Invite guests to MS Teams meetings

You can use Microsoft Teams for meetings with staff and students of Red River College Polytechnic and people outside of Red River College Polytechnic. However, you should review the meeting options in the Change meeting options section when inviting external participants.

Your Teams and Outlook calendars both connect to your Red River College Polytechnic email account. This means that when you schedule a meeting in Teams, it will appear in your Outlook calendar, and vice versa.

You can scroll through all of the Microsoft Teams meeting topics on this page or click the individual topics below:

• Schedule a meeting in Teams (recommended)
• Schedule a meeting in Outlook
• Audio Conferencing
• Change meeting options

Schedule a meeting in Teams (recommended)

1. In Teams, click the Calendar icon on the left‑hand pane, and then click the New meeting button in the top right‑hand corner.
   
2. On the New meeting window; on the Details tab; add a title, attendees (can be internal, external, or an entire Teams channel), and complete the meeting details. On the Scheduling Assistant tab, find a time that works for all your attendees. When you have completed the meeting request, click Send in the top right‑hand corner.
   
3. Red River College Polytechnic attendees can join the meeting automatically by clicking the Join Microsoft Teams Meeting link in the body of the meeting request or the Join button in the Teams calendar event (if it is a channel meeting, they can also join within the channel). External attendees who join the meeting will remain in the Meeting Lobby until you invite them in.
4. If you want to review the meeting options or change the default settings, please refer to the Change meeting options section.

Schedule a meeting in Outlook

1. In Outlook, open the Calendar, to create a meeting request for you and your attendees. On the Home tab, under the Teams Meeting category, click the Teams Meeting button to place a Teams meeting link in the body of your meeting request.
   
2. Complete your meeting request details such as time and date. Take note of the Microsoft Team information in the body of them email, including the link to join the meeting, the phone number, and the Phone Conference ID, and then click Send.
   NOTE: You must have MS Teams Desktop application installed or you will not see the Teams Meeting button. For detailed instructions on installing Teams, please see the Microsoft Teams basic user FAQ – How do I access Microsoft Teams webpage.

   

Audio Conferencing

Audio conferencing enables you to join a meeting via your mobile phone or landline rather than in Teams, so that you can listen to your meeting like a typical phone call. You will not be able to use the Chat feature, but you will be able to share in the audio conversation. You do not have to do anything on your end to enable this feature, it is automatically enabled for all staff. Users can dial the number as referenced in the upper highlight box, and then enter the Phone Conference ID, referenced in the lower highlight box, shown in their Teams meeting invite, when prompted.

Benefits of Audio Conferencing

Calling in to Teams meetings with Audio Conferencing is helpful when participants cannot attend a meeting using the Microsoft Teams app on their laptop or mobile device. This feature is especially useful when:

• Internet connectivity is limited.
• Meeting is audio only.
• People tried to join a Microsoft Teams meeting and it failed.
• Call quality is better when dialed in.
• People find it is easier and more convenient for their situation.

Please visit Microsoft’s Audio Conferencing Common Questions webpage to learn more about the benefits of audio conferencing.

Change meeting options

1. To change the meeting options for a meeting you scheduled in Teams, please refer to Step 2. To change the meeting options for a meeting you scheduled in Outlook, please refer to Step 4.
2. After you send the meeting request, right‑click the event in your Teams calendar, and then select Edit.
   
3. On the meeting details window, click the Meeting options link, and then proceed to Step 5.
   
4. After you send the meeting request, click the Meeting options link in the body of your request, and then proceed to Step 5.
   
5. The default meeting options are set for you to allow internal staff to bypass the lobby.
   
   NOTE: With the default option, external meeting attendees will wait in the Meeting Lobby until you invite them in. This helps to prevent unauthorized users from accessing your meeting and engaging in malicious behaviour. Do NOT change the default meeting options to allow callers to bypass the lobby.
   • Ensure the Always let callers bypass the lobby slider is set to the default No option.
   • The default setting on the Who can present drop‑down menu is set to Everyone. Please visit Microsoft’s Roles in Microsoft Teams meeting webpage for more information about the roles of participants and the specific capabilities of each role.
     • You can change the default setting on the Who can present drop‑down menu to one of the other available options to suit your preference. You can invite Specific people to present only after you send your meeting request.
   • The Allow mic for attendees setting is turned on by default. As the meeting organizer, you can turn it off manually to ensure attendees cannot unmute themselves during the meeting.
   • After selecting from the other meeting options, seen in the image below, click Save.
     
6. To change a participant’s role while a meeting is already in progress:
   • Click Show participants in the meeting controls to see a list of the people in the meeting.
   • Hover over the name of the person whose role you want to change, and then click More options. From there, select Make a presenter or Make an attendee.

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