Setting up and using the MS Teams integration for Forecast

• Setting up the MS Teams integration
• Configuring the MS Teams integration

Setting up the MS Teams integration

Setting up this integration may only be done by a user with Admin access. 

To set up the integration

1. Click Admin in the top bar. 
2. Select Integrations from the dropdown.
3. Under the File sharing, productivity, and content section, click on Teams.
4. Input the MS tenant/directory and click the button labeled Enable. If you are not familiar with the tenant follow the instructions from Microsoft on this page.
   
   Note: Enter only the MS tenant name, not the tenantID. To find the MS tenant in Azure, click into your profile and then switch directory to find a list of the attached tenants/domains. Then, for example using 'tenantexample.onmicrosoft.com', you would enter 'tenantexample'.
5. Follow the on-screen instruction to authorize and activate the integration. In the end, the user will be redirected back to the integration page.

Configuring the MS Teams integration

The integration will now allow for project teams across platforms to have better visibility and collaboration. This is achieved through, primarily the synchronization of data across platforms, and projects to MS teams. 

Linking a project to a MS team

Linking a project to an MS team is one of the key functionalities that the integration offers. By linking teams between platforms, it will be possible to link Forecast user profiles to their own Microsoft Teams profile.  By linking a project to an MS Team, the team members are automatically assigned to the project 

The Forecast users are linked to MS Teams users based on their email addresses. If the email address is absent or missing in either Forecast or MS Teams (or not identical) the users will not be linked. Once the team is created, or users are added or removed from a project, the changes will be reflected automatically in MS Teams.

To link a project to an MS team

1. In Forecast, click Projects from the top bar. 
2. Select All Projects from the dropdown. 
   
3. Click the project you wish to link. 
4. In the left side panel, click Settings.
5. Select Team.
6. Click on the dropdown Link to MS teams and select the team members from MS Teams that should be linked with the assignees of this project.

The team members will now be linked with the project assignees. This configuration is important as it allows for notifications to be received regarding the project in MS Teams. 

Exporting a project team to MS Teams

With the integration, it is also possible to export the team members assigned to a project directly to MS teams, so those team members will show up in MS Teams (if they do not already appear please refer to Linking a project to an MS team) and be linked between the two platforms.

To export a project team to MS Teams

1. In Forecast, click Projects from the top bar. 
2. Select All Projects from the dropdown. 
   
3. Click the project you wish to link. 
4. In the left side panel, click Settings.
5. Select Team.
6. From the team tab click on Export to Teams to export the users assigned to the project to MS Teams.

Configuring personal notifications

Once users are linked between Forecast and MS Team, a Forecast bot is installed for that user. The Forecast bot can send the in-app notifications, which the user normally accesses by the bell in the top-right corner of Forecast, to a conversation in MS Teams. These notifications are configurable in the same way that the other Forecast notifications are on the notification settings page. 

To enable/edit the notification settings

1. Click on the profile icon at the top right. 
2. Select Profile from the dropdown. 
3. Click Notification Settings.
4. Scroll down to the section that allows the user to check which notifications they wish to review and how they should receive them (in-app, email, MS Teams).
5. Click to enable or disable the notifications that should be sent by the Forecast bot in MS Teams. 

Depending on the notifications that the user might enable, they will be receiving both project and personal notifications such as timesheet reminders.