This article will cover how to start and schedule meetings in Microsoft Teams, as well as showcase available features in meetings.
Part I - How to Start an Impromptu Meeting (Meet now)
To start an impromptu meeting:
Click on the Calendar tab:
In the upper-right corner, click on Meet now:
The ‘Start a meeting now’ dialogue will appear. Click on ‘Get a link to share’ if you would like to have a shareable link to the meeting, otherwise, click ‘Start meeting’.
A pre-meeting screen will appear and allow you to change your camera, microphone, headset, etc. When you are ready, click “Join now”:
Part II - How to Schedule Meetings
To schedule meetings, including recurring meetings:
Via Teams
Click on the Calendar tab:
Go to the date where you want to have your meeting and click on the time you want your meeting to start:
This will open the meeting dialogue box, where you can customize your meeting options:
Note - to make a meeting into a recurring meeting, change the “Do not repeat” drop-down box to your preferred recurrence.
There is a caveat when scheduling meetings via Microsoft Teams - if you do not add a particpant, a virtual meeting link will NOT be generated for you. If you add someone as a participant, Teams will then make a virtual meeting link. This problem does not exist in Outlook - read on for further instructions.
Via Outlook
Open the Calendar on Outlook:
Click on the day you wish to schedule your meeting:
Click on the ‘New Teams Meeting’ button on the ribbon:
This will open the meeting dialogue box, where you can customize your meeting options:
Note - to make a meeting into a recurring meeting, click on the “Make Recurring” button (see image above) and change the options to your preferred recurrence.
Part III - Meeting Features
While you are in a meeting, multiple features are available to you. Meeting features include (from left to right):
Note - The meeting host will have more options than an attendee in a meeting.
Chat - Access the meeting’s text chat.
People - Opens the Participants menu, where you can type in names and add attendees manually as needed:
Raise - Notifies the meeting you would like to speak or respond in a show of hands:
React - Send a reaction to the meeting.
View - Change how others are displayed during the meeting.
Rooms - Create breakout rooms for your meeting.
Apps - Add apps to your meeting.
More - Expanding more provides even further options:
Record and transcribe - Begin recording your meeting, or begin audio transcribing in real-time.
Meeting info - Provide more information about the meeting link.
Meeting notes - Allows you to take meeting notes from within Teams.
Background effects - Add a custom background filter to your camera view.
Language and speech - Allows you to turn on live captioning.
Settings - Access device settings (camera, webcam) and other functions here.
Camera - Turn your camera on or off.
Mic - Turn your mic on or off.
Share - Share your screen with the meeting.
Leave - Leave the meeting.
How to Share Your Screen in a Meeting
When you are in a meeting, you have the option to share your screen with the other participants. To do so:
Click on the Share button:
Select which screen you want to share and click on it.
Toggle the ‘include computer sound’ option on if you want to share the audio from your device.
A red border will appear around the screen you are sharing. The control panel at the top features more options when sharing:
1. Change how your webcam is displayed with the content you are sharing.
2. Allow another participant to control your computer.
3. The left button starts annotation, and the right button toggles your ‘include computer sound’ option on or off.
4. Stop sharing your screen.
The pin button to the right of this option will make it so that this control panel stays on your screen.
If you need further assistance, contact the IT Help Desk.