Discover the New Microsoft Teams Exploratory Self-Service Trial Experience

Gain insights into the self-service trial capabilities for Microsoft Teams Exploratory and how it impacts your organization

Introduction:

Microsoft has recently announced the availability of a self-service trial experience for Teams Exploratory, offering individual users the opportunity to explore Microsoft Teams without any input of payment information. This trial experience aims to provide transparency and control to Microsoft 365 admins while enhancing the overall user experience. In this blog post, we will delve into the details of this update, the features it offers, and how your organization can make the most of this new trial experience.

Key Points:

1. Self-Service Trial Availability and Rollout Timeline

Starting in late April 2023, users can initiate a self-service trial of Microsoft Teams Exploratory using their Azure Active Directory (AAD) credentials. This trial will be available worldwide, with the rollout expected to complete by early May 2023.

2. Impact on Your Organization

By signing into the Teams desktop or web app with their AAD account, users can initiate a Teams Exploratory trial. These self-service trial licenses will be part of your Microsoft organizational tenant, allowing admins to manage them like other Microsoft subscriptions. Admins can cancel trial licenses at any time and have full control over whether trials are converted to paid subscriptions.

3. Preparing for the Self-Service Trial

To prepare for this trial, global or billing admins should review the updated self-service purchase and trial documentation, which includes information about trial workings, data collection, and applicable terms. Admins can use the self-service purchase controls to disable self-service trials and manage trial licenses via the "Your Products" page in the Billing section of the Microsoft 365 admin center.

4. Managing the Microsoft Teams Exploratory License

For users with a Microsoft Teams Exploratory trial, admins can move them to a paid Microsoft 365 subscription, allowing them to continue using Teams after the trial expires. Alternatively, admins can create an auto-claim policy, which enables users to automatically claim a product license the first time they sign in to an app like Microsoft Teams.

5. Features of the Teams Exploratory Experience

The Teams Exploratory experience offers several service plans, including Exchange Online (Plan 1), Microsoft Forms (Plan E1), Microsoft Planner, Microsoft Teams, SharePoint Online (Plan 1), and Yammer Enterprise, among others.

6. Eligibility for the Teams Exploratory Experience

Users who have a managed Azure AD domain email address, belong to a tenant with a paid subscription, do not have an active Teams license, and are not in a tenant where a license assignment policy was created are eligible for the Teams Exploratory experience.

Conclusion:

The new Microsoft Teams Exploratory self-service trial experience offers a seamless way for users to explore the platform while providing transparency and control to admins. By understanding the features, eligibility criteria, and management options, organizations can effectively utilize this trial experience to enhance collaboration and productivity.