This article covers some of the essential concepts of Microsoft Teams, to help you get started joining or hosting Teams Meetings at VCC.
Roles in Teams Meetings
- Organizer: Has full control, including managing breakout rooms, muting participants, and changing meeting options.
- Co-organizer: Shares many organizer permissions, such as muting participants, managing the meeting, and controlling breakout rooms. They don’t have access to the meeting recordings.
- Presenter: Can share content, manage Q&A, and assist with facilitating the meeting.
- Attendee: Limited to participating in the chat and viewing shared content, without control over the meeting.
- Unverified (aka "Guest"): Seems to have some limits on the chat – can read, but not type. Cannot download from chat. Cannot vote on polls within the meeting. See "How to Verify your Teams Account" (below).
Logging into Teams
You can use Teams through your web browser (e.g. a weblink to Microsoft Teams) or by using the Teams desktop app.
If the Teams app is already installed, go to Start Menu, click the Windows icon at the bottom-left corner of your screen to access pinned apps, and select Teams.
If Teams is not installed on the desktop, you can install it from inside the web browser Teams site: go to the upper-right corner of the page and click the 3 dots for settings. In the drop-down menu, select "Get the desktop app" (shown below). You can also do this on your mobile device.
Comparing Zoom with Teams
To help VCC users transition from Zoom to Teams for their online meetings, it's useful to compare the features between the two platforms:
Different kinds of Teams Meetings
Online meetings in Teams may have different formats or goals, requiring different methods of presentation or management. In Teams, you might be able to choose between a "Meeting", a "Webinar", or a "Town Hall".
In Teams, the default mode is "Meeting", and a new meeting allows all the people in your organization to bypass the lobby and potentially be a presenter. This may be ideal for a business meeting among professional colleagues, but may not be appropriate for a teaching scenario, where an Instructor may want to maintain control over what Students can see and do in Teams.
Instead, an Instructor can use the class/lecture meeting template. This requires Students to wait in the meeting's lobby. Students can also not share their screen (or take control of someone else's screen) unless allowed by the Host Instructor. Instructors may edit settings so that, for example, Students don't have to wait in the lobby, but still cannot present.
How to Verify Your Teams Account
A verified account means that Teams recognizes the username as an active user under a particular license (for example, a known employee or student of VCC). This is important: as a "verified" user in Teams, your roles, permissions, and group memberships are understood once you login with your VCC credentials.
Without logging in to Teams using your VCC credentials, you may be effectively a "stranger" or guest in the system, and may have limited access or abilities inside a Teams Meeting.
So, it's always best for Instructors and Students to log into Teams using their VCC credentials to ensure proper access.
Log into Teams When Joining a Meeting
- If you are already logged into Teams when you click a Teams link, you will be automatically signed into Teams.
- If you are not logged into Teams when you click a meeting link, you will be prompted to enter your name or to sign in.
Click the Sign in link rather than manually entering your name and clicking the Join now button.
Facilitating a Teams Meeting
This article describes the common steps and setting needed when facilitating a meeting in Teams.
How to change an Unverified Status inside a Teams Meeting
If you join a meeting without logging into Teams and you notice that you are unverified, take these steps:
- Exit the meeting by clicking the Leave button.
- A message should appear allowing you to Sign in
If you want to require verification to join a teams meeting, but have an external guest attending, please add their email address as a “Presenter” in the meeting options for setup (See https://it.sites.gettysburg.edu/knowledge-base/unverified-users-in-teams)