Chat from Microsoft Teams
Link the email address you use in Microsoft Teams, so you can message Centrus from a personal chat. An administrator uploads the Teams app once, and each person links their own address.
Checked against the app on
What Teams Chatbot does
Teams Chatbot is the card on Integrations that connects your Microsoft Teams chat to Centrus. It is a way to send and receive messages. It does not read your Teams files, channels or calendar, and it does not sign Centrus in to any other system. There is no Agent Builder step for it.
Everyone in the organisation can open the card. Until you link an address it reads Not Connected, with Configure and How to Use. After you link an address it reads Connected, shows Connected as: and that address in green, and the buttons change to How to Use and Disconnect. The address is yours alone. An administrator does not connect Teams Chatbot for the whole organisation.
Get answers without leaving your workflow.
- Fast and secure messaging
- Access from desktop and mobile
- Maintain conversation history
- 1Not Connected, until you link the address you use in Teams.
- 2Configure opens the form for that address.
- 3How to Use holds the one-time upload for an administrator, and the steps for everyone else.
The card lists three lines: Fast and secure messaging, Access from desktop and mobile, and Maintain conversation history. Day to day use, including what a Teams conversation can and cannot do, is in Chat on Microsoft Teams. Where the card sits among the others is in Integrations overview.
Before you start
Three things have to be true, and they are not all done by the same person.
- Someone who can upload an app in Microsoft Teams. They do this once for the organisation. Centrus does not check that it has been done, and it does not have to be a Centrus administrator.
- The email address you sign in to Teams with. Each person enters their own on Configure. Centrus accepts it from any signed-in user. It does not check that the address belongs to you.
- At least one tag on your user, including if you are an administrator. Teams lists the tags on your own user. If you have none, Centrus replies You don't have any tags. Ask an administrator to add one in Edit users and roles.
Teams Chatbot
On Integrations. Each person links a Teams email, then messages Centrus in a personal chat. Nothing from your channels is copied in.
Sync Microsoft Teams
On Train, under Integrations. An administrator connects Microsoft once and chooses channels. Those conversations become files in Train.
Bringing channel conversations into Train is a different feature, on a different card. Sync Microsoft Teams covers that. You can use either one without the other.
Add the Centrus app to Teams
An administrator adds the Centrus app to your organisation's Teams once. Everyone then uses that same app, including people who join later. The steps Centrus shows are under How to Use, in Admin Setup (One-time).
- 1Open Integrations, find Teams Chatbot and click How to Use.
- 2Click Download the Centrus Teams App. The file is saved as centrus-teams-app.zip. The name of the file does not change if your organisation has given the assistant a different name.
- 3In Microsoft Teams, open Apps, then Manage your apps.
- 4Click Upload an app to your organisation's app catalogue and choose the zip.
Download the Centrus Teams App
On How to Use. The file saved is always centrus-teams-app.zip.
Open Manage your apps
In Microsoft Teams: Apps, then Manage your apps.
Upload to the organisation catalogue
Click Upload an app to your organisation's app catalogue, and choose the zip.
The app is named Centrus
People search for Centrus in Teams. The name does not follow a renamed assistant.
Inside the zip the app's name is Centrus. In Teams, search for Centrus. If your organisation has renamed the assistant, How to Use prints that name in the search step, but the installed app is still called Centrus.
If Upload an app is missing, your Teams settings are not allowing a custom app. Someone who manages Microsoft 365 apps for the organisation can upload the zip, or allow custom apps. The Teams screens themselves are shown in Chat on Microsoft Teams.
How to use Microsoft Teams with Centrus
Chat with Centrus directly within Microsoft Teams, just like messaging a colleague.
Admin Setup (One-time)
- Download the Centrus Teams App
- Open Microsoft Teams → Apps → Manage your apps
- Click "Upload an app to your organisation's app catalogue"1
- Select the downloaded zip file
User Setup
- 2Enable the integration above by entering your Microsoft Teams email
- Open Microsoft Teams and search for "Centrus"
- Centrus will ask you to select a tag to set your access level
- After selecting a tag, chat normally as you would in the web app
Features
- Access your organisation's knowledge base
- Same AI capabilities as the web app
- Conversation history maintained per tag
Special commands: Type RESTART CHAT to reset the conversation and select a different tag3
Note: You must enable the integration and link your Microsoft Teams email before you can use the chatbot.
