AI Agents and Assistants
What is an AI agent? A plain-English guide for business owners
What an AI agent is, how it works, where it helps a small business, the risks, and a 7-point check to see if you are ready for one.
AI Features & Bots
AI Microsoft Teams Bot
Your team gets answers inside Microsoft Teams, in channels and chats, formatted as cards they can act on without switching apps.
If your organization runs on Microsoft Teams, that is where people should find answers. This bot is installed as a Teams app and replies in channels and chats with clear Adaptive Cards, using only the documents and rules you approve. It can run simple actions and hands harder questions to a person. Your IT admin approves it like any other Teams app.
- Answers in Teams channels and chats with clear Adaptive Cards
- Uses only the documents and rules you approve
- Installed through your admin center like any Teams app
$2,500
20–30 working days
Optional maintenance $249/mo
What it is
AI Microsoft Teams Bot answers questions and runs simple actions inside Microsoft Teams, installed as a Teams app that responds in channels, chats and formatted Adaptive Cards, using the documents and rules you approve. Your IT admin approves it like any other Teams app.
Why businesses buy it
Staff in Microsoft 365 organizations ask the same questions in Teams every day, and answers are scattered across SharePoint, email and people's memories. That slows everyone down and burdens the experts. A bot inside Teams gives consistent answers where work already happens, with a clear handoff when a person is needed. The written scope sets the knowledge, intents, approval steps and testing before you order, which makes the IT and security review straightforward.
Problems this solves
Staff post the same how-to questions in Teams channels each week
The bot answers in channels and chats from the documents and rules you approve. Replies can use formatted Adaptive Cards, so steps and links are easy to read.
IT will not allow tools that skip the normal app approval
The bot is installed as a Teams app that your IT admin approves like any other. Your admin keeps the usual control over who can install and use it.
Unanswered questions sit in a channel with no owner
When the bot cannot answer, it hands off to a person through the agreed route, such as email or helpdesk. Forty documented test questions with pass/fail results are run before launch.
A good fit if
Your organization runs on Microsoft 365 and Teams, with content already living in SharePoint or shared Teams channels.
You want answers to appear inside the Teams app your staff already have open, not a separate tool or browser tab.
You want responses formatted as cards people can read and act on directly, not plain text buried in a chat.
You need this installed and approved through your Teams admin center, not a personal workaround.
Not the right fit if
Your team works in Slack, not Microsoft Teams. See AI Slack Bot, built for Slack's own mechanics.
You need this answering customers on your public website, not staff in Teams. See AI Website Chatbot.
You want an assistant reachable outside Teams too, such as an internal web portal. See AI Custom Team Assistant.
You need it to write data back into another business system, not just answer and hand off. See AI Feature Integration.
How it works
- We load the bot with your documents and SharePoint or Teams content, up to 100 documents or 200 pages, so its answers come only from material you approve.
- The bot is packaged and installed as a Teams app through your admin center, available in the channels and chats you choose.
- Up to five intents are built, such as a policy lookup or a status check, with replies formatted as Adaptive Cards where a card reads better than plain text.
- Staff reach it by @mentioning it in a channel or messaging it directly, and it responds inside the same Teams conversation rather than redirecting elsewhere.
- Where a request needs a person, the bot hands off by tagging the teammate or channel you named, keeping the handoff inside Teams.
- 40 documented test questions, written from how your organization actually uses Teams, are run and checked pass or fail before launch.
What you provide within 72 hours
Your portal lists these the moment you order. Delivery starts the working day after everything is in and your access is checked.
- The documents, SharePoint pages or Teams content the bot should learn from.
- Your top 20 questions your organization asks in Teams today, with the answers you want used.
- Admin center access to package and approve the bot as a Teams app.
- The channel, teammate or role the bot should hand off to when a question needs a person.
- Your organization name and branding preferences for the bot's app tile.
- Admin access and API keys for every connected system, shared by adding our team as a user or creating a key you control, never by email.
- One decision-maker who can approve the answers and the finished bot.
- An API key for your own AI model account (for example OpenAI or Google Gemini), created for this build with a spending limit.
The 72-hour rule. Send everything on your checklist, including access, within 72 hours of ordering so your build starts on time.
Timeline
Start
Intake reviewed and your top questions, intents and handoff rules confirmed.
Weeks 1–2
The bot is loaded with your documents and the five intents built.
Week 3
The bot is packaged as a Teams app, submitted through your admin center, and the handoff routing connected.
Weeks 3–4
40 documented test questions run inside Teams, with pass or fail results sent to you.
Week 4
Your review and two rounds of changes to answers, card formatting or handoff rules.
