The way we work and connect is changing. In MS Teams, you can collaborate with anyone by scheduling meetings or calling people. For immediate discussion, give someone a call. For organized collaborations with multiple participants, consider scheduling a meeting. Learn about each method in this guide. Meetings in MS Teams As the primary video conferencing platform at UIW, MS Teams is used to schedule online meetings. Meetings in MS Teams include audio, video, and screen sharing and are an essential place where work and collaboration happen. Also, you don't need to be at UIW, or even have a Teams account, to join a meeting in MS Teams. Scheduled meetings are ideal for: Planned presentations, project updates, and regular team meetings. When you need a calendar item for your meeting, to schedule in advance, and to send invites. Customizing meeting options for optional settings such as presentation privileges, camera and mic options, and a waiting room lobby. Gatherings that need to be recorded, either manually started or set to automatically recorded. How to Schedule a Meeting There are two ways to schedule an MS Teams meeting: Schedule a meeting in the MS Teams app. Schedule a MS Teams meeting in Outlook. There are also two ways to meet without using the standard scheduled methods: Meet instantly with Meet Now or create a unique meeting link in the MS Teams app. Meeting Templates Meeting templates can be selected to adjust the experience of participants for various needs. Whether you are hosting a webinar, town hall, class, or lecture, these available templates conveniently give you select features: Webinar Template: Ideal for structured, engaging presentations or interactive workshops that require registration. Attendees have clear roles: one or several presenters share their ideas or speak directly to attendees. Webinars always require registration. A unique, customizable webpage is created for each Webinar, offering attendees and organizers a place to learn more, register, and join the event. Can be restricted to UIW-only or public. By default, audio and video permissions are turned off for attendees. Can use Chat or Q&A. Town Hall Template: Ideal for large events centered around attendee consumption, where attendees aren't expected to speak, share, or register. Registration is optional for Town halls. Can be restricted to UIW-only or public. Town halls can host up to 10,000 attendees, whereas normal meetings in MS Teams can only support 1,000 people. By default, audio and video permissions are turned off for attendees. No Chat option, must use Q&A. Class Template: Ideal for meetings where an educator is presenting a topic to a body of students. Meeting Chat is only available during the meeting for active discussions. Chat is disabled, but viewable, before and after the meeting ends. Lecture Template: Ideal for meetings where an educator is presenting a topic to a body of students. Meeting Chat is turned on during the meeting, and available before and after the meeting. To schedule a meeting with a template, you must use the MS Teams application either on your desktop or through Cardinal Apps. Within the MS Teams app 1) Open Calendar and 2) Choose the drop-down arrow next to +New meeting and choose a template. Calls in Microsoft Teams While meetings are a great way to collaborate and set aside time on everyone's calendar, calls can be a more direct way of connecting. Making a call in MS Teams is similar to a traditional phone call. Choosing to call over a meeting is ideal for: Quick, direct communication for immediate responses or informal discussions. Personal or brief conversations when face-to-face interaction is unavailable. Non-recorded conversations (calls cannot be recorded in MS Teams) How to Make a Call Wherever you are in the MS Teams app, you can start a call with someone by selecting the phone icon found in each space. Learn more about making calls in Microsoft Teams. Intro to Teams Video Sign in with Cardinal Apps to view the video. MS Teams Meetings and Calls FAQ Where can I learn more about meeting options and features? Learn how to adjust your video and audio settings. Feature language interpretation in your meetings. Learn all about recording your MS Teams meeting and how to extend or cancel the expiration of a recording. Utilize live captions for a more clear presentation. Present and collaborate with Microsoft Whiteboard or the built-in annotation feature. Leverage breakout rooms to break up conversations while staying in the same meeting. Where can I learn more about Microsoft Teams? MS Teams opens new avenues of communication far beyond video and audio conferencing. It is the ultimate messaging app for your digital life, a workspace for real-time collaboration and communication, meetings, file and app sharing. All in one place, all accessible to everyone. Get familiar with personal chats and group chats. Manage your notifications. Gather people and create a Team for a shared space to collaborate. Understand channels as organized workspaces. Learn about file sharing in MS Teams. Do more by exploring apps.