4- 1The catalogue upload. In Teams this choice sits under Upload an app.
- 2Enable the integration means Configure on the card. The button is not labelled Enable.
- 3RESTART CHAT starts the tag list again. It also deletes the Teams conversation.
- 4The note shows only while your card still reads Not Connected.
The window lists Access your organisation's knowledge base, Same AI capabilities as the web app, and Conversation history maintained per tag. A tag chooses which Train documents are searched. User Setup calls that your access level. It is the tag on your user, not a role. A Teams conversation is text, one to one, under one tag at a time.
Link your Teams email
Each person does this once, for themselves. It tells Centrus which Teams address to treat as this Centrus user. You do not need to be an administrator, and you do not wait for anyone else to click Enable.
- 1Open Integrations and click Configure on Teams Chatbot.
- 2In Microsoft Teams Email, enter the address you sign in to Teams with. The box is required.
- 3Click Connect.
Configure Teams Chatbot
Enter your Microsoft Teams email address to link it to your Centrus account. This allows Centrus to recognise you when you message the bot in Teams.
*Microsoft Teams Email
This should be the email address you use to sign into Microsoft Teams.
- 1Microsoft Teams Email. The placeholder, while the box is empty, is you@company.com.
- 2Use the address you sign in to Teams with.
- 3Connect saves the address. You then see Teams chatbot connected successfully!
Centrus checks the box before it saves anything. An empty box shows Please enter your Teams email. A value that is not an email address shows Please enter a valid email address. Either way, nothing is sent until the box passes both checks. The address is then stored in lower case, so Priya.Shah@MeridianFM.co.uk is saved as priya.shah@meridianfm.co.uk. Capitals do not matter when a message arrives.
Empty
Configure Teams Chatbot
Enter your Microsoft Teams email address to link it to your Centrus account. This allows Centrus to recognise you when you message the bot in Teams.
*Microsoft Teams Email
you@company.comPlease enter your Teams email
This should be the email address you use to sign into Microsoft Teams.
Not an email
Configure Teams Chatbot
Enter your Microsoft Teams email address to link it to your Centrus account. This allows Centrus to recognise you when you message the bot in Teams.
*Microsoft Teams Email
priya.shahPlease enter a valid email address
This should be the email address you use to sign into Microsoft Teams.
If saving fails after the address has passed those checks, the window stays open and a notice at the top of the page reads Failed to connect Teams chatbot. The card stays Not Connected. The notice does not say why. Try the address again, and if it still fails, ask whoever looks after Centrus for your organisation.
When it succeeds, the card reads Connected and Connected as: with your address. Configure is replaced by Disconnect. There is no second button for changing the address: to use a different one, disconnect and configure again. That does not delete the Teams conversation.
Get answers without leaving your workflow.
- Fast and secure messaging
- Access from desktop and mobile
- Maintain conversation history
Get answers without leaving your workflow.✓ Connected as: priya.shah@meridianfm.co.uk
- Fast and secure messaging
- Access from desktop and mobile
- Maintain conversation history
Get answers without leaving your workflow.
- Fast and secure messaging
- Access from desktop and mobile
- Maintain conversation history
- 1Before you link an address.
- 2After Connect. The address is shown in lower case.
- 3Failed to connect Teams chatbot. The card does not grow an error badge. It stays Not Connected.
If the address you use in Teams is the same as the address you sign in to Centrus with, Centrus can recognise a message from you even before you click Configure. The card still reads Not Connected until you link it. Linking is the reliable way, and the only way when the two addresses differ.
On a phone the cards sit in one column. Scroll to Teams Chatbot and tap Configure. The form is the same.
Centrus
Connect and manage external services
Send and receive messages through WhatsApp. Connect with Centrus using the WhatsApp number below.
+44 7700 900458
- Fast and secure messaging
- Access from any WhatsApp-enabled device
- Maintain conversation history
Get answers without leaving your workflow.
