The Firstup MS Teams app offers two types of integrations: the tab app experience and topic-to-channel mapping. The tab app experience lets you access the Firstup web experience within MS Teams, so you can interact with your community without leaving Teams. This is particularly useful for mobile users who want to avoid opening another app to access the member experience.

Topic-to-channel mapping automatically shares content from your Firstup topics to your MS Teams channels. It notifies users about new content that is specifically relevant to them.

Note: The total character count displayed for a description of a post in Teams is 188 characters, including the first and last names. 

You can use the tab app experience and topic-to-channel mapping integrations separately or together.

To integrate Firstup with the MS Teams tab app experience, refer to Integrate Firstup with MS Teams - Tab App Experience.

Note: GCC High versions of Microsoft are not supported with the Firstup integration. 

Install and Configure Topic-to-Channel Mapping

To complete these instructions you must have access to Microsoft Teams, an active community with Firstup, a contract with Firstup for this premium feature, and have a Classic Studio role of Program Manager higher. Note that consumers of the content via this mapping do not need any particular role or permission.

1. In Studio, create at least one topic that you would like to have replicated in Teams. The topics may be visible or hidden.
2. In Teams, create at least one channel that you would like to be able to send content to. 
3. Install the app corresponding to the region in which you have your Firstup community hosted.
   US: https://appsource.microsoft.com/en-us/product/teams-app/WA200001318
   EU: https://appsource.microsoft.com/en-us/product/teams-app/WA200005212
   We recommend the same person creates the channel and installs the app to avoid permission issues. 
4. Feel free to customize the branding of the app.
5. Once the Firstup team has confirmed that MS Teams topic-to-channel mapping has been enabled for your community, you can then follow these steps to add topic-to-channel mapping to each team that includes a channel that you want to link to a Firstup topic.
   
   This can be accomplished in two ways:
   
   
   • Click Add to a team.
     
     
     
     Navigate to the channel you added topic-to-channel mapping to and click the Setup link in the welcome message.
     
     
     
     OR
     
     
   • Navigate to the channel you want to link to Firstup and type @firstup Setup in the conversation field. (Substitute the name of your branded app if you have customized it.)
     
     
     
     

6. Sign in with your Firstup credentials.
   
   
   
   

7. Choose your mappings.
   
   1. Selecting Configure will give you the ability to link any Teams channel that you have access to with any Firstup topic that you have access to.
      
      Note: Only Standard type Teams channels (open) are supported. We do not currently support mapping to Private or Shared channel types. 
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
   2. Click Add and repeat to add as many mappings as needed.
   3. If there are mappings already configured, you will be able to view these mappings and remove any that are no longer needed.
      
      
      
      
   4. Once finished, you MUST click Complete to save and activate the mappings. Your changes will take effect immediately. To revert all your changes, simply close the mapping screen.
      
      

What Does Content Look Like in Teams?

Once configured, when content is published in Studio to a topic that is connected to a Teams channel, the content will appear in the Teams channel as well.

Troubleshooting

Installing the App in MS Teams Channels

If you’re trying to add a custom app (like a bot) to an Org-Wide or Public MS Teams channel and it’s not working, the issue may be due to permissions.

Key Points About Roles and Permissions

• Teams have three relevant roles in this context: Creator, Owner, and Member.

• The Add, edit, or remove apps permission controls whether apps can be installed in a channel.

When the Apps Permission is Disabled:

• Creator: Can install the custom app.

• Owners & Members: Cannot install the custom app.

When the Permission is Enabled:

• Creator: Can install the custom app.

• Members: Can install the custom app.

• Owners: Cannot install the custom app (even with permission enabled).

Recommended Actions

1. Creator Installation – Have the channel creator install the app to avoid role/permission conflicts.

2. Temporary Permission Change – If the creator is unavailable, temporarily enable Add, edit, or remove apps to allow a member to install. Once installed and connected to Firstup, the permission can be safely disabled again.

Note: Once the app is installed and configured, it will continue to function even if the permission is turned off afterward.