Microsoft Teams for SMEs: meetings, collaboration and calling in M365 (2026)
Teams is already included in M365 Business. This article explains how to get the most from meetings, channels, guest users and Teams Phone.
- Microsoft Teams is already included in Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Standard and Premium. No additional licence is required to hold online meetings, create team channels and share files via SharePoint.
- Teams Premium (approximately €7/user/month indicative; check microsoft.com) adds Copilot meeting summaries, watermarks and advanced webinars. Teams Phone Standard (separate add-on) turns Teams into a full business phone system replacing your landline.
- For SMEs already running on Microsoft 365, Teams is the logical communication hub. Slack is better for non-Microsoft ecosystems; Zoom is stronger for external webinars with large audiences.
Microsoft Teams for SMEs: what is already included and what costs extra?
Microsoft Teams is already fully available for most SMEs using Microsoft 365 at no extra cost. M365 Business Basic, Standard and Premium all include Teams: unlimited chat, video meetings up to 300 participants, team channels for project communication and deep integration with SharePoint, OneDrive, Planner and Power Automate. SMEs starting with Teams need no additional setup; Teams is ready immediately after activating the M365 licence. The two most requested extensions are Teams Premium (approximately €7/user/month for Copilot meeting summaries and advanced security) and Teams Phone Standard (replacing the office landline with Teams as a phone system). This article explains per component what is included by default and when an extension is worthwhile.
Teams licences: what is included in M365 Business?
Teams is included in all M365 Business subscriptions. Here is an overview per plan and the two extension options.
M365 Business Basic: video meetings and channels
M365 Business Basic (approximately €5.25/user/month indicative; check microsoft.com) includes Teams with video meetings, chat, team channels and 1 TB OneDrive storage per user. There are no desktop Microsoft 365 Apps included, but Teams works fully in the browser and via the Teams desktop app. Suitable for SMEs that primarily want to meet and collaborate via Teams without desktop use of Word, Excel or PowerPoint.
M365 Business Standard and Premium: desktop apps and advanced security
M365 Business Standard (approximately €11.50/user/month indicative) adds the full M365 desktop apps including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Access. Business Premium (approximately €20.60/user/month indicative) adds Microsoft Intune (Mobile Device Management) and Azure AD Premium for advanced security and device management. All three plans include Teams at an identical level. Prices indicative; check microsoft.com for current subscription prices.
Teams Premium: Copilot summaries and advanced security
Teams Premium is an add-on licence (approximately €7/user/month indicative; check microsoft.com). The three most important additions for SMEs are: Intelligent Meeting Recap (automatic summary and action items generated by Copilot after each meeting), Advanced Meeting Watermarks (watermark on screen-share content for confidential meetings) and Advanced webinars with registration and Q&A. For SMEs with many external client meetings, Intelligent Meeting Recap saves significant time. EU AI Act Art. 4 applies when deploying Copilot features (in force 2 February 2025).
Teams Phone: replace your landline with Teams
Teams Phone Standard is a separate add-on (approximately €8/user/month indicative; check microsoft.com). It turns Teams into a full business PBX: incoming and outgoing PSTN calls through the Teams interface, auto-attendant, call forwarding and voicemail. For the PSTN connection (the actual telephone network) you use a Calling Plan from Microsoft or Direct Routing via a Dutch telecom provider such as KPN, T-Mobile or Odido. Teams Phone is particularly attractive for SMEs that want to eliminate traditional office phones and centralise everything in Teams.
Four ways SMEs effectively use Teams
Teams works best as a central communication hub. These are the four most valuable applications for SMEs.
Team channels for project communication per client or department
Create separate Teams channels per client, project or department. Standard channels are visible to all team members; Private channels are visible to a subset. Via Shared channels (Teams Connect) you can invite users from another organisation without them needing a guest account. Each channel has its own tab for SharePoint files, OneNote notes and Planner tasks. This prevents project information from scattering across separate emails and chats.
Online meetings with clients and external users
Teams supports meetings up to 300 participants for M365 licence holders. External participants (clients, suppliers) can join via a browser link without a Teams account. Useful features for SMEs: background replacement (professional appearance when working from home), Together Mode (virtual meeting room that simulates presence), transcription and recording. Meeting recordings are automatically saved to OneDrive or SharePoint. Teams Live Events support broadcasts up to 10,000 participants for webinars and company-wide announcements.
Guest users for clients and freelancers
Guest users can be invited to specific Teams channels via their email address, even without an M365 licence. They can chat, view files and join meetings, but have no access to other teams in your organisation. Guest users are free to invite; the default maximum is 5 guests per licenced user, but this is adjustable in the Teams admin centre. Verify current guest limits and settings via admin.microsoft.com.
Integration with Power Automate and other M365 apps
Teams is the trigger for many Power Automate workflows: new messages start approval flows, deadlines automatically generate a Teams notification, Forms submissions post a summary to a channel. Power BI reports can be embedded as a tab in a Teams channel for real-time dashboards. SharePoint document libraries are directly accessible from the files tab in any channel. These integrations are available in the standard M365 subscription at no extra cost.
Teams, GDPR and data security for SMEs
Teams processes personal data of employees, clients and meeting participants. Microsoft has included a Data Processing Agreement (DPA) in the Microsoft Customer Agreement, under which Microsoft acts as a processor in accordance with GDPR Art. 28. All Teams data is stored in Microsoft EU Data Boundary datacentres in Amsterdam and Dublin (EU), so no transfers to the US occur without additional safeguards. For chat and meeting data, a default retention period applies that is configurable in the Microsoft Purview Compliance portal. Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for all users is strongly recommended and configurable via the M365 admin centre. Guest users are treated as external entities; check via the Teams Admin Centre which features guests may use (default: chat and meetings, no file access unless explicitly shared). EU AI Act Art. 4 (in force 2 February 2025) applies when deploying Copilot in Teams or Intelligent Meeting Recap as an operator.
Teams for SMEs: frequently asked questions
Is Microsoft Teams free with my M365 Business subscription?
What is the difference between Teams and Teams Premium?
Can I replace my office landline with Teams?
Can clients join a Teams meeting without a Teams account?
Is Teams GDPR-compliant for SMEs?
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