Microsoft Teams - Standard vs. Premium Licensing

Most faculty, staff, and students at the college are covered by our Standard Teams license, which includes all essential tools for daily collaboration, teaching, and meetings. However, for specific high-stakes or advanced scenarios, Teams Premium is available as a requested add-on.

Please note that Teams Premium is an add-on license at an additional cost, meaning you must still have a base Teams license to use it.

Feature Comparison at a Glance

Feature Category	Teams Standard (Included)	Teams Premium (Request Only)
AI Support	Basic transcription and captions.	Intelligent Recap: AI-generated notes, tasks, and personalized timeline markers.
Webinars	Standard registration and reporting.	Advanced Events: Green room for presenters, registration waitlists, and manual attendee approval.
Security	Standard encryption.	Advanced Protection: Watermarking to deter leaks, end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for meetings, and sensitivity labels.
Branding	Standard background blur/images.	Custom Branding: Branded meeting lobbies, organizational backgrounds, and custom "Together Mode" scenes.
Translation	Standard live captions.	Live Translation: Real-time translated captions in over 40 languages during meetings.

For a full list of feature comparisons see: How does Teams Premium Compare to Teams

When Should You Request Teams Premium?

While Standard Teams is robust, you might consider Teams Premium if your role involves:

1. Teams Phone Call Queue Management

If you have been designated as a Call Queue manager, a Teams Premium license has already been assigned.

2. Handling Highly Sensitive Research or Data

For researchers or administrators discussing confidential information (such as FERPA-regulated data), Premium offers advanced meeting protection. You can apply watermarks over screen shares to prevent unauthorized leaks and use sensitivity labels to automate security settings.

3. High-Volume Meeting Management

If your day is back-to-back with meetings, Intelligent Recap can save hours. It automatically identifies when your name was mentioned, generates a list of follow-up tasks, and highlights the most important parts of a transcript so you don't have to re-watch the entire recording.

4. International Collaboration

If you frequently host international guest speakers, Live Translation allows participants to see captions in their native language in real-time, fostering a more inclusive environment.

Note for Users: Many users believe they need Premium to open files in their "Native Desktop App" (like Word or Excel) instead of the Teams web view. This is actually a Standard feature! You can change this in your Teams client under Settings > Files and links > File Open Preference.

How to Request

If your needs align with the Premium features listed above, please submit a Technology Support Request. Note that Premium licenses are allocated based on specific project/role requirements.