How to Set Up a Microsoft Teams Meeting for First-Time Users
This guide is designed to help you set up a Microsoft Teams meeting for the first time.
It should also help you learn how to the different variations of Microsoft Teams meetings and the features at your disposal before, during, and after a meeting.
Here’s how to get started. If you’re already using Teams, you can jump to the section most relevant below:
How to start a Microsoft Teams meeting
You can set up your Microsoft Teams meeting either through the Teams app or Microsoft Outlook.
The meeting looks the same bothways.
- And I agree – using Teams with just one account is the most simple use case. However, it is not the real world to everyone: so here is a Survival Guide that will make it a bit easier. Usual scenarios for having to use multiple accounts are: customers or partners are creating an account for you in their organization, instead of inviting you to.
- You can join a Teams meeting anytime, from any device, whether or not you have a Teams account. If you don't have an account, follow these steps to join as a guest. Note: Some meetings don't allow people to join as guests. Go to the meeting invite and select Join Microsoft Teams Meeting.
Projects, productions, and other business elements can benefit from Microsoft Teams. For businesses already using Skype for Business, the Microsoft Teams client will replace the Skype client, but all additional existing functionality will remain the same. Using Microsoft Teams. Microsoft Teams is incredibly straightforward and user-friendly. Microsoft Teams is used by many organizations across the world, so there might be a day when you get an invite to a Teams Meeting for a job interview or another occasion. However, you might not.
You can decide which you want to use based on what makes the most sense to your company.
Microsoft is all about making meetings flexible so there are four ways that you can launch a discussion with your team:
- Ad-hoc meetings: Created by clicking the “Meet Now” button to get everyone involved in a conversation as quickly as possible.
- Private meetings: 1-on-1 conversations with specific colleagues or employees.
- Channel meetings: Group conversations with an entire team or group of people.
- Consultation meetings: Like in a telemedicine example where doctors and patients meet one to one.
How to Meet Now in Microsoft Teams
If you want to “Meet Now” in Microsoft Teams, you’re probably looking for the quickest way to get all of the people in a channel talking.
All you need to do is select the little camera icon in a new or existing conversations.
In your video preview, enter a name for your meeting, and click Meet Now.
Click on the names of the people you want to invite to your meeting.
You can also type phone numbers if you want to add people from outside of your organization to the discussion.
If you want to joina meeting using Meet Now, look for the camera icon in a conversation and click Jump In.
If you want to sharea screen during your meeting, click the screen icon to show your screen to the other people you’re talking to.
The ellipses icon will give you other in-meeting controls, including the option to record the meeting and have it emailed to you.
How to schedule a Microsoft Teams meeting
You can schedule Microsoft Teams meetings using your Exchange calendar.
Your calendar in Teams is automatically synced to your Exchange calendar.
Every meeting scheduled in Teams automatically becomes an online meeting.
To schedule a meeting in a chat window, select the icon that looks like a calendar in the chat below the box where you usually type your messages.
You can also go to the Calendar tab on the left-hand side of the app and click on New Meeting.
Select a range of time within the calendar and Teams will open a scheduling form, where you can give your meeting a title, invite people, and add meeting details.
Microsoft Teams also has a Scheduling Assistant you can use to find a time that works for everyone.
Once you’ve got all the details ironed out, click Save. This closes the scheduling form and sends an invite to everyone’s inbox.
To create a channel meeting, click on New Meeting and type the name of one or more channels into the box that says Add Channel.
Channels can’t be added or edited after you’ve sent your invites.
You’ll need to send a new invite if you decide to add extra channels later.
When you have a channel meeting, everyone in the team can see and join that channel.
Once again, you can use the Scheduling Assistant with a channel meeting.
You can also use dropdown boxes on your calendar to add a recurring meeting to everyone’s calendar.
Do I Need A Microsoft Account To Use Teams Online
Remember, in a Microsoft Exchange calendar, all Microsoft Teams Meetings will show a Join button five minutes before a meeting is set to start.
When someone joins a meeting, the event changes colors to let you know that someone’s online.
How to schedule a Microsoft Teams meeting from Outlook
You can also schedule your Microsoft Teams Meetings from Outlook.
