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Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board vs. Microsoft Teams

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board

    Score9.1 out of 10
    Enterprise companies (1,001+ employees)
    Social Squared is a SharePoint Discussion Board App that can be deployed across SharePoint Online and Microsoft Teams. Social Squared improves productivity and efficiency by providing structured discussion forums for employee and student discussions. For Microsoft SharePoint Social Squared is a SharePoint discussion board application where users can post questions within relevant forums and receive answers to their questions from subject matter experts. The…

    $2,200

    per year per installation

    Microsoft Teams

    Score8.3 out of 10
    N/AMicrosoft Teams combines video conferencing software with team collaboration tools. The communications platform allows MS Office users to conduct conference calls and share files via SharePoint, and join or initiate a group chat.

    $4.80

    per month per user

    Pricing
    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion BoardMicrosoft Teams
    Editions & Modules
    Social Squared Discussion Board
    From $2200
    per year per installation
    Social Squared Discussion Board Enterprise Edition
    POA
    per year per installation
    Microsoft Teams Essentials
    $4.80
    per month per user
    Microsoft Teams Enterprise
    $5.25
    per month (paid yearly) per user
    Microsoft Teams Enterprise
    $5.25
    per month per user
    Microsoft 365 Business Basic
    $7.20
    per month per user
    Microsoft 365 Business Standard
    $15
    per month per user
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion BoardMicrosoft Teams
    Free Trial
    YesYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsPrices stated are minimum per installation for "stock" products. $2.20 per user/year on top of base price. Enterprise editions can be amended to suit business needs if deemed necessary, additional costs incurred and TBD. All packages include free technical support. Free upgrades available to latest versions of tool as they are released.Discounts are available for non profit organizations.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion BoardMicrosoft Teams
    Considered Both Products
    Lightning Tools
    No answer on this topic
    Microsoft
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    90%
    Would buy again
    255 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    95%
    Delivers good value for the price
    225 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    90%
    Happy with the feature set
    255 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    92%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    144 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    93%
    Implementation went as expected
    174 Answers
    Features
    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion BoardMicrosoft Teams
    Project Management
    Comparison of Project Management features of Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board and Microsoft Teams
    Feature
    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    9.1
    1 Ratings
    16% above category average
    Microsoft Teams
    8.2
    241 Ratings
    6% above category average
    Mobile Access9.11 Ratings8.2229 Ratings
    Search9.11 Ratings7.6212 Ratings
    Task Management00 Ratings8.1179 Ratings
    Gantt Charts00 Ratings8.196 Ratings
    Scheduling00 Ratings8.3208 Ratings
    Workflow Automation00 Ratings8.4126 Ratings
    Visual planning tools00 Ratings8.4143 Ratings
    Communication
    Comparison of Communication features of Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board and Microsoft Teams
    Feature
    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    9.1
    1 Ratings
    13% above category average
    Microsoft Teams
    8.0
    251 Ratings
    0% above category average
    Chat9.11 Ratings9.0250 Ratings
    Notifications9.11 Ratings8.4249 Ratings
    Discussions9.11 Ratings8.7235 Ratings
    Internal knowledgebase9.11 Ratings8.6157 Ratings
    Surveys00 Ratings8.2146 Ratings
    Integrates with GoToMeeting00 Ratings6.547 Ratings
    Integrates with Gmail and Google Hangouts00 Ratings5.743 Ratings
    Integrates with Outlook00 Ratings9.1155 Ratings
    File Sharing & Management
    Comparison of File Sharing & Management features of Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board and Microsoft Teams
    Feature
    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board
    9.1
    1 Ratings
    12% above category average
    Microsoft Teams
    8.2
    236 Ratings
    2% above category average
    Versioning9.11 Ratings8.6168 Ratings
    Video files9.11 Ratings8.4202 Ratings
    Audio files9.11 Ratings8.8200 Ratings
    Document collaboration9.11 Ratings8.8216 Ratings
    Access control9.11 Ratings8.6198 Ratings
    Advanced security features00 Ratings8.5158 Ratings
    Integrates with Google Drive00 Ratings5.353 Ratings
    Device sync00 Ratings8.6172 Ratings
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    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion BoardMicrosoft Teams
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    8.6
    (329 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (12 ratings)
    Usability
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    8.7
    (114 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (114 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    -
    (0 ratings)
    6.3
    (7 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Professional Services
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.0
    (7 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion BoardMicrosoft Teams
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Lightning Tools
    Their customer service it top notch and always responsive. I struggled in the beginning a little bit because I'm not tech savvy and we had to add it to our SharePoint site but they helped me along the way and even had share screen meetings with me to assist!!
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    It's amazing as a daily driver for team communication, and document search/store. Also, if you're doing a lot of LONG meetings and have trouble remembering details, the AI summarization is amazing and convenient. It just works. I'm not saying I always do this, of course, but if I need to 'skim' instead of really digging into every detail from a meeting, the AI-generated summary is generally good enough that I can get away with it.
