Much like the improvements and evolution of the Microsoft 365 suite, Microsoft have taken a simple Teams function customers have come to rely on and developed it to suit every occasion. Teams Meetings refers to the video calling functionality within Microsoft Teams, however, Teams Meetings is far more than just a video conferencing tool, as you’ll find out below.
Three Teams Meetings Options
Teams offers three different types of meetings:
Standard Teams Meeting
The standard Teams Meetings are what most of us are familiar with. Using Microsoft Teams Meetings enable groups of people to meet over a video call which has either been scheduled through Teams Calendar or Outlook, or as an impromptu, unscheduled call. With features and functionality to help groups of users to collaborate, such as a plethora of Teams Apps, file sharing, whiteboards, recordings, and of course, chat. The limitation of Teams Meetings is 300 users (at the time of writing), which most will find more than enough for their needs. Of course, if you find the need to cater for a larger audience, you can schedule a Teams Webinar.
Teams Webinars
Teams Webinars are very much like Teams Meetings, with a few key differences. As the name suggests, Teams Webinars has been designed for a larger audience, but retains the look and feel of a standard Teams Meeting. With up to 1,000 active participants, Teams Webinar is the ideal way for businesses to demonstrate industry and thought leadership. Webinar recordings can be used for future audiences, something that we see great value in for those who aren’t available to join a live webinar.
As you might expect, Microsoft have given great thought to the details. For customers with a broad reach, Teams Webinars provides view only access to the audience above 1,000. This means that for attendees 1,001 and above, they can experience the webinar without the ability to interact with the presenter.
Teams Webinars provides a registration page from which the organisers can create registration and attendee reports. Registrants benefit from an email invitation with a single button to add the webinar to their calendar. One of the benefits of using Teams Webinars is that organisers can automatically integrate the data into a CRM, to nurture attendees with follow up emails and discussions to help them on their journey.
Teams Live Events
For businesses that have requirements beyond 1,000 participants, and who want to deliver a powerful message on a large scale, Teams Live Events is likely the tool you need. Capable of holding up to 20,000 attendees, Teams Live Events is the ultimate Teams meeting. Producers have the ability to manage multiple cameras and microphones, and even switch between presenters. Presenters can focus on delivering professional presentations, without having to worry about what the attendees are seeing.
The audience, much like a live TV show, are unable to interact with the presenter. However, a live Q & A feature enables the presenters to respond to questions at the right moment, to avoid breaking the flow in delivery.
How to get started with Teams Meetings
Standard Teams Meetings can be scheduled through Outlook Calendar, Outlook Online Calendar, or through Teams Calendar. To call an individual or a group of people, you can also make an unscheduled call directly from the relevant chat window, in the top right-hand corner.
Teams Live Events and Teams Webinars must be scheduled through Teams Calendar, where a dropdown allows you to select the relevant Teams Meeting type.
Everything you need to get started with Microsoft Teams
We understand that your time is short. So we've collated all the information you need to get started with, and to get the most from Microsoft Teams. Choose the format you prefer, from on-demand videos, articles and guides, to workshops and deployment options. Click here to discover everything you need to get started with Microsoft Teams.
You can browse our on-demand webinars and events, to see these tools in action, but we recommend that presenters and producers practise before the big day. Microsoft have made every effort to provide powerful tools that help you to wow your audience. It’s worth putting in the time to provide a truly unforgettable experience.
If you’d like to discuss any aspect of Teams or the wider Microsoft 365 suite, click here to email us, or call on +44 20 7626 0516.