In MS Teams, the Meet Now function allows you to instantly start a meeting or create a unique meeting link that can be used at any time. Creating a unique meeting link in MS Teams allows you to generate and share a meeting link without going through the steps of a calendar invite. This option may be beneficial for recurring meetings, standing meetings, virtual office hours, or regular check-ins where you just need a link and don't want to create and distribute new calendar invites each time. This process can also be used to create a "Personal Meeting Room" of sorts. To create a unique meeting link in MS Teams: Open MS Teams: You can access MS Teams via Cardinal Apps > Teams, or by launching the MS Teams Desktop app. Select Calendar Select Meet Now: If you're on the mobile, select the camera icon and then select Meet Now. Select Get a Link to Share Copy the provided link: Use "Configure meeting options" to adjust settings such as the lobby, presentation privileges, and chat for your meeting. Share the link by pasting it somewhere or use the Share via Email option. Need more detail? Delve into the in-depth walkthrough below, with images and notes for every step. In-Depth Walkthrough Step 1: Open the Microsoft Teams App Launch MS Teams through the desktop, mobile app, or the web version via Cardinal Apps. Step 2: Open the Calendar Tab Within the MS Teams app, select Calendar on the left sidebar. Step 3: Use the "Meet Now" Function Desktop or Web App: Select Meet Now in the top right corner of the calendar window to generate a unique meeting link or start an instant meeting. Mobile App: If you're on mobile, the calendar tab looks a little different. Select the camera icon in the upper right, then select Meet Now. Step 4: Provide a Meeting Title Without changing anything, the meeting name is "Meeting with [Your Name]". Customize the name to match the purpose of the meeting (e.g., "Office Hours" or "Troubleshooting"). When you're finished, select "Get a link to share". Step 5: Create a Meeting Link Selecting the "Get a link to share" option has generated a unique meeting link to post or share with participants. From here, you can: (Optional) Use the "Configure meeting options" prompt to adjust settings such as the lobby, presentation privileges, and chat for your meeting. Copy the link to the meeting to post or share. (Optional) Directly share your meeting link via email or start the meeting instantly. Teams Meet Now FAQ I copied the link, but then I lost it. How do I get it back? Retrieving the meeting link/join info changes depending on a few factors. Have you started the meeting at least once? Find the meeting chat in your MS Teams app and use the Join button. From within the meeting, you can choose People > Share Invite to re-save the meeting link. Haven't started the meeting and lost the link? There's no way to retrieve a personal meeting link after it's been lost because these meetings don't exist on your calendar. You must get another link to share under the "Meet Now" option. If I create a new link to share, will that break any other links I've made? No. Each time you use the Meet Now function to create a link in MS Teams, that link is unique. You can create as many as you need. How do I adjust or change meeting options for a link? Once you select Get a link to share, you can choose Configure meeting options under the meeting name to open the options for your link. The options you change here will only apply to the unique link you've just created. Additionally, you may adjust meeting options within the meeting via the More menu > Settings > Meeting options. Can others start my meeting if they have the link? Without changing anything, yes. You can adjust this by using the Configure meeting options prompt after getting a link to share and change the "Who can bypass the lobby?" option to 'Only organizers and co-organizer All it gives me is the link to my meeting... how can I get the Meeting ID or phone number to share? To obtain the meeting information for a personal meeting room, follow these instructions: Open your personal meeting link to start your meeting. Click on the More menu towards the top of the window. Select Meeting Info. Copy join info and paste this in a chat, email, or post.

