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 meeting 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.
If you need further assistance, contact the IT Help Desk.