    Read full review
    Pros
    Lightning Tools
    • Organizing Data
    • Opens up discussion, whether publicly or anonymously
    • Easy to setup
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • All in one communication for Teams.
    • High quality and reliable both audio and video meetings.
    • Well organized and clear instant chat.
    • Excellent security features.
    • Beautiful integration with 3rd party tools and systems.
    • Perfect compatibility with windows ,android and iOS.
    • Allow meetings recordings for later us or sharing with teams that missed the live.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Lightning Tools
    • I would love to be able to assign various people as administrators of different topics (this may be an option now but a couple years ago it wasn't)
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • The webinars feature has some missing functionally such as the ability for all users to use the Q&A feature (only those with a Microsoft Teams account can use it now), the ability to upload documents for attendees to easily access and download, and the ability for presenters and organizers to easily chat amongst themselves throughout the webinar.
    • The "Channels" organization hierarchy could be more clear. If you have several channels set up, it can get clunky and hard to find the specific channel you are looking for.
    • The MS Planner tool lacks functionality and organization. You cannot assign more than one person to a task and it's confusing when you try to share tasks with people - it would be nice if they were automatically added to someone's calendar.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Lightning Tools
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    Microsoft Teams is included with our Office 365 subscription and we have no intention of migrating off of Office 365 and Microsoft products. Since Microsoft Teams is included for free with our Office 365 subscription, and since we enjoy all the features, benefits, and functionality, there is no question that our team will continue to use the product
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Lightning Tools
    Our employees really like the fact that they can find things easily with the search feature and add questions and comments as they see fit.
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    If you have the full Microsoft Office suite, it works really well because it's integrated well within its ecosystem, but if not, it can be annoying because it tries to open a shared file in the web versions of the file equivalents. The web version is also a bit slow, and the login is very difficult to handle if you have multiple Microsoft or Outlook accounts.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Lightning Tools
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    Rare, but outages do happen
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Performance
    Lightning Tools
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    Sometimes about once a week I get a message that says "Sorry, there seems to be something wrong". But it goes away in a few minutes.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Lightning Tools
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    The overall support provided by Microsoft for Microsoft Teams has been quite good but there is still some room for improvements. Microsoft needs to proactively work on fixing the open bugs in order to provide a seamless experience to the users. But over the service and experience provided by the Microsoft team have been quite satisfactory.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Lightning Tools
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    I find everything I need for my day-to-day work.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Lightning Tools
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    Microsoft Teams offers a much more integrated experience between their chat and video call function compared to Google Chat and Slack. Both other tools are much better for internal communications are they have simpler UI without other features. Whereas Microsoft Teams can be used for more critical conversations, particularly between external companies, and has been very useful in sales conversations which is what we chose it for when speaking to companies that work exclusively through Microsoft.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    Lightning Tools
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    Honestly, this tool is worth every penny. Yes, it's not free and you pay for the quality of services and the license. But the ROI and the benefits are all there. Also, the renewal, negotiation, and contract terms are all very well explained by our Microsoft account manager, and she's a charm.
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Lightning Tools
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    It does not appear to have a limit to how many teams and employees we can have using it
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Professional Services
    Lightning Tools
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    I used Skype for Business to take calls, hold conferences, and provide remote assistance to users. Microsoft Teams, on the other hand, is superior to Skype for Business in my opinion. My job entails a lot of screen sharing.
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Lightning Tools
    • We signed up for a 3 year contract and hope to do another 3yr contract when this one is up. :)
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Personally, I would say that by using Microsoft Teams, it upped my collaboration with my colleagues by around 50% or around more than half of what I usually did prior to using it.
    • I had 100% show rate and attendance on all of my meetings in the past 6 months.
    • If I may add, I also have been chattier & collaborative towards my colleagues in past 3 months particularly the month of December when we had huge traffic at work. I would estimate this behavior to have been increased by around 60% than what I usually incur during normal operating days.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Lightning Tools Social Squared Discussion Board Screenshots