Sometimes plans change, and you may decide retroactively that you'd like to enable/disable a feature or option for your scheduled meeting. For example, the Q&A option for meetings is off by default, but you may decide you'd like to enable it prior to the start of the meeting. This guide explains how to edit meeting options for any scheduled meeting in MS Teams. Open MS Teams. Select Calendar. Locate and select your meeting. Select Edit. Select Meeting Options. Adjust options, then click Save. Need more detail? Delve into the in-depth walkthrough below, complete with images and various notes for every step. In-Depth Walkthrough Step 1 Open MS Teams. You can open either the desktop app or the web version through Cardinal Apps. Step 2 In MS Teams, select the Calendar icon, found on the left side of the application. Your sidebar and added Teams may differ from the one pictured, but the Calendar icon will be present by default. Step 3 Once your calendar opens, locate the meeting and do the following: Click on the meeting bubble. Select Edit from the pop-up window. Note: You must be the meeting organizer (scheduler) or co-organizer to see the Edit option and make changes to a scheduled meeting in MS Teams. Step 4 Within the editing window of your MS Teams meeting, find and click on Meeting options. This can be found 1) in the toolbar towards the top of the window, next to Time zone. Alternatively, it can always be found in 2) the footer of the body attached to the meeting. There is no difference between the two methods. Step 5 Within the pop-up, adjust your meeting options accordingly. To learn about each meeting option and when to use them, see Meeting options in Microsoft Teams. These options and toggles will set the default settings for the meeting, which will go into effect the next time it's started. When you're finished making adjustments, scroll down and select Save. If you used a meeting template (Class, lecture, Town Hall, etc.), some meeting options may be locked. If you must adjust a meeting option that's locked, you'll need to recreate the meeting without using a template. Teams Meeting Options FAQ Who can edit or adjust meeting options? No. Only meeting organizers (the person that scheduled the meeting) or co-organizers will be able to edit meeting options. Please note, the meeting options button may is visible to all, but participants will receive the following message if it's opened by anyone other than the organizer or a co-organizer. Some meeting options are locked, why is that? Some meeting options will be locked if a meeting template was used to schedule the meeting in MS Teams. The various settings that are locked and pre-adjusted are what set meeting templates apart from scheduling a standard meeting. If you must adjust these options, the meeting may need to be deleted and rescheduled without using a meeting template. Why can't I see some meeting options? If you’re used to seeing certain meeting options and don’t see them when organizing your meeting, your IT admin has hidden the option. Contact the UIW Help Desk to inquire about a specific meeting option that's not appearing. Can I adjust options during a meeting? Some meeting options can be adjusted during the meeting by clicking on More > Settings > Meeting Options from within the meeting window. Not all settings will change within the meeting and will require the meeting to end (all participants leave) and restart. (e.g., turning Q&A on/off will not require a meeting restart, but enabling language interpretation will require a meting restart).

Once you've sent out invitations for your meeting in MS Teams, you have the option to appoint up to 10 co-organizers to assist in overseeing the event from the people you invited. You can only add individuals who were directly invited to the meeting as required/optional attendees. To add a co-organizer to a meeting: Schedule your MS Teams meeting and invite participants. Within the body of the meeting invite, select Meeting options under the "For Organizers" section. Next to Choose co-organizers, select the search field and enter an appropriate UIW email address to add someone as a co-organizer. Select Save to close the options menu and save co-organizer choices. Need more detail? Delve into the in-depth walkthrough below, complete with images and various notes for every step. In-Depth Walkthrough When adding co-organizers to a meeting in MS Teams, ensure that the individuals you want to add are already listed as required attendees in the meeting invitation. This means they must be directly invited to the meeting as optional or required attendees to be eligible for co-organizer privileges. Step 1: Schedule Your Microsoft Teams Meeting Schedule your MS Teams meeting. Every meeting scheduled in the MS Teams app is automatically made into an online meeting. Scheduling from Outlook? Learn how to add an MS Teams link to your Outlook meeting. Step 2: Locate the Meeting Options Find the meeting invite in either the MS Teams app or your Outlook calendar. Open the invite and choose Meeting options in the footer of the invite's body. Step 3: Selecting Your Co-Organizers Find the Choose co-organizers setting under the Roles area, and click the entry field to manually enter