Teams Meetings (Classic)


Overview

Teams meetings allows you to join anytime, anywhere, from any device. You can create meetings for members of you Team or use Teams features to schedule a meeting through Outlook. Attendees are not limited to members of your Teams. 

Features include video conferencing, breakout rooms, meeting recordings, screen sharing, etc. Meetings allows you to turn a team conversation into a quick video conversation or you can schedule a meeting for later. 

Supported Browsers

Some of Teams meetings features are not supported by the following browsers: Firefox, Internet Explorer 11 or Safari. Use the desktop app to have access to the most features in meetings. 

Roles in a Teams Meeting

Presenters and attendees have different capabilities in a meeting. You can assign roles to each participant based on what controls they might need. Go to Microsoft Support: Roles in a Teams Meeting for more information.

Schedule Teams Meetings

There are a variety of ways to schedule Teams meetings, depending on your starting point. 

How to Schedule Meetings

From a Teams Channel

  1. Select the drop down arrow of the Meet icon in the upper right-hand corner.
  2. Choose Schedule a meeting. 
    View ScreenshotSelect the down arrow on the Meet button, then choose Schedule a meeting.
  3. Provide meeting titledates, etc. for the meeting.
  4. Select Send.

Channel members or guests of your team can access the meeting via the channel where the meeting was scheduled once the meeting begins.

From the Teams Calendar App

  1. Open the teams and select the day and time you want the meeting. 
  2. You can invite individuals and/or add channel members.
    View ScreenshotView options to add attendees and channels.
  3. The meeting organizer and attendees invited (in the add required attendees field) will find the meeting added to their Outlook calendar.
  4. Attendees can join from the channel or from their Outlook calendar invitation if they received one. 

From the Channel Calendar

Now you can add a team calendar in a channel.

  1. Go to the tabs at the top and select the plus sign + to add an app
  2. Select the Channel Calendar tile or type calendar in the the Search field to find 
    View ScreenshotLocate the Channel calendar to add or do a search if you cannot find the tile.
  3. Name your calendar
  • Team members can add meetings to the channel calendar and all team members will be invited
  • The meeting invitation will show on channel members' Outlook calendars

From Outlook

You can use Teams features to schedule a meeting through Outlook. Attendees are not limited to members of your Teams. 

Join Meetings

Join from Outlook Calendar

You can join a meeting you've been invited from the Teams or Outlook calendar. You will find a join button in your meeting reminder as well as on the meeting itself.
View ScreenshotJoin a meeting from the button on the outside of the meeting, then select Join Online.

Join from Channel

Team members can access meetings via the channel where the meeting was scheduled.
View ScreenshotFrom your team channel, you can join a meeting from the post area once it has begun.

Teams Spotlights

The Spotlight feature allows organizers and presenters to lock their video as the main view for all attendees, unlike the Pin participant feature, which only pins the video for their own view.

Turn on Spotlight Feature

  1. Select the Participants icon in the top menu.
  2. From the Participants panel, select the ellipsis […]More options at the top-right of the panel.
  3. Hover over the microphone next to the person you want to spotlight, which turns the microphone into ellipsis.
  4. Select the ellipsis, then choose Spotlight. 
    View ScreenshotSteps 1-4, select participants icon, 3 dots more options icon, select microphone to open panel, select Spotlight from panel.
  5. That person will now take up the full screen for all attendees. 

The Spotlight feature allows organizers and presenters to lock their video as the main view for all attendees, unlike the Pin participant feature, which only pins the video for their own view.

Notes:

  • You must have presenter role to use this feature
  • You can change who you spotlight at any time
  • To stop spotlighting, open the More options menu again and select the Stop spotlighting button in your menu at the top of your screen

Breakout Rooms

Breakout rooms allow organizers to divide the meeting into sub-groups to facilitate discussions and brainstorming sessions. The meeting organizer can create up to 50 breakout rooms and choose to automatically or manually assign participants into rooms. 

