Hands-On Microsoft Teams

Joao Ferreira

• Publisher: Packt Publishing
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781801079938
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Ciencia de la computación
• Subtopic: Aplicaciones empresariales

A comprehensive guide to Teams for users and administrators, filled with real-world scenarios and best practicesKey Features• Updated with new chapters on Teams templates, the special editions of Teams, and Microsoft Viva • Customize Teams for increased efficiency, collaborate with best practices, and use advanced Teams functionalities to your advantage• Extend Teams through integration with Microsoft services such as PowerShell, SharePoint, Power Apps, and Power AutomateBook DescriptionMicrosoft Teams is a permanent fixture in the modern workplace, but many of its productivity-boosting features go unnoticed or unused. Hands-On Microsoft Teams shows you how to use Teams to its full potential through easy-to-follow practical tutorials.This guide to mastering Teams explores the platform in comprehensive detail and how it interacts with the rest of the Microsoft ecosystem to help you work efficiently and manage your resources. You'll get to grips with core functionality like setting up and managing teams, channels, chats, tabs, and meetings.You'll also learn to get the best out of Teams by adding custom apps, integrating with Microsoft 365, using PowerShell automation, and exploring useful settings you didn't know existed. Along the way, you'll be shown various real-world scenarios and how to implement solutions for them in Teams that will increase your productivity.Whether you're an administrator, manager, or team member, by the end of this book you'll be confident in using everything Microsoft Teams has to offer.What you will learn• Perform scheduling and manage meetings, live events, and webinars• Create and manage Microsoft Teams templates to streamline company processes• Deal with permissions and security issues in managing private and public teams and channels• Extend Microsoft Teams using custom apps, Microsoft 365, and PowerShell automation• Build your own Teams app with the Developer Portal without writing any code• Deploy helpful chatbots using QnA Maker and Power Virtual Agents• Explore Teams use cases for education, frontline work, and personal life• Bring together knowledge, learning, resources, and insights with the new employee experience platform, Microsoft VivaWho this book is forThis Microsoft Teams book is for users who want to get a better handle on Teams, managers looking to improve the way their teams are working, and Microsoft 365 administrators who want to implement Teams effectively.

4

How to Use Microsoft Teams: Meetings, Webinars, and Live Events

The evolution of the different web technologies and the incremental increase of network speeds is changing the way we all consume information and the way we all work.

The web is no longer a place where you can only find written content; an increasing number of people are producing video content, as it is more convenient, and in most locations, internet speed limitations are a thing of the past.

This chapter covers the media functionalities of Microsoft Teams, detailing the features available in meetings, webinars, and live events. This will help you to master each one of these options and to better decide when to use them.

In this chapter, we are going to cover the following main features that can be utilized in Microsoft Teams:

• Meetings
• Audio Conferencing
• Live events
• Webinars

Meetings in Microsoft Teams

As a substitute for Skype for Business, Microsoft Teams has a lot of calling and meeting functionalities that extend communication to a new level in the modern workplace. A meeting in Microsoft Teams can be started spontaneously by clicking on the Meet now button, or it can be planned ahead of time and scheduled by generating a meeting request that is then sent to other participants.

In the following section, you will learn how to schedule a meeting, and how to use all the available options to get the best out of the media functionalities of Microsoft Teams.

Schedule a meeting using the Calendar application

Meetings can be scheduled directly from the Microsoft Teams application, or from Microsoft Outlook. In the Outlook web version, the option to create a new Teams meeting is available by default; in the desktop version, however, it requires the Teams add-on to be installed on your computer.

To schedule a meeting from Microsoft Teams, do the following:

1. Open the Calendar app located in the personal app bar.
2. Click on the New meeting button.

   

   Figure 4.1.1: Creating a meeting in Microsoft Teams
3. Fill in the meeting details:
   • Title: This is the field that is visible in the calendar; all attendees of the meeting request will be able to see it.
   • Location: Allows you to pick a meeting room or type in a location. Meeting rooms are built to provide a full meeting experience, with hardware designed specifically for Microsoft Teams to share HD video, audio, and content to meetings of all sizes.
   • Start: Start time of the meeting.
   • End: End time of the meeting.
   • Time zone: In a workplace where employees are distributed across the globe, it is important to define the time zone. Users in other time zones who are invited to the meeting will see the time converted into their own location's time automatically.
   • Repeat: This option allows you to schedule a recurrent meeting; the recurrence interval is defined by the user.
   • Channel: Allows you to schedule a meeting directly in a channel, making it available to all the channel members.
   • Attendees: The users who will receive the invite for the meeting.

   

   Figure 4.1.2: New meeting creation form
4. Click on Save to schedule the meeting; a meeting request is then sent to all the attendees automatically.

Alternatively, you can start a meeting spontaneously without scheduling it. To do so, you just need to click on the Meet now button in the Calendar app, and once the meeting has started, you will be able to add other participants.

Pro tip: Use the scheduling assistant

Scheduling a time to meet that works for all attendees is not an easy task, but Microsoft Teams' scheduling assistant helps you to avoid meeting overlaps. To use this feature before sending the meeting request, click on the Scheduling Assistant option located at the top of the window, as shown in Figure 4.1.3.

Figure 4.1.3: Microsoft Teams scheduling assistant

From the assistant, you will be able to view the calendars and appointments for all attendees, including the meeting room where you are trying to schedule the meeting. All you must do is look for a free slot that is common to everyone.

Note that despite seeing the other users' appointments, you will not be able to see any details about them other than the start and end times. If you are unable to see the information from external users, it is because that information is being limited by the security policies of the external organization.

Schedule a meeting using Microsoft Outlook

If you are replying to emails or checking your calendar in Outlook and need to schedule a meeting, or even start a new meeting at that moment, there is an add-in that allows you to send out a meeting request without the need to switch to the Microsoft Teams application.

To schedule a meeting from Microsoft Outlook, do the following:

1. In Microsoft Outlook, open the calendar.
2. From the top bar, click on New Teams Meeting, as highlighted in Figure 4.1.4.

   

   Figure 4.1.4: Scheduling a Microsoft Teams meeting from Outlook
3. Type in the subject.
4. Type in the emails of the users you want to invite to the meeting.
5. Select the date and time.
6. Select the location.
7. Personalize the meeting request if needed, and click Send.

Each user that is added to the meeting request will receive an email with the link for the meeting. Users will be able to join the meeting either by clicking on the link in the meeting request or by clicking on the meeting in the Calendar app in Microsoft Teams upon accepting the meeting request.

When scheduling a meeting from Microsoft Outlook, you will not be able to select a team channel; if you are looking for this option, you must use the personal calendar application in Microsoft Teams, or the channel meeting options described in the next section.

If you choose the Meet now option from Outlook, Microsoft Teams will open the meeting setup window to configure your devices and, once in the meeting, you will then have the ability to add other members.

Schedule a meeting using the team calendar application

Meetings can also be scheduled or started from within a team channel context. If you want to have a meeting with all the members of a team or want to discuss a subject that is being handled by it, then it makes sense to schedule it directly from the team channel. This will create the meeting and keep its assets centralized in the team space, making it easier to access the information.

To schedule a meeting directly within a team channel, do the following:

1. Open the team channel in which you want to schedule a meeting.
2. At the top of the window, click on the arrow located in the Meet drop-down menu, then select Schedule a meeting, as shown in Figure 4.1.5. This button is transformed into an icon when in a small screen resolution, only showing the camera, which expands the menu when clicked.

   

   Figure 4.1.5: Scheduling a Microsoft Teams meeting from within a team channel
3. A scheduling form will open in the channel with the same options that...