: VK Teams (formerly Myteam) is an employee's digital workplace that includes all the necessary tools to create a single communication space. Employees can correspond, conduct video conferences, work together on documents, as well as use various HR services.

2021: Basis for Hybrid Office Communications Platform

On April 28, 2021, Mail.ru Digital Technologies (part of the Mail.ru Group) presented a communication platform for a hybrid office based on Myteam. Platform tools help you customize how your company and employees interact in all formats, from meeting sessions and generating ideas to organizing training and automating problem solving.

The hybrid office is becoming a popular format: self-isolation has shown that work productivity does not decrease from the fact that team members are in different places. Companies are increasingly giving employees the opportunity to choose where to work - in the office or at home. The Myteam communication platform will help companies organize close and effective interaction between colleagues, configure asynchronous communication and transform the experience of employees.

Myteam is a large set of tools for efficient communication in a single interface. For an employee, Myteam is a digital workplace accessible from any device - from a stationary PC to a smartphone.

Myteam users can correspond, communicate using audio and video calls (both one-on-one and team), conduct online meetings in the webinar format with a resume at the end and save the correspondence in the corresponding group. The option of setting operational tasks will help not to miss anything important and control the execution of tasks - this can be done directly from a message in the chat. Myteam can also integrate a visual organizational structure of the company so that each employee can find the contacts of the desired colleague at any time. Myteam integrates with services to collaborate on ideas, document preparation and others, allowing distributed teams to be efficient and productive.

You can even interact with the platform by voice - Myteam can have a built-in Digital Assistant based on artificial intelligence. It is able to maintain a natural language dialogue and, through integration with corporate systems, perform various tasks of employees. Thus, the most frequent requests to corporate systems - ordering passes, booking meeting rooms, etc. - are automated.

The communication platform supports modular integration with other Mail.ru Digital Technolonia products. The company can connect and disconnect them, focusing on its features and needs. Thus, the communication platform can include the functionality of the corporate social network, services for collecting feedback and HR analytics, as well as a module for training employees.

The transition to the hybrid office format is associated for the company with serious transformations - organizational, managerial, cultural. And it is important that they are supported by technological changes. Our Myteam communication platform is a good foundation for this. It will help businesses in the process of rethinking their approach to organizing a workflow to adapt to realities faster. And the speed of development and competitiveness directly depend on this, - said Pavel Gontarev, Managing Director of Mail.ru Digital Technologies.

2020

Testing the Myteam messenger by TAdviser experts

In September 2020, TAdviser tested the Myteam teamwork messenger [1]Read more here.

4 key features of Myteam corporate messenger

Providing free access to Myteam during the COVID-19 coronavirus epidemic

On March 17, 2020, Mail.ru announced that he would help small and medium-sized businesses reduce costs in the event of a forced transition to a remote mode of operation. Mail.ru will make Myteam a free business messenger and add more free services to Teambox (a cloud-based file collaboration tool). These services will help maintain communication and document exchange between employees during the spread of the coronavirus.

The expanded Myteam package includes a number of additional features, including priority support, fine-tuning, and a number of organization management features. The Teambox service can now be used for free by up to 25 employees, and the amount of free space storage in for companies has been increased to 12 gb.

Many businesses are ready to offer the team to work from home, but not everyone has the appropriate technical capabilities and infrastructure. With the help of the Myteam corporate messenger, such companies will be able to quickly organize the remote work of employees: communication, calls, secure file sharing from any device. Free access to the expanded Myteam package will be valid until June 14, 2020.

More and more companies are forced to quickly transfer employees to a remote mode - or choose this measure, taking care of their health. In such moments, it is important to show cohesion and support each other. That is why we decided that the most necessary services of the Mail.ru for Business Platform in the current conditions should become free until the situation becomes stable. comments Yegor Ganin, Deputy Vice President - Head of Cloud and Business Services at Mail.ru Group

2019: Service launch

On September 12, 2019, Mail.ru Group announced the launch of the MyTeam corporate messenger. The service, according to the developers, helps prevent data leaks in the organization.

The company, using MyTeam, fully controls access to the messenger: creates employee accounts, blocks access, appoints administrators.  An outsider will not get into work chats , and the retired employee will no longer be able to view correspondence.

For data transfer, the service uses an encrypted TLS channel, for video calls - end-to-end encryption. Mail.ru Group also intends to regularly conduct security audits on MyTeam.

In MyTeam, it will be possible to create employee accounts and group chats, make audio and video calls, including collective ones, exchange files of any type.

The application is offered in two versions: free and paid. The first will have standard functions (group chats and channels, audio and video calls, chat bots  , etc.), and the second will be expanded, with the ability to contact technical support and other features.

In a conversation with RBC, a representative of the Mail.ru Group said that ten companies from among the largest b2b clients of the holding have already received a proposal to install MyTeam. These customers have not been named. How much Mail.ru Group expects to earn a product on this, the company also did not tell.

MyTeam is available in the web version, as well as as an application for Windows, Android, iOS, macOS and Linux. The cost of using the service is 990 rubles per month if less than 30 people are connected to it, and 2990 rubles per month if there are from 100 to 250 people in the team.

A special application for very large companies will also be available, it allows you to deploy the entire infrastructure on internal client servers.^[1]

Notes