an email address as a co-organizer. Alternatively, use the arrow icon to provide a list of options from the currently invited list of people. Select the individuals you wish to designate as co-organizers for your meeting. Co-organizers can only be added if they are directly invited to the meeting. If your intended co-organizer is not on the drop-down list or doesn't add when their email is entered, execute the following: Close the meeting options window. Enter the email addresses of the individuals who are intended to be co-organizers or optional attendees. Save the changes and retry using the meeting options. Step 4: Save Meeting Options Once you've added the co-organizers to your meeting, don't forget to Save your meeting options before closing the window. Teams Co-Organizer FAQ What can a co-organizer do and not do? These co-organizers will be listed alongside the main organizer in the meeting participant roster and will possess nearly all of the meeting organizer's functionalities. Co-organizers can: Access and adjust meeting options. Manage breakout rooms. Bypass the lobby. Lock the meeting and manage participants. Change another participant's meeting role. End meeting for all. Co-organizers can't: Manage the meeting recording, unless they started the recording. Remove or change the meeting organizer's permissions. Is it possible to add co-organizers while scheduling the meeting, rather than doing so after? Yes. You can open the meeting options menu while scheduling the meeting from Teams or Outlook, and add co-organizers during the scheduling process. You must have invited attendees within the attendee field, though. Can external users be co-organizers? Co-organizers must be from within the same organization as the meeting organizer, i.e. UIW. External users can't be made co-organizers under normal circumstances. If an external user is or has been a part of an MS Team space at UIW, they'll already be registered as a 'guest' and would then be able to act as a co-organizer for a meeting. If you are collaborating with external personnel who may need to manage parts of a meeting, schedule a webinar/town hall instead and add the individual as a presenter. For more information about guests, contact the UIW Help Desk.

MS Teams Breakout Rooms allow educators to divide participants into smaller groups for more focused conversations and collaborative activities without needing to leave the main meeting. Facilitates Small Group Discussions: Breakout rooms allow students to discuss ideas, collaborate, and problem-solve in small groups, mimicking the dynamics of in-person group work. Perfect for Brainstorming Sessions: Organizers can easily organize students into breakout rooms for brainstorming, project collaboration, or peer feedback activities, boosting creativity and interaction. Manage Rooms Before or During Class: Meeting organizers can set up breakout rooms either before or during a session, providing flexibility to adjust groupings as needed. Instructor Control or Participant Choice: Only meeting organizers can create and manage breakout rooms on the desktop version of Teams, ensuring control over how and when students are divided into smaller groups. Alternatively, organizers can let participants choose their own breakout rooms, allowing participants to move freely between rooms. Monitor and Support Groups: Meeting organizers can join individual breakout rooms to observe or assist students, ensuring that everyone stays on track and receives guidance when needed. Only meeting organizers using the desktop version of MS Teams can create and manage breakout rooms. Breakout Rooms Before a Meeting If you plan to assign participants to breakout rooms before the meeting starts, you can pre-assign them instead of doing it during the meeting. The conditions to pre-assign breakout rooms are: You must be the meeting organizer or a co-organizer Have the desktop version of Teams Schedule the meeting through the Teams Calendar or Outlook Directly invite all participants to the meeting Uninvited participants who join via a link, meeting ID, or phone call, assignment to breakout rooms must wait until the meeting has started. Pre-Assign Breakout Rooms 1. Go to your Calendar in the MS Teams desktop app 2. Locate and open the meeting invite 3. Select the Breakout Rooms tab 4. Choose the number of rooms you want, up to 50, and select Add rooms - Use the + button to create more as necessary. 5. Select Assign participants 6. Choose whether you want MS Teams to evenly assign people to rooms (Automatically) or assign people yourself (Manually) If "Manually" was chosen, assign each person to a room or choose Shuffle to assign everyone randomly. You may also allow participants to choose their own rooms in the Breakout Room Settings Breakout Room Settings Once the breakout rooms have been created for a meeting, meeting organizers can plan and adjust room settings before the meeting, which creates and names rooms, automates room placement, sets timers, and more. To adjust room settings: Open the Breakout Rooms tab within the meeting invite. Select the gear icon Adjust Breakout room settings as needed and select Save when finished. Breakout Room Options Room Options are different than Room Settings, as