Add-ins for Office 365 are third party applications that provide integration between an application or service and Office 365. The purpose of an add-in is to provide extra features and functionality within Office 365. Use of these tools generally requires registration on the company's website and acceptance of the company's terms of use. Purchase of a subscription or license from the producer of the add-in may be required to have access to the full functionality of the app.
Because of the potential for unexpected consequences such as loss of data, unexpected exposure of information to other third parties, or unintentional access to the user's computer and files, CCS very seriously considers each third party application before enabling it in Office 365. Along with other considerations about the usability and functionality of each app, CCS requires third party application vendors to provide answers to a Security Risk Assessment Question List [1] which can be found on the Information Security team's website [2]. Information Security also has an informative blog entry on the CCS website about the risks of using Office 365 add-ins [3].
Support for third party applications
Although each third party apps must pass an evaluation by CCS before being enabled, third party applications are not considered by CCS to be institutional offerings unless otherwise stated. Enabled third party apps are provided to the University community "as is" and information and support for these third party apps is to be found at each application's website. Many apps offer additional features that are available via paid subscription. When CCS does enable an app, only the basic version of the app is enabled, and subscription to the paid features of an app is a private financial transaction between the individual user of the app and the app vendor.
Available third party apps for Microsoft Teams currently fall into two categories, Connectors and Tabs, and are only available as add-ins for Microsoft Teams.
What is a Connector?
Connectors keep your team current by delivering content and updates from services you frequently use directly into a channel within the Team.
What is a Tab?
Tabs allow team members to access services on a dedicated canvas within a channel. This lets the team work directly with the tools and data they provide, and to have conversations about them, in the channel’s context. Every member of the team can see changes to the content of a Tab in real-time as it is created or changed.
Third Party add-ins approved and enabled for use in Microsoft Teams:
Application Name | App Type | Provider | Website | Enabled For |
---|---|---|---|---|
MindMeister | Tab | MeisterLabs | www.mindmeister.com [4] | All Users |
Trello | Connector | Trello | www.trello.com [5] | All Users |
GitHub | Connector | GitHub | www.github.com [6] | All Users |
Asana | Connector | Asana | www.asana.com [7] | Select Users |
MindMeister
Mind maps are diagrams that can be used to generate, visualize, structure, and classify ideas.
The MindMeister tab allows you to creat and share mind maps right inside your Office 365 team using the MindMeister application.
Trello
Manage to-do lists and tasks in one place.
The Trello connector is connected to Microsoft Teams in a tab. When the tab is installed the user will be alerted when activity occurs on Trello cards, lists and boards. The team will be notified of the following events in Trello.
- Card Created
- Card Moved
- Comment or Attachment added to card
- Member added to card
GitHub
Manage and collaborate on code projects hosted on a GitHub Enterprise instance via a channel in Microsoft Teams.
Connectors keep your team current by delivering content and updates from services you use directly into a channel. The GitHub Enterprise connector sends notifications about activities related to your projects on your GitHub Enterprise instance.
Asana
Asana for Outlook by Asana is an add-on that allows you to create tasks from emails and attach other relevant emails to the task as an attached message. These tasks can also be assigned to other members of your team, who will be able to see all the previous emails attached to the task.
To get Asana enabled for your team, please contact the CCS Help Centre at ext 58888 or via email at IThelp@uoguelph.ca [8]. CCS does not provide support for this add-on. For support questions please contant the makers of Asana directly.
Third Party add-ins approved and enabled for use use in Microsoft Word:
Application Name | App Type | Provider | Website | Enabled For |
---|---|---|---|---|
Cite for Mendeley Reference Manager | add-in for Microsoft Word | Mendeley | www.mendeley.com [9] | Select Users |
SmartCite for ReadCube Papers* | add-in for Microsoft Word | ReadCube | www.readcube.com [10] | Select Users |
MathType* | add-in for Microsoft Word | Wirus | www.wiris.com/en/mathtype [11] | Select Users |
* Note that to enable SmartCite or MathType for your Office 365 account, you need to contact the CCS IT Help Centre [12] and request that it be enabled for you.
Cite for Mendeley
Seamlessly insert references and bibliographies into your document using Mendeley's citation add-in for Office 365.
As well as searching your Mendeley library and inserting individual or multiple references and bibliographies in just a few clicks, with Mendeley Cite you can:
- Cite without having Mendeley Desktop open or even installed, minimizing potential performance loss.
- Keep your document in view as you cite: Mendeley Cite opens as a separate panel in Word alongside your document window, not over it, so your whole document remains visible as you find, select and insert references.
SmartCite for ReadCube Papers
Interact with your ReadCube Papers library from within Microsoft Word with the SmartCite add-in for Word.
ReadCube Papers provides an interactive library for managing articles and references used in the creation of scholarly research articles and papers. The SmartCite add-in from ReadCube facilitates access to the researcher’s own online ReadCube Papers library from within Word documents. The main use of SmartCite is probably the automatic insertion of citations, references, and bibliographies generated from the researcher’s online library directly into a Word document that the researcher is working on.
Readcube Papers provides a 30 day trial during which Papers and the SmartCite plugin can be evaluated. In order to continue using Papers and Smartcite beyond the 30 day evaluation period date a ReadCube Papers subscription must be purchased from ReadCube.
To get SmartCite enabled for your Office365 account please contact the CCS Help Centre at ext 58888 or via email at IThelp@uoguelph.ca [8]. CCS does not provide support for this add-in. For support questions about SmartCite please contact ReadCube [13] directly.
MathType
MathType, by Wirus, is a graphical editor for mathematical equations, allowing entry with the mouse or keyboard in a full graphical WYSIWYG environment.
To get MathType enabled for your Office 365 account please contact the CCS Help Centre at ext 58888 or via email at IThelp@uoguelph.ca [14]. CCS does not provide support for this add-in. For support questions please contact the makers of MathType [15] directly.
Third Party Apps that have been reviewed but were not approved
Application Name | Application Description | App Type | Provider | Website |
---|---|---|---|---|
Boomerang | enhanced tools for Outlook/OWA | Connector | Baydin Inc. | www.boomerangapp.com [16] |
Grammarly | Provides grammar suggestions | add-in for Microsoft Word | Grammarl | www.grammarly.com [17] |
These sites were not approved as they did not pass the required team security and privacy review that the Information Security team uses in evaluating these third-party apps. For more information on why these apps were not given approval, you can contact the CCS IT help Centre [12].
How to request a third party app for use within Office 365
Is there a third party application that you would like to use within Office 365 that isn't listed above? A request can be made to have Computing & Communications Services evaluate and enable the app by contacting the: CCS IT Help Centre [12]