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The Athena app for Microsoft Teams puts your organization’s Athena agents into Teams chats and channels. Connect a conversation to an agent once, then @mention Athena with a question. The agent answers in the same thread, using the data, tools and permissions it has in Athena. Every conversation is saved in Athena, so you can continue it there.
This page covers the Athena bot for Teams. To read and send Teams messages from an Athena session instead, see Connect Microsoft Teams to Athena.

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Requirements

  • Your company uses Athena Intelligence. New to Athena? Request access.
  • To get answers, you need an Athena account that can use the connected agent. Athena matches you by your work email (see Who gets answers).
  • To connect a chat or channel, you need to be an owner or manager of the Athena workspace the agent belongs to.
  • A Teams admin installs the app once for your organization.

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Step 1: Install the app (Teams admin, once)

1

Get the app

Search for Athena in the Teams admin center under Teams apps → Manage apps and allow it. If Athena isn’t listed for your organization, download the app package from any collab agent in Athena (Microsoft Teams → Download Teams app) and upload it under Teams apps → Manage apps → Upload new app.
2

Make it available

Check that your app permission policies let the people who will use Athena install it. Optionally pin it with an app setup policy.

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Step 2: Add Athena to a conversation

  • Channel: open the team, select + or Apps → Add to a team, pick Athena and choose the channel.
  • Group chat: open the chat, select Apps (or +) and add Athena.
  • Personal chat: open Apps, find Athena and select Add.
Athena posts a welcome card that explains what it does and has a Connect to Athena button.

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Step 3: Connect the conversation to an agent

1

Open the connect link

An owner or manager of an Athena workspace selects Connect to Athena. The link works for 7 days. Type help in the conversation at any time to get a fresh one.
2

Sign in and choose the agent

Sign in to Athena, pick the agent that should answer in this conversation and confirm. You only see agents in workspaces where you are an owner or manager.
3

Start asking

Athena posts a confirmation naming the agent. In a channel or group chat, @mention Athena with your question. In a personal chat, send the question.
Each conversation answers with one agent. To switch agents or disconnect, open the agent in Athena, go to Microsoft Teams, and disconnect the conversation; then connect it again from Teams.

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Using Athena

Athena shows a typing indicator while the agent works, then edits its reply into the answer. The first answer in a thread links to the conversation in Athena.

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Who gets answers

Athena answers only people whose Athena account can use the connected agent. It looks up each sender’s work email from Teams and matches it to an Athena account:
  • For members of your organization, the email (or sign-in name) must be on a domain your Microsoft Entra tenant has verified.
  • Guests are not matched to Athena accounts because the host organization can edit their email and sign-in name to claim someone else’s address.
Someone without a matching account gets a short note on how to request access. Someone who is in the agent’s workspace but can’t use this agent gets a link to request access to it.

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AI-generated answers

Answers are generated by AI and can be wrong. Teams labels each answer AI generated. Use the thumbs up or thumbs down on an answer to tell us how it did. A thumbs down with a comment goes to the Athena team for review.

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Data and privacy

  • Athena receives only the messages that @mention it in chats and channels, and every message in a personal chat with it.
  • It sees the names of files attached to a message, not their contents.
  • Messages and answers are stored in Athena as the agent’s conversation, under your organization’s Athena data controls.
  • See the Athena privacy policy and terms of service.

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Troubleshooting

No agent is connected yet. Ask an owner or manager of the Athena workspace to use the Connect to Athena button, or type help for a new link.
Your Teams email didn’t match an Athena account that can use this agent. Check that you sign in to Athena with your work email, then ask the agent’s workspace owner for access.
In channels and group chats Athena only sees messages that @mention it. Make sure the mention resolves to the Athena app.
Your Teams admin needs to install or allow the app (Step 1).

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Support

Email support@athenaintel.com with the Teams conversation name and the time of the message.