This Stream project is a gift that keeps on giving. There are so many things I want to find out and write about! Not just for myself, but especially for you, to help you understand what this change will mean.
This change also means that you will have to change the ways your colleagues create videos. I do not know if many people in your organization are using Stream right now, but even if they donโt, you may want to create a campaign on video creation, as video is an important medium and it may be a good idea to increase the creation and usage of it in your organization.
My goal for this post is to help Office365 support folks guide their colleagues in a simple way to other video tools. โPlease no longer use Stream, use โฆโ
I have reviewed the options.
Where can you create videos in Office365?
- Stream Classic (desktop and app โ please note F3-licensed users can only view, not add!)
- Teams (desktop and app)
- OneDrive (app)
- Yammer (app)
At this moment the Office mobile app does not support creating videos, but I have just learned this will be added in future as the Office mobile app is very much focused on documents. You will be able to create 90 second videos with annotations.
Stream (Classic) โ desktop
You can record a screen or a video with your web cam. (Instructions from Microsoft)
You can trim the video, but it can only be 15 minutes max.
Trimming options
Stable image as this is usually done from laptop
Max. 15 minutes
Type of videos is limited to web cam options or screensharing
Created and saved in Stream which is Office365 but an app that will be discontinued, so you will have to move it to SharePoint
Stream (Classic) โ app
The Stream mobile app is a bit more flexible than the desktop version. There is no time limit, and you can use the smartphone camera.
Quick to start
Freedom in topics as this uses the smartphone camera
Created and saved in Office365 (but in Stream, so you will have to move it to SharePoint)
Editing options, see example below: (Not sure if I need to add that I am not an experienced video creator 
)
Trimming options (in the Stream desktop app)
Teams โ desktop
Using a Teams meeting recording option, you can create a
- meeting recording
- โtalking headโ video (using the webcam)
- screensharing recording, e.g. for Office365 instruction videos
When you use a Live Event and/or add a different camera, you can also create face-to-face event videos, such as conferences, lectures and physical town halls.
I generally use the Meet Now option to create a screensharing video.
At this moment, it is not possible to trim or edit your video in Teams or SharePoint. You need to download your video, upload it to Stream, trim and then download and upload to SharePoint. I hope that this will be available on the other apps shortly!
Created and saved in Office365 (OneDrive > Recordings folders or in a Teams channel)
Stable image as this is usually done from laptop
No trimming options, so the video generally starts with the standard Teams meeting screen
No effect options
Type of videos is limited to web cam options or screensharing
You need to start a meeting first and then push the record button
Teams โ app
The Teams app uses your camera phone, so you are more flexible when it comes to the topic of your recording. You can use the options from the desktop, but also flip the camera from self-view to world-view.
Instructions from Microsoft
Freedom in topics as this uses the smartphone camera
Created and saved in Office365 (OneDrive > Recordings folder or in a Teams channel)
No trimming options, so you start with the standard Teams meeting screen
No effect options
You need to start a meeting first and then push the record button
Video quality is not so good
You need to give your microphone access to Teams โ if you forget this there will be no sound, as in this example:
OneDrive โ app
The OneDrive app allows you to record audio or video with your regular phone camera. You are very flexible. You can flip the camera from self-view to world-view. Your video is saved in your OneDrive (root folder) and can not be edited. You can move it from there to a suitable SharePoint/Teams site for sharing. (Moving deletes it from your personal OneDrive).
Automatic upload to Office365 (OneDrive root folder)
Freedom in topics as this uses the smartphone camera
Quick to start, compared to Teams
Good video quality
No trimming options
No editing options
Example:
Yammer app
The Yammer app also works with your phone camera. Just click the โnew messageโ button
You can use self-view and world view, and add texts, emoji etc but it is displayed vertically, even if you film horizontally. Check out the example below. You can create a video from your feed, a community or your inbox, and the end result is stored in Yammer. The resulting message (=video + other info) can be moved to another community, but not to SharePoint, so you will have to download the video to PC and upload it to SharePoint. It is also not shown on the Stream (on SharePoint) landing page.
I expect that with native Yammer (which I am not using at the moment) you will be able to move it to another SharePoint site.
Automatic upload to Office365 (Yammer)
Effect options (texts, emoji etc.)
Quick to start โ just open Yammer and create new message
Freedom in topics as this uses the smartphone camera
Needs downloading to share outside of Yammer (when using New Yammer in any case)
No trimming or editing
Effect options are shown vertically, even when you film horizontally
Video quality is better than Teams, less than OneDrive
Phone video
You can also use your phone camera to create a video and then upload it to OneDrive or SharePoint/Teams. I have not made an example as most people will know how this works.
It takes discipline to upload work videos to Office365 and delete them from personal records. If you think this is a challenge for your employees, youโd better teach them using the OneDrive app as the preferred option.
Editing options including trimming, colours, filters, formatting
Quick to start
Good video quality
Needs discipline to remove video (if it is a private device) after upload to Office365
Recommendation: Teams desktop or OneDrive mobile app
Stream will go away, so you will have to use another way to create videos in your organization.
In my opinion, the most useful options are
- Teams desktop, for more formal videos, such as demoโs and talking heads
- OneDrive app, for impromptu videos or when on location
We are really missing trimming and editing options, so I hope Microsoft will add them to SharePoint soon! This Excel file with functionality planning does not have info about the editing options. (Unless I am overlooking something). But Marijn Somers told me that a good tool (Clipchamp) will be built into Windows 11, so we can look forward to that!
Of course there are a zillion other video tools available, with excellent editing options, but my goal for today is a simple swap of Stream with another app from the Office365 suite.
How have you or will you tempt your colleagues to move away from Stream and use another option instead? Please let me know!