Go-live
Live across your chosen channels and chats, recorded handoff session held, support starts.
| Option | Delivery time | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Standard | 20–30 working days | $2,500 |
| Express | 15–25 working days | $2,950 |
| Rush | 10–20 working days | $3,400 |
What you receive at handover
- The AI Microsoft Teams bot, installed as a Teams app in your tenant
- Prompt and guardrail configuration for up to five intents plus human handoff
- One handoff connection, such as email or your helpdesk
- A test report with forty documented test questions and pass/fail results
- An admin guide and the recorded 60-minute handoff session
- 30 days of post-launch support
Expected benefits and how to measure them
- Can reduce repeat questions in Teams channels
- Helps IT add AI help through the approval process it already uses
- Makes answers easier to scan with formatted cards
- Repeat questions in channels
- Count repeat how-to posts in chosen channels for two weeks before launch. Repeat the count a month after launch.
- Bot conversations per week
- Take weekly totals from the bot's logs and watch how usage grows.
- Handoff rate
- Divide handoffs by total bot conversations each week to find content gaps.
Before you start: Choose the channels the bot will cover and count questions there for two weeks. Note who answers them today.
These are things to track, not promised results. Outcomes depend on your data, your team and your market.
Running costs
The build itself is a one-time payment, shown before you buy. Running it typically costs ~$30–150 a month for AI model usage and hosting, billed in your own accounts, on top of your existing Microsoft 365 plan. An organization with a few dozen active users usually sits mid-range.
AI usage during build and testing is billed the same way, so your Microsoft 365 and AI accounts stay in your name.
Ask about running costsCustom requirements
Need more than 100 documents, a second channel, or more than five intents? Add a note at checkout for a written Change Quote, without affecting your original delivery date. Larger or bespoke projects go through the Custom AI request form instead.
Request a custom versionKeep it running
Optional monthly maintenance covers monitoring, fixes, model and platform updates, a monthly health report and monthly change hours for new SharePoint content, an added intent or updated card layouts. The allowance scales with the build. It starts after the included support period and can be cancelled any month.
$249/mo (the minimum fee, includes 2 change hours)
Optional. Starts after the post-launch support period. Cancel any month.
How maintenance worksHow this compares
| Do it yourself with a SaaS tool | Hire a custom agency | Upmark Labs | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | A Teams app from the store charges monthly per active user | An agency quotes after discovery calls | Ours is one fixed price, shown before you buy |
| Approval | A store app still needs your admin center approval and configuration | An agency build depends on what was agreed | Ours is packaged and submitted for your admin center as part of the build |
| Answers | A generic app answers from a broad, unfiltered knowledge base | An agency build depends on what was agreed | Ours only answers from the documents you approve |
| Delivery | An app installs quickly but still needs content loaded and tuned | An agency usually takes several weeks, set per project | Ours has a fixed delivery time shown before you buy, with faster options |
| Testing | An app ships untested until your organization hits the gaps | An agency build depends on what was agreed | Ours is checked against 40 documented test questions first |
Questions about this product
What does the AI Microsoft Teams Bot price include?
One fixed price covers the build on the Scope Card: loading your documents, building up to five intents, packaging the bot as a Teams app, running 40 documented test questions and a recorded 60-minute handoff. The price is shown before you order, and the scope is written down so it does not grow quietly.
What does the Teams bot cost to run each month?
Typically $30 to $150 a month for AI model usage and hosting, billed in your own accounts, separate from your existing Microsoft 365 subscription. An organization with a few dozen active users usually lands mid-range, with every charge on your own bill.
How long until the bot is live in Microsoft Teams?
The delivery time for standard, Express and Rush is shown in the price panel before you order. Delivery runs from a complete intake, so it depends on receiving admin center access, your documents and sample questions within 72 hours of ordering. Late information adds time.
Does the Teams bot need approval from our IT admin?
Yes. It is packaged as a Teams app and submitted through your admin center for approval before it can appear in channels and chats, which is standard for any custom Teams app. That packaging and submission are included in the build, and we walk your admin through the steps.
Can we add new content or intents after launch?
Yes. Two rounds of changes are included before launch, and later updates, such as new SharePoint content or an added intent, fit inside the monthly change hours included with maintenance. A second channel is quoted separately as an add-on. Maintenance also covers updated card layouts and a monthly health report, and can be cancelled any month.
Does the bot reply differently in a channel than in a direct chat?
It can. Replies are formatted as Adaptive Cards where that reads better, such as a status lookup with several fields laid out clearly, and as plain text for a quick answer, matching how your organization actually uses channels versus one-to-one chats day to day.
What happens when the Teams bot cannot answer a question?
It says so and tags the teammate or channel you named during intake for handoff, staying inside the same Teams conversation rather than redirecting to another tool entirely. Those logged, unanswered questions also show exactly what to add to the bot's knowledge base next.
Guides on this topic
All guides Get answers where your organization already works, inside Teams.
Order AI Microsoft Teams Bot and your organization starts getting answers inside its own channels and chats, from approved content, with a clear handoff to people.
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