The Microsoft Teams Outlook add-in allows people to view, accept, or enter meetings from Teams, or Outlook.
To schedule a meeting, open Outlook and click on New Teams Meeting in the calendar view.
Add the people that you want to include in the meeting to the To field.
If you want a bunch of people to join the meeting at once, you can invite entire contact groups.
Add your meeting subject, as well as a location, start time, and end time, then click Send to inform your team.
You can also invite people outside of your organization to a Teams Meeting from Outlook.
All you need to do is add them as guests before the meeting starts, so they don’t need to join anonymously.
Add guests to your team by selecting Teams then visiting the team in your list. Click on … (More Options) > Add member.
Enter the email address of the guest.
Anyone with a business or consumer account can join your team as a guest.
You can also edit guest information to give them a name.
Click Add to send a welcome email to your guest.
Customize your Microsoft Teams background
Video conferencing is a great way to bring teams together, regardless of where your users are. However, people may be reluctant to join a video meeting if their environment is messy or distracting.
The good news? Microsoft Teams changes all that.
You can blur everything behind you in a video, for absolute privacy.
To do this, simply:
- Click on your audio and video settings screen when you join a meeting
- Choose the ellipses “…” for more options
- Tap on Blur my background
You can also add custom backgrounds like an office environment or company logo, rather than blurring out the background.
Do I Need A Microsoft Account To Use Teams App
Microsoft Teams Custom Backgrounds
Microsoft introduced virtual backgrounds for Microsoft Teams in April 2020. Microsoft said it designed custom backgrounds to let you replace your real meeting background with a “fresh and bright home office.”
To find virtual backgrounds, launch a video chat and tap the … menu:
Click Show background effects.
This will bring up a sidebar with some alternative background options.
You can only use stock photos from Microsoft for now but watch this space.
For something more advanced, and to stand out in front of your boss, colleagues, or clients, you can opt for a third-party background.
To download a selection of premium Microsoft Teams backgrounds, you can choose from 300 high-quality images here.
How to add members to Microsoft Teams Meetings
The are various ways that you can add people to a meeting in Microsoft Teams.
For instance, if you have Anonymous Join enabled, then anyone can join the conference as an anonymous user by clicking on a meeting link invitation.
You can turn Anonymous Join on by visiting the Microsoft Teams admin center, clicking on Meetings > Meeting Settings > Participants:
If you want more control over who attends your meetings, toggle this switch off, and send invitations to individual team members instead.
As well as inviting everyone in a channel or conversation to a meeting at once, you can also send an email and phone number invitations too.
Before a meeting, you can use the Invite People box when you start your meeting to search for people and invite whoever you like.
When you’re in a meeting, click on Show participants icon your meeting controls to see who’s there, who’s been invited, and who isn’t there yet.
To ask someone to join a meeting, you can click on More Options (…), then Ask to Join.
Alternatively, type a person’s name into the search box (if they’re in your organization), or their phone number or email address.
Want to customize your meeting invitations?
Click on Meetings > Meeting Settings > Email invitation.
Here, you can customize the logo that shows up in your email invitation, as well as the footer, to make your invite seem more professional.
How to see everyone in Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams allows for up to 250 people to participate in a single Teams meeting.
But, this doesn’t mean you can see all users at the same time. Until recently, Teams only allowed users to view the 4 last active participants in a video call.
As part of the thirdanniversary of Microsoft Teams celebration on the 20th of March, Microsoft rolled out various updates, including a new ability to see up to 9 people in a meeting at the same time.
The upgrade to simultaneously being able to view 9 participants came with a few exciting other features for Microsoft Teams meetings, like:
- Background blur for iOS devices
- Enhanced audio even when using networks with high packet loss
- Booking apps added to teams
- Custom backgrounds for video meetings
- A raise handsfeature to let your colleagues know you have something to say
- The option to formally end meetings for all Teams participants at the same time
The new 9-person view for Microsoft Teams will feature a 3×3 grid of the most active people in your meeting.
The option will be rolled out incrementally so keep checking your Teams meetings for this.
Choosing what you want to see in a Teams meeting
Although you can’t switch from one screen layout to another in a Teams meeting, Microsoft anticipates what you need to see during conversations.
