Hosting Teams meetings
Channel meetings vs. private meetings
Teams meetings can occur on an invite-only basis, or they can be made more public to everyone in a Teams channel. The main difference is in who is notified when the meeting is scheduled or when the meeting begins:
- When a channel meeting begins, Teams will attempt to notify all members of the channel that a meeting has begun, and the channel feed will be updated to say that a channel meeting has begun.
- When a private meeting begins, Teams will not attempt to notify anyone, and no channel feeds will be updated.
Guest accounts and real accounts have different capabilities with respect to Teams meetings
| Feature | Available to Guests | Available to real accounts |
|---|---|---|
| Un-scheduled channel meetings | Yes | Yes |
| Scheduled channel meetings | No | Yes |
| Meeting can include a phone number | No | Yes, but only if the real account user has a 'Teams Audio' license associated with their username |
| Meeting links can be added with a single click when creating a calendar event | No | Yes |
| Private meetings | No | Yes |
Creating a meeting using a Guest account
When starting a Teams meeting as a Guest user, Teams will create an impromptu channel meeting with a unique link. You must then send the link to people who will attend the meeting. The meeting link for a given channel's meeting does not change from time to time, so you can use the same link for every meeting.
To host a meeting with a Guest account:
- Log in to Teams
- Select the proper Team and channel to use for your meeting. When you start a channel meeting, Teams will attempt to notify everyone in that channel (which is usually everyone in the Team) that a meeting has begun. If you select the wrong channel, the wrong people will be notified.
- Whichever team and channel you have selected when you perform the next step and click the video camera icon in the upper right corner. This will start an instant meeting, and a link will be provided with which you can invite people to the meeting.
Using a real RMR email account
Private meetings are the easiest way to create a meeting:
- Log in to Teams
- Go to 'Calendar' in the left rail
- Click on "New Event" in the upper right
- Add a meeting title, add invitees, set the recurrence schedule if applicable, and add a meeting description
However, scheduled channel meetings are useful for continuity. Using a scheduled channel meeting, the meeting will remain in place even after you stop serving RMR and someone succeeds you.