- Fast and secure messaging
- Access from desktop and mobile
- Maintain conversation history
- 1Tap Configure. The email form is the same as on a large screen.
Send a first message
After the app is in your organisation's Teams and your address is linked, open Teams and search for Centrus. Open that personal chat and send any message, such as Hi. Centrus answers with your tags. Reply with the number, or with the tag name exactly, including capitals.
SearchPSChat
CentrusTag selected: OperationsCentrusAppChatCentrus14:22
Hello
Please select a tag to start chatting.
Reply with the number or tag name:
1. Operations (grouped - 3 sub-tags)
12. SOPs
To change your data tag, type 'RESTART CHAT'.
Centrus14:23
Tag selected: Operations
How can I help you today?
- 1A parent tag is marked grouped, with the number of child tags it holds. Child tags are not listed on their own.
- 2Tag selected: confirms the tag. You can ask a question from here.
A parent tag searches its child tags too. Parent and child tags explains the grouping. The number in the brackets is how many child tags that parent has. In the figure, Operations has three.
The first message that is not a number or an exact tag name gets the Hello list, and a reminder that you can type RESTART CHAT. Another reply that still does not match, within about five minutes, gets Please select a valid tag. and the list again. A tag name has to match exactly, so sops does not select SOPs. The number does not have that problem.
Choosing the tag does not use message credits. The questions you ask after Tag selected: do. What those answers look like, including sources and files, is in Chat on Microsoft Teams.
Using it day to day
Once a tag is chosen, ask in ordinary language. Answers, sources, files, the Teams app on a phone, and reading the same conversation in Chat on the web are all covered in Chat on Microsoft Teams. This card does not add a separate set of tools.
The one command the card tells you about is RESTART CHAT. Teams also offers it as a suggestion in the Centrus chat, described as Reset the conversation and select a different tag. Capitals do not matter. Centrus replies Chat restarted! Please select a tag to start chatting again. and lists your tags. You pick one, as you did the first time.
Suggested in the Centrus chat
RESTART CHAT
Reset the conversation and select a different tag
Centrus replies
Chat restarted! Please select a tag to start chatting again.
Reply with the number or tag name:
- 1The suggestion Teams shows in the Centrus chat. Typing the words yourself does the same thing.
- 2The reply. The tag list follows on the next lines.
RESTART CHAT deletes your Teams conversations with Centrus, including the copy in Chat on the web. It only works after a tag has already been chosen. Before that, Centrus treats the words as a tag name. Copy anything you need before you restart.
Credits
A question you ask after a tag is chosen costs the message credits for your model, the same as a reply on the web. Sending it through Teams does not add a further credit. The Hello list, Tag selected: and RESTART CHAT are not charged. Credits and browser minutes lists the credit cost of each model.
When a reply creates a file, Centrus adds 2 credits on top of the model's message credits. A reply that produces nothing is not charged. If the organisation has used its message allowance, the question is refused before a reply is written.
A question, once a tag is chosen
Your model's message credits
The same charge as a reply on the web.
Sending that reply through Teams
No further credits
The tag list, the confirmation and RESTART CHAT are not charged.
A reply that creates a file
2 more credits
Added on top of the model's message credits.
Limits and good to know
Personal chat only
The Teams app is installed for a one-to-one chat. It is not added to a channel or a group.
One conversation
Centrus keeps a single Teams conversation per person, the one most recently created.
Address in lower case
Capitals in the address do not matter. The card shows the address in lower case.
About 5 minutes
A second reply that is not a tag, within about 5 minutes, is asked again as Please select a valid tag.
- Personal chat only. The app is published for a one-to-one chat. It is not added to a channel or a group chat, and a message with no text gets no reply.
- One Teams conversation per person. Centrus uses the one most recently created. Disconnect does not remove it. RESTART CHAT deletes every Teams conversation on your user.
- The address is stored in lower case, and a message is matched without caring about capitals. Two people should not link the same Teams address. Centrus does not stop you, and it does not warn you.
- There is no tool list and no Settings switch for Teams Chatbot. What you can ask is decided by the tag you chose, and by the integrations and Agent Builder chat tools already on your user, as on the web.