When someone is speaking, they’ll be added to the roster of the 9 videos you can see on your screen at once.
There are also a few ways to choosewhat you want to see in a Teams meeting, like:
- Pinning the video: If you need to focus on a particular person during a video conference, right-click on the video you want to pin and select Pin.This keeps the video feed on your screen, no matter who’s talking.
- Switching between content: When a video presentation appears, you can switch between viewing the content and watching other people in the room. Click on the video you’re interested in to focus on a particular person or presentation.
- Reframing your video: If you want a different view of a specific video, right-click on the content and click fit to frame.Choose fill frameto get a closer, more cropped view.
In-meeting controls and what you can do with Microsoft Teams
As an admin, you’ll be able to use your Meetings settings to control plenty of factors, including whether anonymous people can join teams and more.
You can:
- Allow audio conferencing: With an audio conferencing license, people will be able to dial-in to your meetings from over 90 different countries.
- Set up a virtual lobby: Any attendees not in your organization will appear in a virtual lobby by default with Microsoft Teams. This allows you to choose who should have access to the conversation.
- Mute attendees: In large meetings, you can click on the Mute option on an attendee’s profile to stop them from disturbing other people in your group. You can also unmute them later, or mute everyone but yourself.
- Screen or application sharing: Click on the screen icon on your Microsoft Teams meeting to share your screen. If you only want to share a specific window or application, you can choose exactly how much to share.
- Interactive troubleshooting: Teams will automatically tell you if it detects any problems. For instance, you’ll get a notification if you’re trying to speak to your team when you’re muted.
- Call analytics and recordings: Clicking the … More Options button on Teams will allow you to record a meeting, which can be sent straight to your inbox after the discussion is finished. Microsoft also offers a range of analytics to help troubleshoot potential issues with your meetings too.
More from Microsoft Teams
Hopefully, this guide has presented itself useful for first-time or returning Microsoft Teams users and admins.
To start taking full advantage of Microsoft Teams, I’ve included our Microsoft Teams library that you and your team (no pun intended) should find useful:
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-->What are add-on licenses?
Add-on licenses are licenses for specific Microsoft Teams features. They give you the flexibility to add features only for users in your organization who need them. To add a feature, buy one add-on license for each user who will use it.
What features can I get with add-on licenses?
Here's a list of features that you can add with Teams add-on licenses. The add-on licensing options available to you depend on the Microsoft 365 or Office 365 plan you have.
Do I Need A Microsoft Account To Use Teams Download
| Feature | Description | Small business (<300 users) | Large business (>300 users) |
| Microsoft 365 Business Voice | Business Voice is a telephony solution designed for small and medium businesses of up to 300 users that bundles Phone System, Audio Conferencing, a Domestic Calling Plan, and more. Phone System capabilities that you'll get include voicemail, caller ID, call park, call forwarding, auto attendants, and call queues. To find out whether Business Voice is available in your country or region, see Country and region availability for Business Voice. For pricing info, see Pricing for Business Voice. | ✓ | |
| Audio Conferencing | Sometimes people in your organization will need to use a phone to call in to a Teams meeting instead their computer. Set up Audio Conferencing for users who schedule or lead meetings. To find out whether Audio Conferencing is available in your country or region, see Country and region availability for Audio Conferencing and Calling Plans. For pricing info, see Pricing for Audio Conferencing. If you're a small or medium-sized business with up to 300 users and you currently don’t have Audio Conferencing licenses, you can get Audio Conferencing free for one year. Starting October 1, 2020, the free Audio Conferencing offer is available to users who have Microsoft 365 Business Basic, Business Standard, Business Premium, Enterprise E1, or Enterprise E3 licenses. To learn more, see Set up Audio Conferencing for small and medium businesses. | ✓ | ✓ |
| Toll free numbers | If you want toll-free numbers for Audio Conferencing, auto attendants, or call queues, you must set up Communications Credits. | ✓ | ✓ |
| Phone System | Phone System is a hosted telephone service that gives you call control and Private Branch Exchange (PBX) capabilities, with options for connecting to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). Phone System features include cloud voicemail, caller ID, call park, call forwarding, auto attendants, call queues, call transfer, caller ID, and more. To learn more, see Here's what you get with Phone System. For pricing info, see Pricing for Phone System. | ✓1 | ✓ |
| Calling Plans | If you want users to be able to call phone numbers outside your organization, get a Calling Plan. There are Domestic Calling Plans and Domestic and International Calling Plans. For pricing info, see Pricing for Calling Plans. | ✓1 | ✓ |
| Microsoft Teams Rooms | Microsoft Teams Rooms isn't an add-on, but a feature that brings video, audio, and content sharing to conference rooms. See Teams Meeting Room Licensing. | ✓ | ✓ |
| Advanced Communications | Advanced Communications includes advanced meetings customization and tools to manage your organization's communication policies. Additional features include custom branded meeting lobby to tailor your meetings, and tools to monitor, track, and analyze data on users and devices. | ✓ | ✓ |
1 If you're a small or medium-sized business who has a Microsoft 365 Enterprise plan, you can still buy add-on licenses for these voice features, however, we recommend that you consider a Microsoft 365 Business plan and Business Voice.
