In workplace communications, Google Chat and Microsoft Teams are leaders of the pack. As 91% of enterprises use two or more chat apps, it’s likely that both are in use within a single organization.
Connecting Google Chat and Teams is crucial to overcoming work silos and communication breakdown. Creating a collaborative work environment is a necessity, not a preference.
This article addresses a key issue: Does Google Chat integrate with Microsoft Teams?
To answer this question, we’ll dive into the following topics:
- Google Chat vs. Microsoft Teams
- Migration from Google Chat to Microsoft Teams
- Create your own app using an app builder
- Is there a Microsoft Teams add-on for Google Workspace?
- How to connect Google Chat to Microsoft Teams
1. Is Google Chat the same as Microsoft Teams?
Google Chat and Microsoft Teams each offer unique advantages for the modern workplace.
What is Google Chat used for?
Google Chat is a feature-rich chat platform integrated with the rest of the Google Workspace Suite, including Gmail, Calendar, and Drive.
Here are some features unique to Google Chat:
- Support for up to 28 languages
- Spell and grammar check
- Ability to add bots to chat rooms or chat with them on your own
- The creation of up to 8,000 member chat rooms
- Ability to search for specific messages and files using the Google search function
- Option to use AI-powered smart suggestions for quick replies and automated workflows
What are the main benefits of Microsoft Teams?
Microsoft Teams seeks to be an all-in-one, comprehensive solution for workspace collaboration. Microsoft Teams integrates with the Microsoft Office suite, including Outlook, Excel, and OneDrive.
Features unique to Microsoft Teams include the ability to:
- Easily transition from chat to video/voice calls
- Schedule and join meetings directly from Outlook
- Support for multiple organizations and guest access
- Schedule and record meetings, as well as playback recordings
Determining the best chat app for your organization comes down to how your users interact with the platform.
You’ll also want to take the rest of your enterprise tech stack into consideration. Keep in mind that each platform works closely with its attached workspace suite.
Balancing employee needs with budget allocation is key to selecting your ideal platform.
That brings us to…
Google Chat vs Microsoft Teams pricing
Google Chat and Microsoft Teams both offer a range of free features. These offerings include video meetings and chats for individual users and small teams.
Both allow 100 people to connect for up to 60 minutes at no cost. Google Chat provides 15GB of cloud storage per user, while Microsoft Teams offers 5GB.
Paid plans vary, but Microsoft Teams starts at $4 per user per month. This is slightly cheaper than Google Chat’s $6 per user per month.
But, Google Chat offers better value for storage. Their cheapest plan includes 30GB of cloud storage, compared to Microsoft Teams’ 10GB.
Microsoft 365 business plans include 1TB of storage space per user. Google Workspace business plans offer unlimited storage.
Your choice depends on whether you prefer:
- Lower costs with less storage, or,
- A slightly higher price with more space.
2. Migrate from Google Chat to Microsoft Teams using the Graph API
Before migrating from Google Chat to Microsoft Teams, it’s important to work out whether that’s what you actually need.
Migrations are a significant drain on time, energy, and resources. The risk of employee dissatisfaction and friction in adoption poses a significant challenge.
While migration may seem like the only answer to siloed departments and juggling apps, it’s not the only solution.
Interested in avoiding a painful migration from Google Chat to Microsoft Teams? Head directly to point 5 of this article to find out how.
If you’re set on a migration, you can use the Microsoft Graph API to import your Google Chat data to Teams.
How do I import Google Chat to Microsoft Teams?
You can import Google Chat messages to Microsoft Teams using the Microsoft Graph API.
Microsoft Graph “[enables] the recreation of a third-party messaging hierarchy inside Teams,” (Microsoft).
At a high level, the steps to migrate from Google Chat to Microsoft Teams are as follows:
- Create a team
- Create a channel
- Import previously sent messages
- Complete the importation by taking the team and channel out of migration mode
- Add team members using the Teams UI or Graph “add member” API
For a complete overview of steps and necessary APIs, visit this link.
3. Create your own app using an app builder
In most cases, app builders are user-friendly and straightforward.
A no-code approach eliminates the need to engage a specialized engineer.
With free trials often available, this can be a cost-effective (though time-intensive) solution.
App builders offer compatibility with various applications, including Slack, Google Sheets, and Trello.
Keep in mind that the extent of functionality depends on each app builder’s supported features.
Your skill level and the extent of your requirements are other factors to consider.
Despite the support available in most app builders, creating your own app to connect Google Chat and Microsoft Teams is a DIY process.
4. Is there a Microsoft Teams add-on for Google Workspace?
As of 2023, neither Google Chat nor Microsoft Teams has a built-in cross-platform chat feature.
But, if you’d like to be able to join Teams meetings from your Google calendar, you’re in luck.
“Microsoft [introduced] the function to join meetings set up by third-party services, including Zoom and Google Meet, directly through their Teams calendar,” says Kieran Devlin for UC Today.
Please note that users must have a Microsoft work or school account to access this feature.
How to download the Microsoft Teams meeting add-on for Google Workspace
Step one
Open Google Calendar. Select the + in the right sidebar.
Step two
Search for “Microsoft Teams Meeting” in the Google Workspace Marketplace window.
Step three
Install the Microsoft Teams Meeting add-on.
Step four
Once downloaded, you’ll find the add-on in the right sidebar of Google calendar. On first use, the integration will prompt you to log in to your Teams account to accept the required permissions.
Step five
Once logged in, select the calendar event you would like to create a Microsoft Teams meeting for.
Open the Teams add-on in the right sidebar. Click Add Microsoft Teams Meeting.
Please note that you will need to view the full screen version of your event in order for the add-on to work.
That’s it! You’ve successfully created a Microsoft Teams meeting from Google Calendar.
Can Google Chat talk to Microsoft Teams?
Connecting Teams meetings to Google Calendar is useful, but what about chat interoperability?
The question still remains — can Google Chat and Microsoft Teams communicate with one another?
You’ll be glad to know that integrating Google Chat with Microsoft Teams is possible.
Which brings us to…
5. How to connect Google Chat and Microsoft Teams
Like what you see?
Mio connects Microsoft Teams and Google Chat for seamless, native chat interoperability.
By federating platform APIs, Mio supports cross-platform direct, channel, and group messaging.
It’s not another app for users to download. After all, toggling to another app is the opposite of the desired outcome.
Instead, users get to remain on their platform of choice, enjoying features such as:
- Editing and deleting messages
- Threaded replies
- GIFs
- Emojis and reactions
- File sharing
- @ — mentions
Interested in learning more? Head to Mio’s website to learn about how you can connect Microsoft Teams and Google Chat.
