MS teams

Please note that the videos below have been recorded on Mac operating system and some features might look differently in Windows. The videos are recorded using loom.

Types of accounts, costs & time restrictions

  • Microsoft Teams is now FREE to use for 24-hour video calls in a browser - go to teams.live. com and sign in using your Microsoft account. In the past, Teams weren't included with free Office 365 accounts.

  • As before, video calling is available in MS Teams for Education (only for educational institutions) and MS teams for Business (paid licence required).

Profile and account settings

Profile picture and name are set up via your Microsoft account.

Security

  • Teams enforces team-wide and organization-wide two-factor authentication, single sign-on through Active Directory, and encryption of data in transit and at rest.

  • Learn more

Download vs browser access

Free MS Teams uses browser version.

Teams for Education and for Business have an option to use browser and/or desktop version.

Checking for updates

To find out what version of Teams you’re on, click your profile picture at the top of the desktop app, then click About > Version. This shows you a banner at the top of the app that tells you what version you're running and when it was last updated.

Host a meeting

  • Meeting can be started on the spot (Meet now) or scheduled.

  • Note: When the meeting is scheduled it will be in the calendar with a link to join the meeting.

Join a meeting

  • If invited via calendar or link simply click on the link to join.

  • External guests allowed, but organizer has to admit them.

  • Note that in MS teams for Education and Business external participants who are not members of the team can be invited and join (they will be guests) and can participate in meetings but some features might not be available to them. For example whiteboard is not displayed to guests.

Joining a meeting by phone

  • Some organizations enable calling in, others don't provide that feature.

  • Free version of MS doesn't seem to have that option.

Learn more

Desktop/laptop view and tools

  • When in meeting, some tools are immediately visible, other are under More actions (three dots)

Phone/Tablet App view

  • Download Microsoft Teams App (available on Android and iOS)

Audio/video settings + backgrounds

  • When starting a meeting you can choose if you want video/audio on or off plus apply background (if enabled by administrator).

  • Background has to be set before you start the meeting.

  • If you don't see background option it might need to be enabled or is not available on your device yet.
    Learn more

Recordings

  • Only available for paid accounts (Education, Business, etc). Not available in free MS teams account.

  • Recording captures audio, video, and screen sharing activity. The recording happens in the cloud, and it is saved so you can share it securely across your organization (in 2021 will recordings will be saved in OneDrive)
    Learn more

Participants, meeting roles and participant tools

  • The person starting the meeting is the organizer/host

  • Participants might have different roles (organizer, presenter or attendee) and different permissions

  • Organizer/host can remove participants

  • Raise a hand option available for everyone including host (can be lowered by the person raising the hand or the organizer/host)

Chat

  • Chat has a lot of features, including an option to add quotes or tables

  • Type the message and hit enter or click on the green arrow to send it

Screen sharing/presenting

  • Click on Open Share Tray and select what you want to share

  • In free version you can only share (screen, window or tab) while in paid version you can share whiteboard, files and other applications too

  • When you use the free version in the browser, the tab where the meeting is happening has a red dot. Do not type a link in the URL/address section or click on a bookmark while you are in this tab. This action will override your meeting link and consequently disconnect you from the meeting. Instead, open a new tab and then type the URL or open a bookmarked page there.

Breakout rooms

  • Launched Dec 2020 - have to be enabled by admin in orgs, individuals can enable in settings.

  • Organizer can start a breakout room from desktop only.

Learn more Overview and tips

Whiteboard

  • Access via Share screen option.

  • Not visible to guests who joined the meeting.

  • Not available in the free version of MS Teams.

Annotations

Not available.

Remote control access

Not available.

Polls and Q&A

Not built it, Microsoft suggests setting up Office Form and sharing it a link with participants instead.

Closed Captioning (CC)

  • Click on three dots in the menu and select “Turn on live captions.”

  • Can be enabled/disabled by admin/tech department for paid accounts.

  • Need three participants in the meeting for Closed Captioning option to show.

  • Learn more

Additional resources