What voice features are available with my plan?
See what add-on licenses you need to get voice features in Teams, depending on the plan you have.
Depending on the voice features that you want, we recommend comparing whether it's more cost effective for you to switch to a plan that includes those features. For example, for most large organizations, buying a bundle of software in a Microsoft 365 Enterprise plan will result in lower overall cost. Typically, when you buy several add-on licenses individually instead of as part of a plan, you may end up with a higher combined cost.
If you're a small or medium-sized business (less than 300 users), you have four ways to get voice features:
- Buy a Microsoft 365 Business plan and Microsoft 365 Business Voice.
- Buy an Enterprise E1 or E3 plan and Microsoft 365 Business Voice.
- Buy an Enterprise E1 or E3 plan and add voice features individually.
- Buy an Enterprise E5 plan, which includes voice features.
For Microsoft 365 Business Voice, you have two options to choose from:
- Microsoft 365 Business Voice with a Calling Plan: Get this if you want all phone number management and billing to be handled by Microsoft.
- Microsoft 365 Business Voice without a Calling Plan (Direct Routing): Get this if you want all phone number management and billing to be handled by your third-party telephone provider. You'll need to set up and deploy Direct Routing to connect your on-premises Session Border Controllers (SBCs) to Microsoft 365 or Office 365.
To learn more, see What do I need to buy to use Microsoft 365 Business Voice?.
Here's a summary based on licensing plan.
| Small business (<300 people) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Base plan | Voice calling and conferencing options | ||||
| Microsoft 365 Business Basic Microsoft 365 Business StandardMicrosoft 365 Business Premium | Microsoft 365 Business Voice International Calling Plan (optional)Communication Credits | Or | Microsoft 365 Business Voice without calling plan Audio Conferencing Communication Credits | Or | Audio Conferencing Communication Credits |
| Microsoft 365 Enterprise E1/E3 Office 365 Enterprise E1/E3 Microsoft 365 F3 Office 365 F3 Office 365 F1 | Microsoft 365 Business Voice International Calling Plan (optional)Communication Credits | Or | Microsoft 365 Business Voice without calling plan | Or | Audio Conferencing Phone System Domestic Calling Plan Domestic and International Calling Plan (optional) Communication Credits |
| Microsoft 365 Enterprise E5 Office 365 Enterprise E5 | Domestic Calling Plan Domestic and International Calling Plan (optional) Communication Credits | ||||
If Audio Conferencing isn't supported in your country or region, you have the option to get a Microsoft 365 Enterprise E5 without Audio Conferencing plan or an Office 365 Enterprise E5 without Audio Conferencing plan.
If you already have a Microsoft 365 Enterprise or Office 365 Enterprise plan, you can still buy add-on licenses for individual voice features. However, you have the option to switch to a Microsoft 365 Business plan and Microsoft 365 Business Voice. In some cases, depending on the features that you want, it might be more cost effective to get a Microsoft 365 Business plan with Microsoft 365 Business Voice.
Note
If you need to use a third-party telephone service, Direct Routing is deployed in your organization, or if Calling Plans aren't available in your country or region, you need to use Direct Routing for voice features.
