Module "Microsoft Teams integration"

October 12, 2024

1General

SMASHDOCs has been integrated into Microsoft Office365 and Microsoft Teams. In a nutshell, you now can

log into SMASHDOCs via the 1-click button "SignIn with Microsoft"

search a document in the connected SMASHDOCs app directly from MS Teams and add documents as tabs in a channel with single-click

collaborate on the document with all the team members right away

invite users who do not have an Office 365 account or access to the team to your document by their email, etc.

Let`s dive right into how you can make use of all the above-mentioned features right from MS Teams.

2Add SMASHDOCs app into your Microsoft Teams

To start off, sign in or log into your existing MS Teams account via Microsoft Teams Login Page.

Microsoft Teams Login Page highlighted

After you clicked "Sign in" in the right corner above you will be logged into your personal Microsoft Teams account.

MS Teams page highlighted after successful login

After you have successfully logged in, search for SMASHDOCs app amongst other apps under the three-dots button. Then select the search result for SMASHDOCs page add-on to open.

SMASHDOCs app highlighted in search

Click on the "Add" button to install the SMASHDOCs app.

"Add" button highlighted to add on SMASHDOCs to MS Teams

After the SMASHDOCs app has been successfully added to your MS Teams, the respective "SMASHDOCs-tab" in the tab bar on the left and the login page will appear.

SMASHDOCs login page highlighted in MS Teams

As pictured above, you can either use your Microsoft account to sign in with one click or log in with your data if you already got an existing SMASHDOCs account.

And once you have successfully logged in, your SMASHDOCs app will look approx. like this:

SMASHDOCs tab higlighted in the left tabbar

3Install SMASHDOCs app on your own domain

It is also possible to install the SMASHDOCs app on your own domain, instead of using the https://mst.smashdocs.net/. For this, you`ll have to do the following:

Get access to the needed ZIP file that has been individually configurated by SMASHDOCs for your particular system.

Note: Please contact SMASHDOCs to receive your ZIP file.

Go to "Apps" and click on "Upload a custom app".

Tab "Apps" and option "Upload a custom app" highlighted

Upload your prepared ZIP file.

If the upload was successful, the modal window to install the SMASHDOCs app will appear. There click on the "Add" button.

The modal window to install the SMASHDOCs app highlighted

After installing the SMASHDOCs app, both the SMASHDOCs tab and the document editor will appear.

SMASHDOCs app tab and the custom system icon highlighted

If you then click on the "Go to website"

Button "Go to website" highlighted

you`ll be able to see that it leads to your individual system by it`s URL.

URL highlighted

In case you do not need SMASHDOCs installed in MS Team as your custom app, go to "Apps" and in the context menu to the SMASHDOCs app click on "Delete". The app will be uninstalled.

Process of custom app deletion highlighted

4Add your SMASHDOC as a tab in a team channel

After successfully installing the SMASHDOCs app, you can start working on your documents right from MS Teams.

If you choose to work in one of your teams inside of MS Teams, you can add the SMASHDOC in case you always need it before your eyes or your team is currently collaborating on as a separate tab. For this, click on the plus button in the top tab bar:

Posts page and the plus-button highlighted in one of the Teams

Again, search for SMASHDOCs app and click on it:

Search for SMASHDOCs app

The modal window will appear, where you can decide how you want a new document to be created. There are three possible ways: to write document, to open document and to create document via SmartDocuments Interview.

The list of possible ways to create a document

You have to choose one variant obligatory. If you do not choose any of them and press "Save", an error message appears:

An error message is highlighted

4.1Create a document via "Write document"

When you choose the function "Write document", you have to insert appropriate metadata and then click "Save" in the right corner below. After that your document will be successfully added as a tab.

Metadata of a created document

The tabbed document will be opened and can always be found amongst all of the team's tabs. Once you do not have the need in this particular document being tabbed anymore, you can easily remove the tab in its context menu.

Tabbed document highlighted amongst other tabs in the team

4.2Create a document via "Open document"

In case you choose the function "Open document", you will receive such a dialog:

The dialog after clicking the function "Open document"

With this function you can:

search for a specific SMASHDOC

create a new document while also providing it`s name

choose one of the documents already provided in the list

If you click on the "Open" button, the document will open in a new browser tab and will not be tabbed. If, on the other hand, you select a document and press "Save" - the document will be added for the team as a tab.

4.3Create a document via SmartDocuments Interview

One more function available to create a new document - SmartDocuments Interview (see Image 15). When you choose this variant, the modal window with suggested document templates appears.

SmartDocuments templates

You have to choose a template you would like to proceed with and then click "Save" and continue working with a document in the same way as in SMASHDOCs account. For you to get more information on how to fill in SmartDocuments Interview in a proper way, here is the link: https://service-description.smashdocs.net/smartdocuments-interview.

In case you have chosen a false function accidentally, press "Back" above in the dialog and you will return to the list of variants of document creation.

"Back" above in the dialog is highlighted

5Collaborate on SMASHDOC in MS Teams

When the SMASHDOCs app has been successfully added and/or SMASHDOC added as a tab in a team, you can start working on it inside of MS Teams, meaning:

create a document

edit document`s content

change document`s formatting

share draft document with other users

invite internal and external users for collaboration

export the document to different formats, etc.

Working on SMASHDOC inside MS Teams highlighted in the process

Basically, you can make use of all SMASHDOCs features without a need to leave your MS Teams working space.

Nevertheless, if you like to work in a so-called full version, you can click on the "Go to website option" button and your document will immediately be opened in a new browser tab.

SMASHDOCs editor highlighted in the full webversion

6Share access to your SMASHDOC in MS Teams

There are a few moments to keep in mind when sharing your document for review with other users in MS Teams:

6.1Sharing access to document when working in SMASHDOCs outside of the team

When you have added SMASHDOCs app and work on documents in MS Teams but outside of any particular team, the process of tracking changes and sharing document for review does not differ from SMASHDOC`s usual workflow.

6.2Sharing access to document when working on document inside of the team

When by adding a SMASHDOC in the team channel as a tab you decide to create a new document, it will be created as a draft document and is only visible for you. Thus, when you start the tracking changes mode or share it with any other user - the document`s mode will change to review.

But if you decide to tab a document that is already in review mode, it will automatically be shared with all the members of the team you are working in without a notification.

6.3Inviting users for collaboration on the document

You can invite internal users (users of O365) by their name and external users (users who do not have an Office 365 account or access to the team) by their emails.

7Conclusions

All in all, your workflow in SMASHDOCs intergated into MS Teams consists of:

1.Installing the SMASHDOCs app and work there as in the website version of SMASHDOCs.

2.Working on specific documents related to the particular team in MS Teams by adding them as tabs.

3.Switching to the full web version of SMASHDOCs by using the "Go to website" option and landing on https://mst.smashdocs.net/.

Please also note that the option "Logout" is not available for SMASHDOCs in the MS Team. If you want to log out of your current account, go to the website version of SMASHDOCs and do it there. You will be then automatically logged out of your SMASHDOCs account in MS Teams as well.