Microsoft (MSFT 1.33%) announced Thursday that Teams, its real-time, collaborative communications tool that rivals Slack (WORK +0.00%), has seen an "unprecedented spike" in usage since the outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus. Teams has surpassed 44 million daily active users (DAUs), more than double the 20 million it reported in November 2019. The company said (emphasis mine) "users have generated over 900 million meeting and calling minutes on Teams each day this week."
Recent additions are even more dramatic, as Microsoft it has added 12 million new users over the past seven days alone. The company said the recent surge in usage is the result of the spread of coronavirus, as "millions of people have been impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak." This comes as offices around the world shutter and employees have gone remote to help stem the tide of the global pandemic.
Image source: Microsoft.
Microsoft shared a number of other compelling statistics regarding Teams use. The company said that 93 of the Fortune 100 companies use Teams and more than 650 organizations that employ the tool have more than 10,000 users. The platform is found in 181 markets and available in 53 languages, making it the go-to for many companies, schools, and other organizations looking to navigate the unprecedented shutdowns.
The tech giant isn't the only one benefiting from the move to work from home. Rival platform Slack announced Thursday that it added more than 7,000 new paying customers since the beginning of February, more users than it added in all of last quarter, which ended Jan. 31. For context, the company said it added about 5,000 new paid customers in each of the past two full quarters.
