Deploying Box for Teams in your Enterprise

With the Box for Microsoft Teams integration, your organization can use the content stored in Box through the familiar interface of Microsoft Teams.  People can share and access content stored in Box directly from within Microsoft Teams – without flipping back and forth between programs.  This streamlines administration, saves workers time, and facilitates team collaboration. 

The Box for Teams integration enables automatic creation of a Box folder for each Team and Channel.  All content shared via Teams resides in this Box folder.  In addition, content permissions are mapped between Box and Teams automatically.  This means people cannot access shared content unless they have permission to do so AND belong to the Channel in which it was shared.

You can enable Box for Teams for your entire organization via your Box Admin Console.  Also, when you install this integration, Box provides you with several security settings that control how Box for Teams behaves, and that significantly reduce the amount of manual work required to get started. 

Broadly, there are 4 procedures to follow when you deploy the Box for Teams integration in your enterprise:

1. Give API Consent for Box and Microsoft to share data
2. Configure Microsoft 365 Permissions
3. Authorize Microsoft in the Box Admin Console
4. Add the Box application to your Teams

You must complete all 4 procedures.

Below we provide context for each procedure, and then break each down into its individual steps.

 

Before you begin:

Copy this Microsoft Teams Application ID and store it wherever it is convenient.  You will need this ID in Step 3:  

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Step One: Give API Consent for Box and Microsoft to share data

• What this is:  For Microsoft to give consent to Box to call the Microsoft Graph API.
• Who must do this:  Microsoft Azure Administrator.
• What this does:  Enables Box to receive and send API calls to Microsoft.  It enables features such as automatic folder creation and permission mapping.

To do this:

1. Log in to your Azure portal as an administrator.
2. Grant Box permissions to your Microsoft Tenant by logging onto microsoft.com and clicking Accept.

 

Step Two: Configure Microsoft 365 Permissions

• What this is:  Sets up permissions to allow Teams users to install 3^rd-party applications. (You may have to whitelist Box for Teams.)
• Who must do this:  Microsoft 365 Administrator.
• What this does:  Gives people access to Box for Teams as an option.

To do this:

1. Log in to the Microsoft Admin Portal.
2. Navigate to the Microsoft Teams Admin Center.  To do this, from the lefthand navigation pane, go to Admin Centers > Teams.  (You may also need to click Show All.)

3. From the Teams Admin Center lefthand navigation, go to Teams apps > Permission Policies.

4. Click Org-wide app settings to display the Org-wide app settings pane. 
5. In the Third party apps section, verify that Allow third party or custom apps is on.  Then click Save.
• If this setting is off, click to move the slider to the right. 

Step Three: Authorize Microsoft in the Box Admin Console

• What this is:  Authorizes your Microsoft tenant with Box.
• Who must do this:  Box Administrator.
• What this does:  Enables communication between your specific Microsoft Teams tenant and Box; allows for automatic folder creation and user permission mapping. 

To do this:

1. Ensure you have completed the first two sets of procedures.  You will also need to revisit the Microsoft Teams Application ID you stored before you began.
2. From the Box Admin Console, click Apps.  When the Apps screen displays, click the Custom Apps tab. 
3. In the Custom Apps screen, click Authorize New App.  The App Authorization window displays.
4. In the Client ID box, paste in the Microsoft Teams Application ID you stored earlier.  
   •  For reference, here it is, again:  nqq9pg38gpjntlvce1toixicuc91sxyw
5. Click Next.  Then click Authorize.  The Custom Apps screen redisplays.  Box for Microsoft Teams now displays in the list of apps.
6. From your Admin Console, in the lefthand navigation, click Apps.  When the Box Apps screen displays, scroll down to Individual Application Controls, clear the search filter and then search for Microsoft Teams.

Note

The search filter displays immediately to the right of the search box.  If the filter displays filter applied, click Clear Filters.

7. Verify the Teams status is Available. If it’s disabled, under the Status column, click the corresponding down arrow and then click Available.
8. Hover over the Teams row to display the Configure button.  Then click Configure.  The Configure Box for Microsoft Teams window opens.