Before you get started, here are a few things to know:

Go to Microsoft's Support Site to view the most up-to-date changes and instructions for breakout rooms.

Get started by creating a meeting from your Teams calendar: 

  1. Select Calendar from the app bar on the left.
  2. Select New meeting 
  3. Choose a channel to meet in or add attendees. 

Create Breakout Rooms

Create Rooms Before a Meeting

  1. Create a meeting from your Teams calendar app in the left app bar.
  2. Open the meeting and select Breakout rooms from the top menu.
    View ScreenshotSelect Breakout rooms from the top menu of meeting invitation.
  3. Select Create rooms button.
  4. Provide the number of rooms you need, then select Add rooms. You can change the number of rooms at a later time.
  5. Choose the 3 dots at the top-right of each tile to change room name or change settings.
  6. Select the Assign participants button at the top-left. 
  7. Choose Automatically for the system to assign participants to rooms, or you can do it Manually.
  8. If you chose to assign rooms Manually, select attendees to be placed in one room, then select Assign at the top-right.
    View ScreenshotSelect attendee, then Assign.

Manage Settings Before a Meeting

To assign presenters to help manage breakout rooms:
  1. With the meeting invitation open, click on Meeting options in the second row of top menu.
    View ScreenshotSelect Meeting options in second row at top menu.
  2. Click on the Everyone drop down to make your selection. 
  3. If you selected Specific People, search for attendees to add as presenters.
    View ScreenshotSelect the down arrow on Everyone to make your choice.
  4. Click Save.
To set time limits and return from room:

By default, attendees will not be able to return to the main meeting on their own. If you want to give them the ability to do so, you will need change this in the Settings panel. 

  1. After you create the breakout rooms, select the gear Settings icon in the top-right of opened breakout room settings.
    View ScreenshotSelect the gear icon at top-right of breakout interface.
  2. Make your appropriate selections. 

Create Rooms During a Meeting

  1. Join your meeting at its scheduled time and wait for your attendees to join. Your meeting will open in its own window.
  2. When your attendees have joined and you are ready, select the Breakout icon from your meeting controls.
    View ScreenshotSelect the breakout icon in your controls at top of interface.
  3. Choose whether you'd like Teams to assign students to rooms Automatically or choose Manually if you'd prefer to assign students to rooms yourself. You can change the number of rooms at a later time. 
  4. Choose the number of rooms you'd like to create from the dropdown menu.
  5. Select attendees to be placed in one room, then select Assign at the top-right.
  6. Choose the room from the drop-down list, then select the Assign button at the bottom-right.
    Select attendee, then Assign.

Manage Settings During a Meeting

To assign presenters to help manage breakout rooms:
  1. With the breakout sessions panel open to the right, select Settings (gear) icon.
    View ScreenshotSelect the gear icon at in the breakout panel controls.
  2. Toggle the switch to assign presenters.
  3. Search for attendees to select as presenters.
    View ScreenshotMove toggle on and search for presenters.
To set time limits, and return from room:

By default, attendees will not be able to return to the main meeting on their own. If you want to give them the ability to do so, you will need change this in the Settings panel. 

  1. With the breakout sessions panel open to the right, select Settings (gear) icon. 
  2. Toggle Set a time limit to on, then select the desired time from the drop down selections. 
  3. Toggle Let people return to the main meeting to on.
    View ScreenshotMove toggle on and search for presenters.

Rename Rooms

  1. Select the Breakout icon in your controls to open panel to the right.
  2. Hover over the Closed icon, select the 3 dots to open panel.
  3. Select Rename room.

Start and Close Breakout Rooms

To open individual rooms, hover over the Closed icon to the right of room name, select the 3 dots to open panel, select Open room

To open all rooms at the same time, select the Open button above the list of rooms.
The Open buttons opens all room or hover over Closed, select 3 dots to open individual rooms.