- How to Use can print a renamed assistant in its search step. In Teams the app is still called Centrus. Files, and the lack of a typing indicator, are covered in Chat on Microsoft Teams.
Turn it off
Disconnect removes the link between your Teams address and your Centrus user straight away. There is no confirmation. While it saves, the button reads Disconnecting.... You then see Teams chatbot disconnected, and the card returns to Not Connected with Configure and How to Use.
Get answers without leaving your workflow.✓ Connected as: priya.shah@meridianfm.co.uk
- Fast and secure messaging
- Access from desktop and mobile
- Maintain conversation history
The button reads Disconnecting... while it saves. The conversation in Teams is left as it is.
Get answers without leaving your workflow.
- Fast and secure messaging
- Access from desktop and mobile
- Maintain conversation history
- 1Disconnect removes only your address link. It does not ask you to confirm.
- 2The card returns to Not Connected. The Teams conversation is still there.
If saving the removal fails, the card stays Connected and a notice reads Failed to disconnect Teams chatbot.
Disconnect does not delete the conversation. If your Teams address is also the address you sign in to Centrus with, Centrus can still recognise you after you disconnect, because it falls back to that sign-in address when no link is stored. When the two addresses differ, disconnect is what stops Centrus recognising the Teams address. Removing the Centrus app from Teams is a separate step, done in Teams.
When it does not work
- Please enter your Teams email or Please enter a valid email address, under the box: correct the address and click Connect again. Nothing has been saved.
- Failed to connect Teams chatbot or Failed to disconnect Teams chatbot, at the top of the page: the card has not changed. Try again. The notice does not give a reason.
- I couldn't find your account, followed by your Teams address in brackets: no Centrus user is linked to that address, and it is not a Centrus sign-in address either. Check Connected as: on the card. The address in the reply is the one Teams has for you.
- You don't have any tags, or Chat restarted, but you don't have any tags: your user has no tag Centrus can offer. Child tags are not listed. Ask an administrator to add a tag in Edit users and roles.
- Please select a valid tag. The reply was not a number on the list and not an exact tag name. Send the number.
- No reply at all. A message with no text is ignored. If the organisation has reached its message allowance, Centrus refuses the question with You've reached your messages limit, but that sentence is not sent into Teams, so the chat stays quiet. An administrator can check the allowance on Plan and usage. Other reasons for a missing reply are in Chat on Microsoft Teams.
RESTART CHAT before you have chosen a tag does not restart anything. Centrus reads it as a tag name, and you get the Hello list or Please select a valid tag. Choose a tag first. After that, the command works in any mix of capitals.
Fields and messages
The card has one field, Microsoft Teams Email. Linking it and removing it both apply only to you, and neither needs an administrator. The address is stored in lower case.
| What you see | Where | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Teams Chatbot | Card title | The chat channel. Not a data connection. |
| Not Connected | Grey badge | No address is stored for you. |
| Connected | Green badge | An address is stored for you. |
| Message Centrus through the Microsoft Teams platform. | Description | The first line under the title. |
| Get answers without leaving your workflow. | Description | The second line. On a phone the two lines are one sentence. |
| Connected as: and the address | Green line, once connected | The stored address, in lower case. |
| Fast and secure messaging | Bullet | As written on the card. |
| Access from desktop and mobile | Bullet | The same conversation in the Teams app on either. |
| Maintain conversation history | Bullet | The conversation stays until you send RESTART CHAT. |
| Configure | Filled button, while not connected | Opens Configure Teams Chatbot. Shield icon. |
| How to Use | Outline button | Opens How to use Microsoft Teams with Centrus. |
| Disconnect | Red button, while connected | Removes your link immediately, with no confirmation. |
| Disconnecting... | The Disconnect button while it saves | The button is dimmed until the request finishes. |
| What you see | Where | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Enter your Microsoft Teams email address to link it to your Centrus account. This allows Centrus to recognise you when you message the bot in Teams. | Top of the window | What Connect is for. |
| Microsoft Teams Email | The only field, required | Placeholder you@company.com. |