9. In the Microsoft 365 Tenant ID box, paste your unique Microsoft 365 Tenant ID.  To retrieve this ID:
   1. Log in to the Microsoft Azure portal as a Global or User Management Admin.
   2. Navigate to Azure Active Directory.
   3. In the lefthand navigation, click Manage.  Then click Properties. 
      • The Microsoft Tenant ID displays in the Directory ID box.
      • Verify you have completed Step Two, above.  If you have not yet done so, Box cannot process your tenant ID. 
10. Decide whether you want Teams to display a thumbnail image of the file being shared.  
• If you want thumbnail images to display, to the right of Enable Document Thumbnails, click the slider to move it to the right.
• If you preserve the default setting of Off, Teams displays generic file type icons instead of thumbnail images
11. Decide whether to permit all channel members to view file information.
• When someone shares a file or folder in a Channel or direct message, members view either a content card displaying information about the shared file, or a generic link icon.  Whether they view a content card or a generic icon depends on this configuration.  To display information about the file only to channel or message members who ALSO have permission to view the actual content, next to Enable permission check before showing file/folder name and file type, click the slider to move it to the right.  In other words, you can view the content card information only if:
  • you are logged into Box
  • you have access to the file
  • the Box permission check is on
• Channel/message members who do not have permission to access the file see only a generic link icon.
• If you preserve the default setting of Off, everyone in the Channel can view the full content card. However, they still cannot access the content, itself, unless they have permission in Box to do so.
12. Configure the Box for Teams admin and security settings.  See Step 4, below.
13. Click Save.

 

Step Four: Add the Box Application to your Teams

• What this is:  Deploys the Box for Teams integration to a Team and associated channels.  People can now add the Box application to their Teams and begin using it.
• Who must do this:  Team owner in Microsoft Teams.
• What this does:  Allows all channels and users within the Team to access the Box for Teams integration functionality.

To do this:

1. From your Teams application, in the lefthand navigation click Apps.
2. Search for Box.
3. Click either:
• Add to a Team
• Add to a Chat
4. Locate the Team or Chat to which you want to add the app.  Then click Set up a bot.
5. When the app is installed, Team members have access to the Box integration.

 

Important -- To Avoid Confusion

When Box displays in your Apps search, do not click Open.  Instead, click the adjacent down arrow and then click add Box to a Team.  When Box is added to a Team, it begins working automatically for Team chats.  

After you add Box to a Team, do not click Setup. Instead, click the adjacent down arrow and then click Set up a bot.  After a brief delay, the Box files tab displays at the top of the Teams interface.  

 

Note

People can pin the app to the app bar for easier access. (Instructions for pinning the app are in Using the Box for Teams integration.)  When one member of a Channel does this, the Box Files tab becomes available for all Channel members.  However, you cannot add the Box Files tab to a chat.

 

Important

This is a third-party integration and Box is not responsible for security, availability, or confidentiality of the information.

 

What do people in your organization see?

If you have fully installed the Box for Teams integration, individuals in your organization receive the following:

• a welcome message explaining basic functionality.
• a Box icon in their message extension tray for uploading / sharing of files.
• a Box Files tab for access to all content associated with the specific Team Channel to which it belongs.

If you have not fully installed the integration directly to your Teams and Channel, then people must click the ellipsis (…) to view the application tray icons, and then click Box.

Then, when they click Box, Box prompts them to sign in.

 

Important

This integration is centrally deployed.  When you install the integration on your first Team, it's installed on all Teams.  Individuals who want to add Box to another channel can do so from the system tray beneath the message interface, by clicking Box.  From there they simply follow the prompts.  They do not need to return to the App store, and they need no additional involvement from a Box admin.  When just one Channel member adds Box, Box automatically becomes available to every other Channel member.

 

Related Links

Introducing Box for Microsoft Teams

Comparing the First and Second Versions of Box for Teams

Using Box for Teams

Logging in to Box for Teams for the First Time

Understanding how Content and Thumbnail Permissions Control Display

Box for Teams FAQ

Box for Microsoft Teams - Earlier Version