Organizers Join Breakout Rooms

  1. From the Breakout rooms panel, hover over Open, the select the 3 dots top open selections.
    Hover over Open, select 3 dots, Join room.
  2. Select Join room. This will open a new window, so you can still see the main meeting window.
  3. To return to main meeting, select Resume from the top menu. If you did not allow attendees to return to room on their own,  select Resume from the main meeting window to return to main meeting.  

Close Rooms

  • Close all rooms simultaneously by selecting the Close button above the list of rooms. 
  • Close specific rooms by hovering over the Open button to the right of the room, select the 3 dots, select Close room
  • If time limits were set, attendees will automatically be brought back to the main meeting at the end of the timed session. 
  • If participants are allowed to return to main meeting on their own, they can select Return from their tools area.
    View ScreenshotSelect Return button at the top of the breakout room controls.

Send an Announcement

Organizers can send a message to all breakout rooms:

  1. In the meeting controls, select the Breakout rooms icon.
  2. Select the Announcement icon.
    View ScreenshotSelect the megaphone icon in panel controls to send a message to all breakout rooms.
  3. Enter your announcement and select Send.
  4. Participants are notified in their meeting chat to check for your announcement.

Polls in Meetings

Microsoft Forms can create surveys, polls, and quizzes. Polls are quick, one-question surveys with multiple choice answers. You can add polls to Teams channel Posts and to Teams meetings. 

To learn more about polls and surveys, go to our Microsoft Forms page. 

Create a Poll Prior to a Meeting

  1. Schedule a Teams meeting from the Teams calendar app
  2. From your calendar app in Teams, open the scheduled meeting
  3. Select the plus sign at the end of the top menu of your meeting 
    View ScreenshotFrom Teams calendar app, open meeting, select plus sign in top menu.
  4. Select the Forms app and follow the prompts to Add and Save
  5. Select Create New Poll below the image in the middle of your screen
    View ScreenshotSelect Create New Poll link.
  6. Complete the question and options for your poll and select Save.
  7. When you are ready to make the poll available, select Launch. You can launch before, during or after the meeting, so launch when it is needed.
  8. You can also Edit, Delete or Create additional polls from this screen.
    View ScreenshotTo create additional polls, select Create New.

Important Note

You cannot create a meeting poll if you create the meeting from the channel. You must first create the meeting from your Teams calendar and save. Once you reopen the meeting, you will see the Plus sign at the top of your meeting menu.

Launch a Poll During a Meeting

After you join the meeting, you will see a Forms icon in your controls area.

  1. Select the Forms icon to open
  2. Select Launch at the bottom of the right Polls panel, if you didn’t do it before the meeting
    View ScreenshotTo open a poll in a meeting, select the Forms icon in your tools area.
  3. You will see results as they are submitted in the right panel

You can review poll results again from the meeting Chat area or in the Forms app.

Recording in Teams meetings

Start Recording: While in the meeting, select the 3 dots in the top menu and select Start recording.
View ScreenshotFrom Teams meeting, click 3 dots, then select Record and Transcribe, Start recording.

View Recording: Video temporarily populates in Posts and new Recordings folder is created in Files.

  • Video is recycled after 500 days to the recycle bin.
  • To view expiration date and change or remove expiration, select the expiration information below the video title.
    View ScreenshotSelect Learn link
  • To store the video in another platform, download the video and upload to Stream or MediaHub (Kaltura).

Go to our page about Stream to learn where you videos are stored, how to use Stream for screen capture, and more. 

Teams Updates & Tips

Support

Technical Support: itcsc@ku.edu  |  785-864-8080

Training Support: training@ku.edu  |  785-864-5155

Updates and new features for Microsoft 365 apps, including Teams, can be found in our public team, KU Teams User Group. A channel in this team is dedicated to Microsoft 365 apps. In addition to updates, members are invited to ask questions and share information.

If you need assistance joining the team, reach out to us at training@ku.edu and we will add you to this team.