Last updated: 22nd May 2025
Viva Connections is part of the Microsoft Viva employee experience platform, alongside apps like Viva Engage, Viva Goals and Viva Amplify.
We take a closer look at what Viva Connections is, how to access it, key features, and how much it costs.
Jump to:
- What is Viva Connections?
- Where to Access Viva Connections?
- Viva Connections Key Features
- How Much Does Viva Connections Cost?
- How We Can Help
What is Viva Connections?
Viva Connections is part of Microsoft Viva — Microsoft’s employee experience platform. Think of it as your organisation’s branded digital front door: a central hub where employees can access everything they need to start their day. From company news and conversations to documents, apps, and resources, Viva Connections brings it all together in one personalised, easy-to-use experience.
In Microsoft’s words, it’s
“a gateway to other Viva apps and services with the ability to curate specific content and tools by providing easy access to resources, tools, relevant news, announcements, and popular destinations.”
In practice, that means an employee might clock in for their shift, check the lunch menu, catch up on company news, book annual leave, view their daily tasks, or access HR systems — all without leaving the platform. It’s a single, streamlined entry point tailored to each person’s role, location, and device.
A Personalised Experience
Viva Connections adapts to each user. News and updates are relevant to their team or department, while dashboard cards can surface things like task lists, quick links, or company-wide announcements. Resources are smartly filtered so the most useful tools and information are always front and centre — whether someone is at their desk, in the field, or on the go.
Built on SharePoint — or Not
It’s built on SharePoint at its core, but you’re not locked in. Viva Connections can pull in content from your existing SharePoint intranet, or be set up as a stand-alone experience. It’s flexible enough to suit your current setup, whatever that looks like.
Tailored for Different Teams
If you’ve got multiple brands, locations, or a large frontline workforce, Viva Connections can support different experiences for each group. That could mean custom homepages for sub-brands, dashboards tailored for field teams, or different content streams for office-based versus mobile staff — all managed centrally but experienced locally.
On Demand: Demystifying Microsoft Viva
Catch up on our on-demand webinar. Focusing only on the apps that IC need to know: Connections, Engage, Amplify and Goals.
Where to Access Viva Connections
Viva Connections lives inside Microsoft Teams as a customisable app. You can rename it, choose your own icon, and brand it in line with your intranet or internal comms hub — making it feel like a familiar, integrated part of your digital workplace.
Admins can pin the app to the Teams sidebar so it’s always visible for all employees. If not pinned automatically, users can find it themselves via the ‘Apps’ button in Teams, search for Viva Connections, and pin it manually.
For frontline and mobile workers, the Teams mobile app is the best way to access Viva Connections on the go. There’s currently no separate standalone app — but the experience is fully optimised for mobile inside Teams.
You can also access it in the browser: head to microsoft365.com, select ‘Apps’, and search for Viva Connections.
Viva Connections Key Features
Viva Connections is built around three core components: the Feed, the Dashboard, and Resources. But before we explore those, it’s important to understand the two ways you can get started — either with a stand-alone experience or by connecting to your existing SharePoint intranet.
Getting Started: Two Setup Options
Viva Connections is flexible by design, giving you options that suit where you are in your digital workplace journey. Whether you’re building from the ground up or enhancing what you already have, there’s a setup to match your goals.
Stand-Alone Experience (Viva Connections Home)
This option gives you a clean slate. You can populate it with your own content—news, links, dashboards—without needing an existing SharePoint intranet. It’s ideal for smaller organisations or those using non-Microsoft intranet platforms. You can always connect SharePoint later as your needs grow.
SharePoint-Based Experience
If you already have a SharePoint intranet, this option extends it into Microsoft Teams. Your existing branding, navigation, and content are automatically integrated, making your intranet easily accessible in the flow of work—especially useful for frontline and mobile workers.
The Viva Connections Experience
When employees open Viva Connections, they’re greeted with a personalised homepage that typically includes:
- A friendly welcome message based on time of day
- A Spotlight section featuring up to 11 news items from SharePoint or external links, with pinning options for important updates
- Announcement notifications for timely, targeted messages
From this homepage, employees can navigate to the core components: the Feed, the Dashboard, and Resources.
Viva Connections Feed: Personalised Updates in Real Time
The Viva Connections Feed delivers personalised updates based on each employee’s role, activity, and preferences. It includes:
- For You – Tailored content like tagged documents, recent activity, and mentions
- Stay on Top – Updates on projects and collaborative tasks
- Meeting Insights – Pre- and post-meeting content and summaries
- My Network – Quick insights into your colleagues’ availability and updates
- News – Relevant stories from across the organisation
Content is audience-targeted, ensuring everyone sees what matters most to them.
