Cyber Week Sale! 50% Off All Access

Microsoft Teams Goes Down as Europe Tries to Work From Home Coronavirus means people across Europe are self-isolating and working from home, but users of Microsoft's Slack competitor struggled to log in and send messages to colleagues.

By Adam Smith Edited by Frances Dodds

This story originally appeared on PC Mag

via PC Mag

Microsoft Teams, the company's Slack competitor has gone down today under the load of people across Europe attempting to work from home.

Teams users are reportedly having issues signing into the service and sending messages, and a Microsoft support Twitter account tweeted that it is "investigating messaging-related functionality problems within Microsoft Teams." Replies to that tweet indicate these issues are affecting users in Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, Romania, among others.

We have reached out to Microsoft for the cause of the outage, but it appears to have been concurrent with an uptick in users logging on to work from home in order to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Europe recently became the epicentre of the pandemic, according to the WHO.

As Downdetector reports, workers started experiencing problems using Teams at approximately 8am GMT in Europe, before a massive spike at around 9am. Reports state that 77 percent of the problems were due to server connection, with 20 percent reporting problems accessing the website and a smattering of users unable to log in.

The spread of the coronavirus has affected workers, and the companies that interact with them, in a number of ways. ISPs have dropped their data caps as more people have to work from home, food delivery services are offering a "no-contact service,' and other companies are offering extended warranties or free pornographic content during the pandemic. Across the technology industry, product launches are expected to be delayed due to impacted supply chains and conferences have had to be cancelled.

To help combat the spread of the virus, Google is launching a website that tells you where to get coronavirus tests, and Microsoft has launched a coronavirus tracker through its Bing search engine.

Adam Smith

Contributing Editor PC Mag UK

Adam Smith is the Contributing Editor for PCMag UK, and has written about technology for a number of publications including What Hi-Fi?, Stuff, WhatCulture, and MacFormat, reviewing smartphones, speakers, projectors, and all manner of weird tech. Always online, occasionally cromulent, you can follow him on Twitter @adamndsmith.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Business Ideas

63 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2024

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2024.

Growing a Business

5 Growth Hacks to Increase Your Revenue by 90% in 12 to 24 Months

Here are five innovative and proven strategies that can significantly boost your business's revenue within the next year or two. Whether you're looking to scale quickly or enhance operational efficiency, these growth hacks will provide actionable insights to help you achieve remarkable revenue growth.

Marketing

6 Steps to a Simple and Effective Content Strategy

Strategy can be an intimidating word, but it doesn't have to be. Follow these simple guidelines to make sure your next piece of content — and every one thereafter — rings true to your brand.

Business News

Mark Zuckerberg Wants to 'Play an Active Role' Shaping Tech Policies in Donald Trump's New Administration, According to a Meta Executive

Zuckerberg and Trump are reportedly taking tech ahead of the president-elect's inauguration.