Ask Vista in Microsoft Teams: get answers from Vista Social without leaving Teams – Vista Social

Ask Vista in Microsoft Teams lets anyone on your team mention @Vista in a Teams channel, or chat with it one on one, and get an answer from Vista Social right in the conversation.

It is the same Ask Vista you use inside Vista Social, with the same data and tools. It answers as the person who asked, so everyone sees only what their own Vista Social account can see.

What you can do with it

Get performance answers in the conversation. "How did our Instagram posts do last week?" or "Which LinkedIn post got the most engagement this month?"
Check what is coming up. "What is scheduled for Acme tomorrow?" or "Are there any posts waiting for approval?"
Draft content with the thread as context. Paste a brief or a product update, then ask "@Vista write three LinkedIn posts from this."
Answer product questions for your team. Connect a knowledge base to a channel and Vista answers from your own docs, guidelines, and FAQs.
Keep one channel per client. Point a client channel at that client's profile group and knowledge base, and every answer there starts from the right brand.

Before you start

Your Vista Social plan needs the Premium integrations add-on. Without it, the Microsoft Teams card shows in the upgrade section of the Integrations page.
Only Vista Social account admins can connect Microsoft Teams, manage users and channels, reconnect, or disconnect it.
You sign in with a Microsoft work or school account. Personal Microsoft accounts are not supported.
Depending on your organization's Teams settings, a Microsoft 365 admin may need to allow the Vista Social app.
Each person who uses Vista needs a Vista Social user on your account. Answers use your account's AI credits, the same as Ask Vista in Vista Social.

Step 1: Connect your Microsoft 365 organization

In Vista Social, go to Settings → Integrations.
Find the Microsoft Teams card and click Connect.
You are taken to Microsoft. Sign in with the work account you use for Teams.
You are sent to a confirmation page, and the Microsoft Teams card in Vista Social shows a green Connected badge. Hover over it to see which organization is connected.

Step 2: Add Vista to a team

On the confirmation page, click Open Vista in Teams. You can also get there later from the three-dot menu on the Microsoft Teams card: choose Add to a team.
In Teams, click Add to a team, pick the team, and choose a channel.
Vista posts a short welcome message in that channel.

Vista can answer in every channel of a team it has been added to. Repeat these steps for each team where you want to use it.

If Teams says the app is blocked, ask your Microsoft 365 admin to allow Vista Social in the Teams admin center.

Step 3: Ask Vista a question

In a channel, mention @Vista with your question, for example:

@Vista how did our Facebook posts perform last week?

Here is what happens next:

A "Thinking…" reply appears in the thread, and it turns into the answer when it is ready.
To follow up, just reply in the same thread. While it is only you and Vista in the thread, you do not need to mention @Vista again. Once someone else joins the thread, mention @Vista to ask it something.
Vista reads the earlier messages in the thread, so you do not need to repeat yourself. Each new thread starts a new conversation.
Send @Vista help to see examples of what you can ask.

Conversations started in Teams also show up in your Ask Vista chat list in Vista Social, marked with a Teams icon, so you can pick them up there.

Chat with Vista one on one

You can also message Vista directly. In Teams, open Apps, find Vista Social, and click Add (or Open if it is already added). Vista answers every message in that chat, with no @mention needed. Only you can see that conversation.

How Vista knows who you are

Vista matches the email on your Microsoft account to your Vista Social user. It then answers with your own access: the profiles you can see, the actions you are allowed to take, and your role. Two teammates can ask the same question in the same channel and get different answers if they have access to different profiles.

If someone's Microsoft email is different from their Vista Social email, an admin can match them by hand:

On the Microsoft Teams card in Settings → Integrations, click the three-dot menu.
Choose Manage users.
Find the person in the list and pick their Vista Social user.

People without a Vista Social user on your account get a reply explaining why Vista cannot help them, instead of an answer.

Set up a channel for a client or a team

Each channel can have its own settings. On the Microsoft Teams card, click the three-dot menu and choose Manage channels. You will see the channels of every team Vista has been added to. Expand a channel to change:

Ignore mentions in this channel. Vista stays in the team but stops answering in this channel. Your other settings are kept and apply again when you turn it back on.
Channel instructions. Guidance added to every answer in this channel, for everyone. For example: "Keep answers short, and always mention which profile the numbers came from."
Skill. An Ask Vista skill that runs on every message in the channel, such as your brand voice or a reporting format.
Profile group. New conversations in the channel start focused on this group's profiles, so "how did we do last week?" means that client without anyone naming them. Teammates outside the group get answers across the profiles they can access.
Knowledge. A knowledge base from the channel's profile group. It is searched on every mention, and the best matches go into the answer. Select a profile group first to choose its knowledge.

Click Save when you are done.

Tips for good answers

Name the profile, network, and time range when a channel is not tied to a profile group: "Instagram for Acme, last 30 days".
Use one thread per topic. Vista reads the thread for context, so a fresh thread gives a fresh start.
Answer choices by number. When Vista offers a list of options, reply in the thread with the number.
Open charts in Vista Social. Charts are not shown in Teams. Open the conversation from your Ask Vista chat list to see them.

Disconnecting Microsoft Teams

To disconnect, open the three-dot menu on the Microsoft Teams card and click Disconnect. Vista stops answering for everyone in your organization, and any user matches and channel settings you set up are deleted. The app stays in your teams until someone removes it in Teams.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Why does Vista not answer my mention?

A: Check that Vista has been added to the team, and that the channel is not set to Ignore mentions in this channel in Manage channels.

Q: Vista says it could not find a Vista Social user with my Microsoft email. What do I do?

A: Your Microsoft email does not match your Vista Social email. Ask an admin to match you in Manage users.

Q: Vista says this team is not connected to Vista Social yet. What does that mean?

A: The app was added in Teams, but no one has connected your organization in Vista Social. A Vista Social account admin can connect it under Settings → Integrations → Microsoft Teams.

Q: Vista says Microsoft Teams is not on our plan. What does that mean?

A: The Premium integrations add-on is not active on your account. An account admin can add it.

Q: Why is a channel missing from Manage channels?

A: The list only shows channels in teams Vista has been added to. Add it to the team first, then reopen the list.

Need help?

Reach out to our support team, and we are happy to help.

Related Reading:

Ask Vista in Slack

Getting started with Ask Vista

How to add connectors to Ask Vista

How to track your AI usage and credits