Microsoft Teams: set up the integration
The Microsoft Teams integration lets your team share Fact Cards, request updates, and answer those requests without leaving a Teams chat. Setting it up is a two-part job: an admin adds the Colloquial app to a Team in Microsoft Teams, then chooses which channels the bot can post in.
This article covers the setup. Once it's done, see Microsoft Teams: connect your people to get individual users linked.
Before you start
- You need to be a Colloquial admin — the Microsoft Teams settings are only visible to admins.
- You need permission to add apps to a Team in Microsoft Teams. In many Microsoft 365 tenants this needs approval from an IT administrator, which Teams will prompt you for.
Step 1 — Add Colloquial to a Team
Setup starts in Microsoft Teams, not in Colloquial.
- Open Microsoft Teams and go to Apps.
- Search for Colloquial.
- Open the app listing. If your organisation hasn't approved Colloquial yet, choose Request approval — Teams will send the request to your Microsoft 365 administrator, and you can carry on once they approve it.
- Once the app is available, choose Add to a team and pick the Team you want to connect.
You can connect more than one Team. Repeat these steps for each one — every Team you connect appears in Colloquial under the same integration.
Step 2 — Choose which channels the bot can use
After you add the app, Teams hands you back to Colloquial on the Configure Microsoft Teams screen. It lists every channel in the Team you just connected.
- Switch off any channel you don't want Colloquial to post in. Everything is switched on by default.
- Choose Save.
At least one channel must stay enabled. If you switch them all off, Colloquial won't let you save.
Enabling a channel doesn't cause Colloquial to post anything on its own — it only makes that channel available as a destination when someone shares a Fact Card or sends a request. You can change your mind at any time (see Step 4).
Step 3 — Check the connection
Saving takes you to Settings → Microsoft Teams, which is where you'll manage the integration from now on. The Setup tab lists every connected Team and how many of its channels are enabled.
From here you can:
- Connect to Teams — opens the Colloquial app in Microsoft Teams so you can add it to another Team.
- Disconnect — removes that Team and stops Colloquial posting to any of its channels.
Disconnecting your last connected Team removes the integration entirely, including the Channels and People tabs. Reconnecting means starting again from Step 1.
Step 4 — Adjust channels later
The Channels tab lists every channel across every connected Team, grouped by Team. Use the toggles to turn individual channels on or off.
New channels created in Microsoft Teams after setup aren't picked up automatically. To add them, connect the Team again from the Setup tab — the configure screen will show the current channel list.
What's next
The integration is now connected, but Colloquial doesn't yet know which Teams user is which Colloquial user. Until people are linked, Colloquial can post to channels but can't message individuals or credit them for their answers.
See Microsoft Teams: connect your people for the two ways to do that.
Troubleshooting
I can't find Colloquial in the Teams app store
Your Microsoft 365 administrator may have restricted which third-party apps can be installed. Ask them to allow the Colloquial app for your tenant.
I don't see Microsoft Teams in Colloquial's settings
The Microsoft Teams settings are admin-only. Ask a Colloquial admin in your organisation to run the setup.
I finished in Teams but never landed on the configure screen
The hand-off only works from a signed-in Colloquial session, and it applies to whichever organisation you're signed in to. Sign in to Colloquial first, check you're in the right organisation, then add the app to the Team again from Microsoft Teams.