they allow more granular control over participant permissions while they're in the room. While options aren't mandatory to adjust, this provides meeting organizers with flexibility in their execution of breakout rooms. Here, you can adjust participants' abilities to record or present in the breakout room, use their cameras and microphones, manage a lobby, and more. Each room can have its own configured options. Open the Breakout Rooms tab within the meeting invite - Create your rooms if they have not been created already. Select the three dots within the room tile. Choose Room options. Adjust room options as necessary and choose Save when finished. Teams Breakout Room FAQ Are there any limitations to the breakout room feature? You can't create breakout rooms if there are more than 300 people in a meeting. If you create breakout rooms before a meeting, you won't be able to invite more than 300 people. There's no way to share video or audio to a room. The meeting organizer must join that room to share this content. If I have a recurring meeting, do I need to set up breakout rooms each time? No. Breakout room assignments will carry over to the next meeting until they're changed or a room is deleted. This can be a good or bad thing depending on the purpose of your meeting, as the chat and breakout room chats are recorded and reused. Can someone share a link to a specific breakout room? No. Sharing a link or inviting individuals into a breakout room is not supported, so only participants in the meeting who are placed in a room can participate in that room. How can I, a meeting organizer, chat with participants in a breakout room? Each breakout room will have its own chat. Organizers and room participants will be able to access it from the Chat menu in the breakout room window and through the Chat menu in their MS Teams app. Here's how it works: Participants will be added to a breakout room chat when you open the room, by default, and removed when the room is closed. You will have access to all breakout room chats. After a breakout room is closed, so is the chat; no more messages can be sent. All organizers, co-organizers, and participants can still access the chat history and shared files to their assigned room after the breakout room is closed. Do breakout rooms show up in the attendance reports? Yes. Upon viewing the attendance report after breakout rooms were utilized, you can learn which breakout room each person has joined, when they entered it, and when they left. Learn more about attendance reports in Microsoft Teams.

Collaborating with colleagues outside of UIW? You can invite them into our Microsoft Teams environment as guests for full access to team resources, or allow them to interact as guest users for chat and calls only. While this access supports collaborative projects, the registered guest experience in Teams meetings may prompt users to authenticate periodically, causing interruptions in the meeting experience. We recommend weighing your needs and avoiding guest registration for individuals who only need to attend Teams meetings. What is Guest Access? Guest users are people outside the UIW system invited to join our Microsoft Teams system. They can: Join teams and channels. View shared files and discussions. Attend meetings in a limited capacity. Unlike external or anonymous users, guests appear in the Microsoft directory and must switch to the university-registered login via Teams to access content. Quick Steps: Add a Guest to a Team at UIW Open the Microsoft Teams app (Desktop or via Cardinal Apps) Locate the team, then select More options next to the Team name Add member Enter the guest's email address. Anyone with a business or consumer email account, such as Outlook, Gmail, or others, can join your team as a guest. Select their email again to confirm. Add your guest's name by selecting Add (name) as a guest?. Be sure to do this now—you’ll need the help of an IT admin to do it later. Select Add. Guest Experience Once added to a Team or Group at UIW, guests will receive a welcome email invitation that includes some information and a direct link to join the Team. Learn more about what the guest experience is like. FAQ: Add Guests to Microsoft Teams at UIW How do I identify a Guest in a Team or Meeting? You can tell if someone is a guest by looking anywhere their name appears—the word “Guest” appears after it. If you are a Team owner, you can also see everyone’s roles in the Members tab of a team. Go to the team name, and select More options > Manage team Settings > Members. What can guests do in Meetings? There are some features in Microsoft Teams Meetings that guests cannot participate in, though they can do all the foundational activities such as sharing a screen, joining breakout rooms, etc. We recommend weighing your needs and avoiding guest registration for individuals who only need to attend Teams meetings. Reference the Microsoft Teams External Accounts and Feature Availability guide to learn more. What can guests do in my Team? Guests have fewer capabilities than team members or team owners, but there's still a lot they can do. Reference the Team owner, member, and guest capabilities guide to learn about guest capabilities as a part of a Team.