In this article:
Meetings
Meeting Controls
Recording a Meeting
Breakout Rooms
Invitations
Lobby
Webinars
Webinar Features
Townhall
Townhall Features
Introduction
Microsoft Teams is a business communication platform that offers workspace chat, videoconferencing, and screen sharing. This article will focus on the videoconferencing and screen sharing aspects of the software for the classroom.
How to Start a Meeting (laptop)
1. Open up Teams client and select the 'Calendar' icon on the left side of the app.
2. At the top right select 'Meet now' then 'Start meeting' .
3. Select your video and audio settings then tap 'Join Now'. Your meeting will now start.
How to Start a Meeting (touch-panel)
In the classroom, select 'Meet' on the white touch-panel
How to Schedule a Meeting
1. Open up Teams client and select the 'Calendar' icon on the left side of the app.
2. Select the purple 'New Meeting' icon in the top right of the app.
3. Edit the date & details of the meeting to your liking. For more information on the details of the meeting click this link to go to the Microsoft support page on scheduling a meeting.
How to Join a Meeting from Laptop
1. If you have a meeting link, find it in your email.
2. If you do not, open up Teams client and select the 'Calendar' icon on the left side of the app.
2. Select 'Join with an ID' at the top of the app and enter the Meeting ID and passcode given to you.
How to Join a Meeting from Touchpanel
In the classroom, select 'Meet' on the white touch-panel, then enter in your email to invite yourself to the meeting.
If you have already scheduled a meeting (link) and invited the room (link) then your meeting should already be on the touchpanel on the left side. Tap 'Join' on the touchpanel and on your laptop, open up Teams client and select the 'Calendar' icon on the left side of the app and click 'Join' on your scheduled meeting.
Screen Sharing
From your laptop during the meeting, select 'Share' at the top. Select 'include computer sound' and the content you want to share.
For more information on sharing content, specifically in Microsoft Teams Room (MTR) click on this link from Xavier Knowledge Base.
How to Show or Hide Participants
To see a list of everyone in a meeting or a list of others invited but not currently in the meeting select 'People'. To hide the list select 'People' again.
Show or Hide Meeting Chat
To access the meeting chat, select 'Chat'. To hide it, select 'Chat' again.
More Actions
Select 'More' to open a menu to see device settings, call health, and other actions you can take in the meeting.
Turn your Camera On or Off
1. To turn your camera on, hover over 'Camera', you'll see a private preview of your video.
2. You can chosse 'Blur My Background' or 'More Background Effects' to change how you appear in the meeting, then select 'Camera' to turn it on.
3. To turn off your camera, select 'Camera' again.
Mute or Unmute your Mic
1. If you're already muted in a meeting and would like to speak, select 'Mic' to unmute your mic.
2. To mute again, select 'Mic'.
Leave or End a Meeting
As a participant, select 'Leave'. As a meeting presenter, You can select the dropdown and select 'End meeting'.
More Information on Meeting Controls
For more information on Meeting Controls including how to use the mobile controls of teams, see this link from Microsoft Teams.
Start Recording a Meeting
Start or join meeting. Go to meeting controls and select 'More Actions' then 'Start Recording'
Stop Recording a Meeting
1. Go to the meeting controls and select 'More Actions'
2. Select 'Stop Recording' . Recording continues until you select 'Stop Recording'
How to Find Recordings
1. Recordings are saved through One Drive about 5 minutes after the meeting has ended through a folder titled Recordings in My Files.
2. The recordings are also available through Teams by opening up the Teams client and selecting Files on the left side of the client. It will access your OneDrive, so like the first option, select My Files then Recordings.
3. To access the recording before it is uploaded to OneDrive you must stop the recording following the instructions above, then check the Meeting Chat for a Sharepoint link to your meeting. DO NOT END THE MEETING.
From here you can share the link, move it to a different area of your OneDrive, or copy to a different area of your OneDrive.
More Information on Recordings
For more information on Recording Meetings including who can start or stop a recording, click on this link from Microsoft Teams.
Create Breakout Rooms During Meeting
1. Start the meeting.
2. In meeting controls, select 'Breakout Rooms'
3. Choose the number of rooms you want & choose whether you want Teams to evenly assign people to room (Automatically) or assign people yourself (Manually)
4. Select 'Create Rooms'
Assign People to Breakout Rooms During Meeting
1. In the meeting controls, select 'Breakout Rooms'
2. Under the 'Assign Participants' tab, select how many rooms you want, then select 'Manually' and finally 'Create rooms'.