If you're a large business or enterprise organization (more than 300 users), you have two ways to get voice features:
- Buy an Enterprise E1 or E3 plan and add voice features individually.
- Buy an Enterprise E5 plan, which includes voice features.
Here's a summary, based on licensing plan.
| Enterprise business (>300 people) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Base plan | Voice calling and conferencing options | |
| Microsoft 365 Enterprise E1/E3 Office 365 Enterprise E1/E3 Microsoft 365 F3 Office 365 F3 | Audio Conferencing Phone System Domestic Calling Plan Domestic and International Calling Plan (optional) Communication Credits | |
| Microsoft 365 Enterprise E5 Office 365 Enterprise E5 | Domestic Calling Plan Domestic and International Calling Plan (optional) Communication Credits | |
If Audio Conferencing isn't supported in your country or region, you have the option to get a Microsoft 365 Enterprise E5 without Audio Conferencing plan or an Office 365 Enterprise E5 without Audio Conferencing plan.
To learn more, see Microsoft 365 Enterprise plans and Office 365 Enterprise plans.
Note
If you need to use a third-party telephone service, Direct Routing is deployed in your organization, or if Calling Plans aren't available in your country or region, you need to use Direct Routing for voice features.
For schools and other academic organizations, you have three ways to get voice features.
- Buy an EDU A1 or A3 plan and Microsoft 365 Business Voice.
- Buy an EDU A1 or A3 plan and add voice features individually.
- Buy an EDU A5 plan, which includes voice features.
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Here's a summary, based on licensing plan.
| Education | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Base plan | Voice calling and conferencing options | ||
| Microsoft 365 Enterprise A1 or A3 Office 365 Education A1 or A3 Microsoft 365 F3 Office 365 F3 | Microsoft 365 Business Voice 1 International Calling Plan (optional) Domestic Calling Plan Domestic and International Calling Plan (optional) Communication Credits | Or | Microsoft 365 Business Voice without Calling Plan1 |
| Microsoft 365 Education A1 or A3 Office 365 Education A1 or A3 Microsoft 365 F3 Office 365 F3 | Microsoft 365 Business Voice 1 International Calling Plan (optional) Domestic Calling Plan Domestic and International Calling Plan (optional) Communication Credits | Or | Microsoft 365 Business Voice without Calling Plan1 |
| Microsoft 365 Education A5 Office 365 Education A5 | Domestic Calling Plan Domestic and International Calling Plan (optional) Communication Credits | ||
How To Use Microsoft Teams Youtube
1 Only available for organizations with fewer than 300 users.
To learn more, see Microsoft 365 Education and Office 365 Education plans.
Note
If you need to use a third-party telephone service, Direct Routing is deployed in your organization, or if Calling Plans aren't available in your country or region, you need to use Direct Routing for voice features.
For US government organizations (GCC only), there are three ways to get voice features.
- Buy a GOV G1 or G3 plan and Microsoft 365 Business Voice.
- Buy a GOV G1 or G3 plan and add cloud voice features individually.
- Buy a GOV G5 plan, which includes voice features.
Here's a summary, based on licensing plan.
| Government | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Base plan | Voice calling and conferencing options | ||
| Microsoft 365 GOV G1 or G3 Office 365 GOV G1 or G3 Microsoft 365 F3 Office 365 F3 | Microsoft 365 Business Voice 1 International Calling Plan (optional) Communication Credits | Or | Microsoft 365 Business Voice without Calling Plan1 |
| Microsoft 365 GOV G1 or G3 Office 365 GOV G1 or G3 Microsoft 365 F3 Office 365 F3 | Microsoft 365 Business Voice 1 International Calling Plan (optional) Communication Credits | Or | Audio Conferencing Phone System Domestic Calling Plan Domestic and International Calling Plan (optional) Communication Credits |
| Microsoft 365 GOV G5 Office 365 GOV G5 | Domestic Calling Plan Domestic and International Calling Plan (optional) Communication Credits | ||
1 Only available for organizations with fewer than 300 users.
To learn more, see Microsoft 365 Government and Office 365 Government plans.