    Screenshot of MODERN, RESPONSIVE SHAREPOINT DISCUSSION BOARD
Discussion Forums can be created for a variety of different reasons. This example is a Forum Group for the Microsoft 365 technologies such as Teams, Planner, and SharePoint. Forums are then created within the Forum Groups for more specific discussions. Under the SharePoint Forum Group, there is a Forum for SharePoint On-Premises and SharePoint Online. Anyone looking to ask a question regarding SharePoint 2019 for example would be able to post their question under SharePoint On-Premises rather than SharePoint Online. This also allows subject matter experts to focus more on the questions that they can respond to and provide value.Screenshot of SHAREPOINT DISCUSS BOARD – TOPICS VIEW
When navigating into a forum, the topics and discussions that are taking place are shown. Any new topics that not yet read will be highlighted. It also displays whether topics have been answered, their average ratings, how many views and posts are within the topic, and also provides the ability to subscribe to the forum to be notified of new posts within it.Screenshot of READING DISCUSSIONS AND PROVIDING FEEDBACK
Social Squared offers a threaded discussion view with the ability to provide feedback to other users.

Posts can be rated, voted upon, or liked by users in order to give feedback to the user creating or responding to a post. Additionally, replies can be marked as answered or marked as featured, which gives readers of forums assurance that the response they are reading is validated to be the correct answer.

Users also receive feedback through the earning of badges. The more users post or mark posts as answered, the more points are rewarded. This makes it easy to spot subject matter experts.Screenshot of SUGGESTED TAGS
Social Squared provides a rich text editor for creating and replying to topics. The Rich Text toolbar provides functionality such as inserting images, YouTube videos, Stream Videos, Formatted Code Inserts, as well as font formatting.

While typing, suggestions on how to tag a post appear. Selecting an existing tag will provide consistency in the tags used making it easier for other users to discover the post.Screenshot of SOCIAL SQUARED TAG CLOUD VIEW
The Social Squared Tag Cloud view makes it easy to navigate to posts within a specific category even if they span multiple forums. The more a tag appears in different posts, the more prominent it will be in the tag cloud. Users can navigate to posts with the tag in one click.Screenshot of DISCUSSION BOARD WITHIN MICROSOFT TEAMS TAB
Social Squared is a Discussion Board App for Microsoft Teams Tab’s and Microsoft Teams Personal Apps. Social Squared provides information workers the ability to post questions within relevant forums, and receive answers from their team. The Discussion Board layout for posts makes it easier to find answers to questions that may have already been asked before. Through features such as “Mark as Answered”, “Forum Moderation”, “Post Rating”, “Post Likes”, “Post Voting”, users will be assured that the answers they are reading are validated.