3. Select 'Assign Participants'
4. From this window sort people to see who's been assigned where by selecting the down arrow next to 'Name ' or 'Room'. Choose people you want in a room by selecting the checkboxes next to their names
4. Select the down arrow next to 'Assign' and choose a room for them.
5. Repeat previous steps until everyone in the meeting is assigned to a room. When you're done select 'Confirm'.
If someone joins the meeting late, Repeat this process
How to Invite Someone or Room to the Start of a Meeting
1. Start meeting from your laptop and select 'Join Now'
2. Once the meeting has started Teams will automatically ask to invite people to join your meeting by selecting 'Copy Meeting Link' or 'Add Participants'
If you select 'Copy meeting link', you will need to oepn an email and past the invitation in the body of the message.
If you select Add participants, you may add participants from the app.
How to Invite Someone or Room to During a Meeting
During the meeting, select 'People' at the top, a 'Show Participants' column should appear in the right that will allow you to search for your invitees.
How to Invite Someone or Room to a Scheduled Meeting
1. Open up Teams client and select the 'Calendar' icon on the left side of the app.
2. Select the purple 'New Meeting' icon in the top right of the app.
3. Under the 'Details' section, select 'Add Required Attendees'
4. If you invite a classroom, it will show up on the white touch-panel.
Change Lobby Settings Before Meeting
1. Go to your Teams Calendar and select 'New Meeting'
2. In Details, select More options 
> Meeting options.
3. In the Who can bypass the lobby? dropdown menu, choose who can bypass the lobby.
4. Select Save. Changes will be applied immediately.
Change Lobby Settings During Meeting
1. In your meeting window, select More options> Settings > Meeting options.
2. Select Who can bypass the lobby? and choose the setting you want to apply.
3. Select Save.
Admit or Deny Participants
Once the meeting starts, you, co-organizers, and presenters can admit or deny people from the lobby. You can change participant meeting roles in meeting options.
1. Select People in your meeting window.
2. Under Waiting in lobby:
a. Select the check mark next to someone’s name to admit them.
b. Select the "x" next to someone’s name to deny them.
c. Select Admit all to let everyone in from the lobby.
Turn off Lobby for Meeting
If you want everyone to join your meeting directly, set Who can bypass the lobby? to Everyone.
More Information on Lobby
For more information on the Lobby including a chart on who can bypass the lobby and what happens, click on this link for a chart from Microsoft Teams.
How Webinars are Different from Meetings
Typically, meetings are collaborative and conversational between participants: discussing plans, sharing materials, assigning or accepting tasks, and more.
Webinars, on the other hand, are more structured. Participants have clear roles: one or several experts (presenters) share their ideas or provide training to an audience (attendees).
By default, audio and video permissions are turned off for attendees.
Registration
Utilize registration settings like capacity limits, manual registration approval*, and event waitlists* to ensure your webinar runs smoothly even before the event. Create a custom form with questions for potential attendees to learn more about your audience beforehand. Gain an overview of your event registration via attendee status.
Branded Themes
Organize a custom event for attendees by adding brand images, banners, and color themes.
Presenter Bios
Give your attendees more background information about your event's presenters by including photos and bios.
Webinar Reports
Gain insights before and after your event with webinar reports.
Before it starts, see how many people have viewed the registration site, registered, or canceled their registration. After it ends, view details about how many attended, how much time each attendee spent in your event, and more.
More Information on Webinars
For more information on Webinars including tips, how to schedule & customize them, select this link here.
What is a town hall?
A town hall is a type of meeting available in Microsoft Teams. Whether you’re celebrating milestone achievements with your org or covering an election, town hall features help you deliver high-quality production experiences to large audiences.
When to schedule a town hall
A schedule a town hall if:
- You’re hosting a large-scale event.
- You need high-quality content sharing or streaming capabilities.
- The experience is mostly consumption-based for attendees.
- You’re providing extensive coverage of an event (up to 30 hours).
Bring For more information on how to schedule a town hall click on this link from Microsoft Teams.
Presenter Spotlight
Bring presenters to the forefront of the event with Manage what attendees see.
Translated Captions
Town hall contain up to 6 live language translated captions.
Publish town hall recordings
After a town hall ends, you can download and publish the event recording to share with attendees. When you publish the recording, attendees will automatically receive an email with a link to the recording.
Attendee reports
Gain insights into your town hall with post-event attendee reports. See how many people attended, how long they attended, and other details.
More Information on Town Halls
Gain For more information on Town Halls such as attending, customizing, and hosting a town hall, click on this link from Microsoft Teams.