Microsoft makes Yammer Communities app available in Teams

Microsoft has added integrated its social service into Teams with the launch of the Yammer Communities app.

When Microsoft unveiled its redesigned Yammer service at Ignite last November, the company emphasized its ability to power communities and enable knowledge sharing across teams and organizations. With that in mind, it's hardly surprising that the company's Yammer app for Microsoft Teams carries the Communities name.

Beginning today, IT admins and Teams users can install the Yammer Communities app from within the Teams App store. Users can pin the app to the Teams app bar on the left, giving them easy access to the all-new integration.

IT Admins can also choose to deploy and pin the Communities app for all users or specific departments.

“More than 44 million people are now using Teams every day to get work done. And while many of us spend more time than ever collaborating with our own teams, we also often need to reach beyond our core workgroups to chase down information, share experiences and expertise, and voice feedback,” explained Murali Sitaram, general manager of Yammer and Office 365 Groups.

Like the full-fledged Yammer service, Communities enables users to instantly notify people of important news through targeted announcements. The app will also boast a live feature to host company-wide events with video, interactive conversations and live Q&A sessions.

“By bringing Yammer into Teams, we want to make it easier for leaders and communicators to quickly and effectively communicate with their teams and organizations, even when they need to work apart,” Sitaram continued.

“We’ll continue to create a more seamless Yammer communities experience within Teams, including unifying notifications and search and bringing the Yammer app to Teams mobile.”

While Communities is currently available for Teams desktop and web clients only, iOS and Android users can expect to see it soon enough. Meanwhile, mobile users can access the new Yammer mobile app beginning today.