New Additions to Microsoft Teams and the Secrets to have Great Meetings

Microsoft Teams has detailed its best practices for creating successful company meetings, utilizing all the latest features it has rolled out since 2020.

Microsoft Teams: Here’s how to have a great meeting

Last year saw the introduction of Large Meetings and Webinars on top of the existing Teams Live Events option for hosting large meetings. But to make it a successful meeting, users should follow Microsoft’s new recommendations to ensure everything goes smoothly from both a social and technical standpoint.

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These features currently allow 1,000-person meetings, where invitees can use chat, audio and video, or a view-only setup that supports up to 10,000 participants. In these scenarios, Microsoft recommends organizers hard mute video for attendees to reduce video bandwidth on a network and remove unintended video sharing.

It’s also outlined best-practice pointers for organizers and presenters, IT admin and support staff, and tips on how to create more interactive and engaging meetings.

Microsoft recommends defining presenters in advance of creating meeting invitations for Webinars and Large Meetings. This way, attendee mics and cameras will be disabled when joining, which helps create an orderly meeting and avoids people talking all at once or over the presenters.

“During the interactive portion of the event, attendees will speak one at a time at a defined location that has a microphone,” Microsoft notes. “This translates nearly verbatim to Webinars and Large Meetings where people are “handed” the microphone by Presenters or Moderators.”

This is done by meeting presenters promoting other attendees to the presenter role. Microsoft Teams also lets users define a co-organizer.

Testing the network is also vital on a corporate network and from home. Microsoft recommends running the Microsoft 365 network connectivity test several days before an event. Presenters working from home should also check if other devices are using the network. They should ideally used a wired connection for more reliable audio, video and screen sharing.

Other useful tips include ensuring all users are on the latest version of Teams. And users should do a dry run prior to an event to check device, lightning or network issues.

Presenters should also use lobby controls and features like spotlight, PowerPoint Live, meeting recording, captions, and transcriptions to boost engagement.

IT admins can do their part on the network side through monitoring features, such as looking at real-time call quality analytics. IT admins can use this to interact with users in real time to address any network problems. Those monitoring a meeting should be set as presenters so they can disable rogue video streams, mute accidentally live mics, and even boot an attendee out of the meeting.

Microsoft notes that Webinars and Live Events can only be scheduled through the Teams client calendar, while standard/large meetings can be scheduled from the Outlook calendar.

Microsoft shares its secrets for perfect Teams meetings

Microsoft recommends establishing presenters, designating co-organizers, and pre-configuring devices before a meeting starts. This should get rid of the awkward start of calls in which people ask if others can hear them. It also makes it easier to stick to a schedule, as roles are defined in advance.

IT admins have a variety of tools and tests that they can use to help meetings run smoothly. For example, real-time data telemetry can be used to spot issues as they occur. The post also shares a list of options that can be used for large meetings, webinars, and Teams Live Events.

Even if a meeting runs well on a technical level, that doesn’t guarantee a productive discussion. Microsoft suggests making meetings interactive through polls, chats, and Q&As. Using different views, such as Dynamic View, Together Mode, and Presenter mode, can stop meetings from growing stale.

What’s New in Microsoft Teams

Microsoft has detailed new features and capabilities that arrived in its Teams collaboration platform in February. This month, the biggest improvements include a new mute notifications feature for meetings, a Compact mode for chats, end-to-end encryption (E2EE) support for mobile, and more.

1. Mute meeting notifications

First up, Microsoft is now rolling out the ability to mute notifications during Teams calls and meetings. The feature has been available in public preview since January, and it should help meeting participants to avoid unwanted distractions. However, it’s up to the users to mute notifications for a specific meeting or all meetings.

How to mute notifications during Microsoft Teams meetings
To mute notifications during a meeting, navigate to the top of the meeting window and click More actions (. . .), and then select the Mute notifications button.

Alternatively, Microsoft Teams users can also choose to disable notifications for all meetings. Head to Settings and more (. . .) >> Settings >> Notifications. Click the Edit button available under the Meetings and Calls section and turn on the Mute notifications during meetings and calls toggle button.

2. Pin or hide your own video

Microsoft is making it possible for attendees to hide their video feed in a Teams meeting. The new functionality should help to reduce meeting fatigue and stay focused during presentations. Microsoft Teams has also added the ability for users to pin their own video on the meeting stage.

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How to Pin or hide your own video in Microsoft Teams meetings
Microsoft Teams desktop users can pin or hide their video by following these steps:

Navigate to the video feed and click on the ellipsis menu (…).
Now, select the Pin for me or Hide for me option as shown below.
Microsoft Teams Pin or hide your own video

3. Pin chat messages

Moving on to chat and collaboration features, Microsoft added a new feature that allows users to pin chat messages in Teams. This new capability should make it easier for chat members to find important messages, announcements, or content. To pin a message, hover over the specific message, click the ellipsis menu (…) and click the Pin option. Once done, any chat participant will be able to click on the pinned message to go to the original message within the chat thread.

4. Compact mode for chats

Microsoft also added the ability for users to customize the number of chat messages to suit their specific needs. With the new Compact mode, Microsoft Teams desktop users can now see 50 percent more messages on the screen. This Compact mode feature is currently supported in the Teams chats, and it’s available for Channel messages.

5. E2EE support for one-to-one Teams calls on mobile and more

Additionally, the Teams calling experience is getting some improvements on mobile. The Microsoft Teams desktop app received end-to-end encryption (E2EE) support for one-to-one Teams calls back in December last year. The company has announced that this capability is now generally available for iOS and Android users.

Finally, Microsoft has finally rolled out HDMI ingest and sharing capabilities for Teams Rooms devices on Android. With this release, meeting attendees can now share content in a meeting by plugging in an external device via HDMI. With PTZ Camera Controls, it is now possible for remote participants to control the zoom and orientation of a camera in Teams Rooms on Windows. Microsoft says that IT Admins will be able to track all the Teams Rooms devices that are configured to use the far-end camera control capability.

Is Microsoft Team free?

Is Microsoft Teams really free? Yes! The free version of Teams includes the following: Chat messages and search.

Do I need to download Microsoft Teams?

If you don’t already have the Teams mobile app, you’ll be taken to your app store to download it. … If you have an Android device, open the app right from the app store page.

Do I need to download Teams to join a meeting?

To get the best of Teams meetings on mobile, including audio, video, and content sharing, you’ll need to download and install the Teams mobile app. If you have the app, select Click here to join the meeting in the meeting invite to open the app and join the meeting.

How do Microsoft Teams use online classes?

Access your online classroom right away in Office 365 Education and Microsoft Teams. Grab your device and your school sign-in information and head into class at Office.com. Open Office.com on your web browser and sign in with your school email and password. Select the Teams app.