Video Calls and Meetings with Teams
Calls vs Meetings
Video calls and video meetings are similar but there are some differences.
- Meetings can be scheduled in advance
- Meetings have breakout rooms
Desktop App vs Web App
You can use Teams meetings and calls from the desktop app or the web app. The web app has some limitations. Microsoft has an article that details the differences between using Teams on different platforms.
The web app has these limitations
- Only one active speaker
- No together mode
- No background blur
- No custom background
- No live captions
Settings
Audio and Video Settings
You can check your audio and video settings before making a call.
- In Teams click your icon in the top right corner
- Select Settings
- Select Devices
- Check your microphone, speaker and camera settings as needed.
- Click Make a test call if you want to test your set up
- Click the X in the top right to close the window
Make A Call
- In Teams click the Calls button on the far left
- In the lower part of the Calls column enter a name or an Evergreen email address
- Multiple names can be entered
- At the bottom click the phone icon to start an audio call or the camera icon to start a video call
Video Meetings
Meetings can be scheduled from Teams or via Outlook. Below are the steps for using Teams. Please see Microsoft's documentation on Scheduling a meeting in Teams
Schedule a Meeting from within Teams
- In Teams click the Calendar button on the left
- In the top right click +New Meeting
- The New Meeting window will appear. You can use the Details tab or click Scheduling Assistant
- Add a Title
- Add required attendees
- Click Optional if you have optional attendees
- Fill in the date and time
- Type a message if needed
- Click Send in the top right
Schedule a Channel Meeting
- In Teams open the channel that you want to invite
- In the top right corner, click the camera icon to access the meeting scheduling options. Select Schedule a meeting
- Fill in the details: Provide a meeting title, date, time. You can use the top Scheduling Assistant tab to check availability of team members for open times.
- Select Send personal invites switch to make sure each member gets an invite added to their personal calendar.
- More options such as adding guests outside of the channel, restricting who can present etc...
- Send the invite: Click Send to create the channel meeting and send invitations to participants. If there are changes, you can edit invite details and resend.
Meeting Options
A few meeting settings can be set before the meeting. If you are meeting with a co-worker or classmates the default settings may be fine. If this is a public meeting you should check the settings. Microsoft has an article detailing the options
Settings include:
- Who can bypass the lobby?
- Always let callers bypass the lobby
- Announce when callers join or leave
- Who can present?
- Allow attendees to unmute
- In Teams click the Calendar button on the left
- Find the meeting and double click it to edit the meeting.
- Click the Meeting Options button
- Note Safari is not supported on macOS
- The Meeting Options window will open in a web browser
- Configure settings as needed
- Click Save
Starting a Meeting
- In Teams click the Calendar button on the left
- Find the meeting and click once
- Click the Join button
- In the new window you can select your audio and video settings.
- When ready click Join Now