Note
If you need to use a third-party telephone service, Direct Routing is deployed in your organization, or if Calling Plans aren't available in your country or region, you need to use Direct Routing for voice features.
If you're a nonprofit organization, you have four ways to get voice features.
- Buy a Microsoft 365 Nonprofit Business Basic or Microsoft 365 Nonprofit Business Standard plan and Microsoft 365 Business Voice.
- Buy a Nonprofit E1 or E3 plan and Microsoft 365 Business Voice.
- Buy a Nonprofit E1 or E3 plan and add voice features individually.
- Buy a Nonprofit E5, which includes voice features.
Here's a summary, based on licensing plan.
| Nonprofits | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Base plan | Voice calling and conferencing options | ||
| Microsoft 365 Nonprofit Business Basic Microsoft 365 Nonprofit Business Standard | Microsoft 365 Business Voice 1 International Calling Plan (optional) Communication Credits | Or | Microsoft 365 Business Voice without Calling Plan1 |
| Microsoft 365 Nonprofit E1 or E3 Office 365 Nonprofit E1 or E3 Microsoft 365 F3 Office 365 F3 | Microsoft 365 Business Voice 1 International Calling Plan (optional) Communication Credits | Or | Microsoft 365 Business Voice without Calling Plan1 |
| Microsoft 365 Nonprofit E1 or E3 Office 365 Nonprofit E1 or E3 Microsoft 365 F3 Office 365 F3 | Audio Conferencing Phone System Domestic Calling Plan Domestic and International Calling Plan (optional) Communication Credits | ||
| Microsoft 365 Nonprofit E5 Office 365 Nonprofit E5 | Domestic Calling Plan Domestic and International Calling Plan (optional) Communication Credits | ||
1 Only available for organizations with fewer than 300 users.
To learn more, see Microsoft 365 and Office 365 Nonprofit offers.
Note
If you need to use a third-party telephone service, Direct Routing is deployed in your organization, or if Calling Plans aren't available in your country or region, you need to use Direct Routing for voice features.
Trial offers for licensing plans
In response to an increased need for people to work remotely (or work from home), Microsoft has several free Teams trial offers for government, educational, and non-profit organizations. Trials are available for these plans:
- Office 365 Enterprise E1 trial (discontinued as of July 1, 2020), E3 trial, and E5 trial
- Office 365 Education A1 trial
- Office 365 Government G1 trial (discontinued as of July 1, 2020)
To sign up for a trial offer, see Sign up for a trial offer.
Trial offers for voice features
Here's a summary of voice feature trial offers.
| Trial Offers | |
|---|---|
| Voice calling and conferencing options | Description |
| Microsoft 365 Business Voice Trial | Shows you the features for domestic voice calling, audio conferencing, and advanced voice features like auto attendants and call queues. |
| Microsoft 365 Business Voice Trial Microsoft 365 Domestic and International Calling Plan Trial | Show you the features for domestic and international voice calling, audio conferencing, and advanced voice features like auto attendants and queues. |
| Microsoft 365 Domestic Calling Plan trial | Show you the features for domestic voice calling. |
| Microsoft 365 Domestic and International Calling Plan Trial | Show you the features for domestic and international calling. |
| Microsoft 365 Audio Conferencing trial | Shows you the feature for audio conferencing. |
| Microsoft 365 Phone system - Virtual user | Shows you the advanced voice features like auto attendants and call queues. |
| Common Area Phone Trial | Shows you the features for common area phones. |
Your base plan doesn't have to be a trial offer to use any of these trials for voice features. You can use a Microsoft 365 Business plan or an Enterprise, Government, Education, or Nonprofit plan with any of the trial offers for voice features. To see available trial offers and add-ons, in the Microsoft 365 admin center, go to Billing > Purchase services, select Other categories that might interest you, and then select Add-ons.
For each these voice and conferencing options, Communications Credits are required if you have toll-free numbers or if you need to add additional minutes for users to dial out from meetings or for users to make domestic and international PSTN calls.
Also, check out:
- Teams Exploratory experience - currently there are no trial offers for voice features for use with the Teams Exploratory experience.
- Microsoft Phone System - Virtual User license
Need help?
Need to talk to someone about the add-on options? Contact support for business products - Admin Help.
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