Ordinarily, the word “audit” can be unnerving, but it has a much more beneficial definition in Microsoft Teams. Microsoft audit logs capture data about any changes, such as when, where, and by whom activity took place, as well as the results of such activity. This helps ensure companies are doing everything they can in the event of a security breach, data loss, or simply during routine operations.
Essential parts of the process are auditing and meeting trails. To understand what these are, how they’re used, and how you can improve your auditing practices with the help of an all-in-one platform, take a look below.
What Are Audit Trails and Meeting Trails?
Audit Trails
Audit trails are secure, date- and time-stamped records, such as Microsoft audit logs, of computer events, financial transactions, production or project development phases, and related occurrences. In meeting platforms, an audit trail comprises information such as logs of activity on shared documents and files, timestamps, meeting minutes, resolutions, and voting results.
They can be used to investigate operational failures, review digital security arrangements, and support internal record-keeping. Audit trails also help provide evidence of compliance with industry regulations and laws.
Meeting Trails
Meeting trails are the minutes from meetings in Teams. Records of resolutions, spoken statements, and discussions of important topics form a critically important body of evidence. This aids in proving considered decision-making has taken place and that employees’ and stakeholders’ rights and needs have been considered.
Action Trails
Action trails are records of action items in Teams, such as to-do lists or delegated tasks. Tracking how long it took a team member assigned to or accountable for a task to complete it when they completed it, and the steps they took to do so can yield valuable insights. Taking into account working patterns, individual capacity, and possible steps can streamline and improve individual and group tasks in the future.
How Comprehensive Meeting and Audit Trails can Benefit Your Team
Over a million organizations utilize Microsoft Teams to support team meetings and professional messaging. Good news is, there is an audit trail in Microsoft Teams.
However, the method by which meeting notes and other important pieces of information can be retrieved from Microsoft can be a time-consuming and occasionally confusing process. Luckily, Convene in Teams (CiT), a secure productivity platform within Teams, makes auditing and record-keeping substantially easier and more user-friendly. Here are some ways CiT can improve your Teams experience:
References to Meeting Events
With CiT, meetings are permanently documented, giving you a tangible reference source for all meeting events, with all notes and action items made during meetings intact. CiT offers a built-in minute-taking function that take notes in real time during the meeting, which can then be easily exported, along with all action items and vote results. Participants can review records within minutes of a meeting having taken place.
Greater Accuracy Than Manually Recorded Trails
Automatic minute-taking functions, such as in CiT, prevent the risk of human error by recording meeting discussions and action items in Teams. As a result, participants can expect improved accuracy, traceability, and accessibility after a meeting has concluded.
Better Transparency and Accountability
It’s imperative to have a precise, auto-generated record of events and actions, such as those provided through CiT’s audit trails. It can be used by system administrators to review who accessed and downloaded certain files, when documents were last edited, when a certain user has signed in to or out of the platform, who updated a specific meeting’s details and documents submitted. Maintaining records of which actions were taken and by whom is a valuable asset in data security, compliance, and general good governance.
CiT not only enhances the native capabilities of Teams in these areas but also simplifies assigning and tracking action items in Teams.
Improved Meeting and Document Security
Microsoft Teams audit logs contain the full details of the events and communications in meetings. What they don’t show are security hazards, such as unauthorized access, data breaches, or malicious tampering. CiT incorporates a comprehensive suite of security functions to keep both meetings and documents secure at all times. For example, the audit trails generated through CiT can act as a valuable record of when and by whom a document or file was accessed, whether that individual was authorized to do so, and where potential leaks in your security system might be found.
Gain Insights
Auditing is the key to understanding what works best as well as how you can improve your teams’ practices in the future. Through analyzing Microsoft audit logs and action trails with CiT, you can gain insights into the efficiency and productivity of both teams and individuals while identifying areas in which they could be improved.
Enhance Your Microsoft Teams Experience with Convene in Teams
When the success of your company depends on regular communication and task management through Microsoft Teams, turn to Convene in Teams from Azeus Systems to augment your auditing and record-keeping efforts. This all-in-one platform combines the features of Teams into a single, easy-to-use interface for more efficient meeting management in real-time, simpler auditing, and better governance.
Learn more about CiT and get in touch with our team today.
Audrey is a Content Marketing Specialist at Convene, in charge of managing the production of quality content on the company’s website. A communication major keen on marketing, Audrey has been constantly seeking approaches to create tailored content—may it be about governance, digitalization, boards, or meetings—fit for the stakeholders. When not strategizing on the next ebook to produce, Audrey finds solitude in reading make-you-ugly-cry novels and listening to self-improvement podcasts.
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