Businesses with frontline workers can have them use Microsoft Teams to help with their schedules, assignments, or online meetings. However, some companies might be concerned that some of their frontline workers are trying to access their Teams accounts while they are officially off the clock.
Today, Microsoft announced a new feature for companies that use Teams to keep track of their frontline workers. In a blog post, it announced that Teams admins now have the power to either warn frontline workers not to access the service while off shift, or block them from using Teams completely when they are not working.
Microsoft stated the reasons why businesses may need these kinds of features:
- You’re concerned about frontline workers asking for pay outside of working hours if they access work apps.
- Local laws and regulations require you to restrict access to work apps when employees are off shift.
The new warning and blocked screens for Teams not only show a message but also a graphic of an ice cream cone that has hit the ground to show frontline workers they should not be accessing Teams outside of their work hours.
Microsoft has been quite busy with adding features to its various business apps and services that help companies that use frontline workers, many of which don't have a fixed office or consistent work hours. In 2023, it launched Windows 365 Frontline to give part-time and shift workers access to cloud-based Windows desktop PCs.
More recently, Microsoft Teams added a way for business admins to access the Teams Admin Center so they could set up the settings in the Shifts app. This feature lets those Teams admins schedule things for frontline workers, including things like a worker's reasons for taking some time off the shift schedule along with a way to let managers open, swap, or offer shifts to workers.
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