Viva Connections Dashboard: Your Digital Toolkit
The Viva Connections Dashboard is designed to help employees get things done quickly. It’s made up of interactive cards that surface key tools, information, and tasks—right in the flow of work. Think of it as a personalised control panel for your day.
Some of the most useful and engaging cards include:
- Approvals – Submit or review requests like annual leave or expenses, all from within Teams.
- Shifts – Perfect for frontline staff, this card lets employees view schedules, clock in and out, and manage their time on the go.
- Viva Learning – Surfacing recommended or required training, it makes professional development part of the daily workflow.
- People Card – Quickly find colleagues, view contact details, and jump straight into a chat or email—ideal for staying connected in hybrid teams.
- Events Card – Promote upcoming town halls, training sessions, or webinars, with one-click access to join.
- My Sites – Gives employees instant access to their frequently visited and followed SharePoint sites, making navigation across the digital workplace faster and more intuitive.
You can also link to third-party tools like Workday or HubSpot, and create custom cards with the Card Designer, all without needing to write code. Most importantly, all cards can be audience-targeted—so employees see only what’s relevant to them, reducing clutter and boosting engagement.
The dashboard can also be added to a SharePoint page via a web part, ensuring employees can access their key tools whether they’re in Teams or browsing the intranet.
Viva Connections Resources: Quick Access to What Matters
Resources are the navigation links that appear as icons in Viva Connections. You can customise these to point employees toward key tools, portals, and documents—whether that’s HR systems, policies, department hubs, or anything else that keeps your workforce connected and informed.
Licensing: How Much Does Viva Connections Cost?
Good news — Viva Connections is included with all Microsoft 365 E3 and E5 licences. If your organisation is already using tools like SharePoint and OneDrive, you’ve already got access. No extra cost, no extra setup.
In fact, it’s the Viva module with the most functionality available out of the box.
The only paid add-on? The ability to create multiple, customised Viva Connections experiences — ideal if you have different brands, business units, or legal entities that need their own look, feel, and content within the platform.
To unlock this feature, you’ll need either:
- The full Microsoft Viva Suite subscription at £9.90 / $12.00 per user/month
- Or the Communication and Communities licence at £1.64 / $2.00 per user/month, which also includes Viva Engage Premium and Viva Amplify
How We Can Help
At Silicon Reef, we help organisations introduce Viva Connections as a seamless extension of their intranet—making it easier to reach and engage all employees, including frontline and deskless workers. By bringing key intranet content into Microsoft Teams, we make information accessible in the flow of work, helping people stay informed without having to switch platforms.
We work with clients to shape a tailored experience that reflects their culture and goals—whether that’s designing a clear, user-friendly dashboard, curating meaningful content, or building a stronger sense of connection across teams. We also help bring together tools like SharePoint, Teams, and Viva Engage to create a joined-up, cohesive digital workplace that feels intuitive and connected. It’s all about making the most of what you already have, and helping people feel part of something—wherever they’re working.
An Internal Communicator’s Guide to Microsoft Viva
Explore the Communications and Communities package and get to grips with Viva’s comms and engagement tools.
Silicon Reef are people-first Microsoft 365 experts. We help organisations make the most of M365 to elevate the employee experience. Get in touch to learn how we can help with Viva Suite, including Connections, or other Microsoft tools like SharePoint or Power Platform.
Ready to See Viva Connections in Action?
Book a free Art of the Possible session to learn more about Viva Connections, and get a custom M365 roadmap for your organisation.
Additional FAQs
Do I need a SharePoint intranet to use Viva Connections?
At Silicon Reef, we help clients find the right setup for their business — whether that’s starting simple or extending what’s already in place.
Is Viva Connections free?
We think it’s one of the most powerful (and underused) ways to improve the employee experience — especially because so much of it is available out of the box.
What kind of content can I show in Viva Connections?
Silicon Reef works with clients to make sure this content feels connected, useful and relevant — not just another place to post news. We focus on creating joined-up experiences that meet people where they already work.
Can I personalise Viva Connections for different users?
We help organisations design and implement these personalised experiences so employees get value from day one — and so comms and HR teams can reach the right people, in the right way.
How does Viva Connections help frontline and deskless workers?
At Silicon Reef, we often help clients use Viva Connections to extend their intranet in a way that works for all employees — not just those at a desk. That means making important content mobile-friendly, surfacing it in Teams, and designing digital experiences that actually support how people work on the ground.
Is Viva Connections secure? What about data privacy?
At Silicon Reef, we understand that security and data protection are top priorities — especially when rolling out new tools to large or dispersed workforces. We work closely with IT and compliance teams to make sure Viva Connections is deployed in a way that’s secure, aligned with your organisation’s governance, and feels safe for employees to use.