| Please enter your Teams email | Under the field | The field was empty. Nothing was saved. |
| Please enter a valid email address | Under the field | The value was not an email address. Nothing was saved. |
| This should be the email address you use to sign into Microsoft Teams. | Under the field | Hint. It is not checked against Microsoft. |
| Cancel | Footer | Closes the window without saving. |
| Connect | Footer | Saves the address in lower case when the field checks pass. |
| Teams chatbot connected successfully! | Notice at the top of the page | The card then reads Connected. |
| Failed to connect Teams chatbot | Notice at the top of the page | The window stays open. The card stays Not Connected. No reason is given. |
| Teams chatbot disconnected | Notice at the top of the page | After Disconnect. The card returns to Not Connected. |
| Failed to disconnect Teams chatbot | Notice at the top of the page | The card stays Connected. |
| What you see | Where | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Chat with Centrus directly within Microsoft Teams, just like messaging a colleague. | Opening line | The window title uses your assistant's name, if it has been renamed. The app in Teams is still Centrus. |
| Admin Setup (One-time) | Heading | Upload the app once for the organisation. |
| Download the Centrus Teams App | Step 1, a link | Saves centrus-teams-app.zip. |
| Open Microsoft Teams, then Apps, then Manage your apps | Step 2 | The window prints an arrow between the three. |
| Click "Upload an app to your organisation's app catalogue" | Step 3 | Then choose the zip. That is step 4, Select the downloaded zip file. |
| User Setup | Heading | What each person does. |
| Enable the integration above by entering your Microsoft Teams email | Step 1 | The button on the card is Configure, then Connect. |
| Open Microsoft Teams and search for "Centrus" | Step 2 | Search for Centrus even if this line prints a renamed assistant. |
| Centrus will ask you to select a tag to set your access level | Step 3 | The tag chooses which Train documents are searched. |
| After selecting a tag, chat normally as you would in the web app | Step 4 | See Chat on Microsoft Teams for how a Teams conversation differs. |
| Access your organisation's knowledge base | Features | Documents carrying the tag you chose. |
| Same AI capabilities as the web app | Features | A Teams chat is text, one to one, under one tag. |
| Conversation history maintained per tag | Features | Until RESTART CHAT, which deletes it. |
| Special commands: Type RESTART CHAT to reset the conversation and select a different tag | Under Features | Any mix of capitals. Only after a tag has been chosen. |
| Note: You must enable the integration and link your Microsoft Teams email before you can use the chatbot. | Blue box, while not connected | Hidden once the card reads Connected. |
| Close | Footer | Closes the window. |
| What you see | Where | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| I couldn't find your account. Please make sure you've enabled the Teams chatbot in Centrus and linked your Microsoft email address (and the address). | First reply, when you are not recognised | No link is stored for that address, and it is not a Centrus sign-in address. |
| You don't have any tags | Before a conversation starts | Your user has no tag that can be offered. Child tags are left out. |
| Hello / Please select a tag to start chatting. / Reply with the number or tag name: / then the list / To change your data tag, type 'RESTART CHAT'. | First reply that is not a valid tag | Shown the first time. A parent tag is written as 1. Operations (grouped - 3 sub-tags). One child is written as 1 sub-tag. |
| Please select a valid tag. / Reply with the number or tag name: / then the list | A later reply that still does not match | Within about five minutes of the Hello list. |
| Tag selected: and the tag name / How can I help you today? | After a number or an exact tag name | The conversation starts. Questions from here use message credits. |
| Chat restarted! Please select a tag to start chatting again. / Reply with the number or tag name: / then the list | After RESTART CHAT | Deletes every Teams conversation on your user, including the copy on the web. |
| Chat restarted, but you don't have any tags | After RESTART CHAT, if you have no tag | The conversations are already deleted. |
| You've reached your messages limit | Not shown in Teams | Refuses the question when the allowance is used up. In Teams you get no reply. Check Plan and usage. |
| Action | What it does | Who can do it |
|---|---|---|
| Link your Teams email | Stores your Teams address in lower case against your Centrus user. | Anyone signed in, for themselves. |
| Remove the link | Deletes that link. Does not delete the Teams conversation. | Anyone signed in, for themselves. |
There is no organisation-wide setting, and no list of tools.