FAQs for Microsoft Teams meetings

Can I schedule a meeting on behalf of my manager?

Yes, but at the moment, you’ll need to use Outlook to schedule a Microsoft Teams meeting on their behalf. When the meeting is scheduled in Outlook, open the invite then click Meeting options to set permissions for who can present and record the meeting.

Your manager can then start the meeting by clicking Join in the meeting request you created.

What security measures can I put in place to ensure that only committee members access meeting documentation?

Some committee meetings have regular members in attendance and then additional individuals may only need to attend a short portion of the meeting to give feedback or share new information. These guests do not require access to any of the committee’s documentation, instead they only need to be a part of the meeting for their allocated timeslot.

In this case, the most secure way to schedule such a meeting is via a channel in Teams. Only those who have been given access to the channel will be able to access the meeting’s content, view chat histories and access meeting recordings. Meeting guests will not be able to access any of the channel’s content, not even the meeting chat. They only have access to join the meeting.

It is worthwhile noting though, that you currently cannot schedule meetings in a private channel.

See how you can meet in a team channel.

What are the default settings for scheduling a meeting in Teams?

All UCT staff and students have access to Microsoft Teams. This means that anyone at UCT can schedule a Teams meeting – either directly in Microsoft Teams, or via Outlook. You can also invite external parties by inserting their email address in the meeting invite.

Microsoft Teams allows you to create either a public or private team. However, for security and privacy reasons at UCT, we recommend that you only create private teams. Private teams are only accessible to those who are team members. Similarly, with channels, those created within a team can be viewed by all team members – unless it’s a private channel. In this case, only those invited to the private channel can view its contents. If a team owner is not part of the private channel, they can only see the channel name and not its contents. Remember though, you currently cannot schedule meetings in a private channel.

Can I set up a shared calendar in a Teams channel?

You can now set up a calendar per channel, making it easier to manage events. This option is not available for guests, so you will to invite them directly.

In Microsoft Teams, if I invite external people to a meeting via a channel, can they view its contents?

No. External people cannot view any content in a channel unless they are members of that team or channel.

Can everyone in a team view my channel’s meeting content?

If you want everyone in a team to have access to your channel’s meeting content (i.e. chat, recordings, and documentation), make your channel standard.
If you only want specific people to view your channel’s content, then make your channel private. You just won't be able to schedule meetings in a private channel. You can then manage content in one of these ways. Here, we use UCT’s Properties & Services (P&S) department as our example:

One team site with multiple channels

P&S will have a team site to cover the entire department. Within that team site, channels can then be created for the various internal divisions – such as Maintenance, Traffic, Security, Access Control, etc.

One general team; multiple sub-team sites which then include their own internal channels

Alternatively, P&S can have a general team site (for all P&S staff), and then use it to share information relevant to all P&S staff. Such information could include news on projects, upcoming events, and other news.

Further, each division can then create its own team. For example, a Traffic team to cover all traffic-related staff, and a Maintenance team to cover all maintenance staff. These teams can then create different channels to cover sub-sections: for example, within the Maintenance team, there could be Upper Campus maintenance; Middle Campus maintenance; and Hiddingh Campus maintenance.

View these recommendations on how to set up a team’s site and channels.

How do I decide if a channel should be standard or private?

If the information that your share in these channels are applicable to everyone on your team’s site, then leave them standard. However, if you discuss sensitive and confidential information, then make the channel private – limiting access to those who should be privy to this information. You just won't be able to schedule meetings in a private channel as this functionality is not available as yet.

Furthermore, if you find that you’re creating a number of private channels that are only visible to the same group of people, consider rather creating a team site making it easier to manage content.

Is it worthwhile using Teams for a once-off meeting?

If you are able to have a face-to-face meeting, then you can just schedule the meeting as normal via Outlook. However, if face-to-face is not possible, then you can still set up a meeting either via Outlook or directly in Microsoft Teams – without having to create a dedicated team or channel.

Each meeting has its own chat functionality, shared files, recording (if the meeting was recorded), meeting notes, etc. Only those who were invited to the meeting would be able to access this information.

If the meeting was scheduled in a team channel, external attendees will not be able to access the rest of the channel’s information, but you can send them the meeting content afterwards if necessary. If the meeting was scheduled via Outlook or via the calendar in Teams, they can still access the meeting chat but not recordings.

Is Teams useful for recurring meetings?

Yes, it is. You can create a team and only invite meeting participants. You can store all documentation related to the meeting in the files section and collaboratively work on documentation during and after meetings. The chat functionality also allows you to discuss matters during and after the meeting, as well as share links to additional resources.

Can I share recordings with external parties via Microsoft Stream?

The recording owner or meeting organiser will need to share the recording with external parties, as they are only able to view the chat and transcript of the meeting that they were part of.

How do I share a meeting recording?

Standard meeting recordings are saved on OneDrive for Business while channel meeting recordings are saved on SharePoint.

Meeting recordings that were previously saved on Microsoft Stream can continue to be accessed on this platform.

Meetings are stored on the UCT tenant for 99999 days.

Standard meetings

Standard meetings are scheduled and ad-hoc meetings that are set up via Outlook or the Teams calendar using the Meet now or New meeting features.

The individual who clicks the Start recording button in a meeting automatically becomes the recording owner and has full rights. For this reason, we recommend that the meeting organiser starts the recording, as this will make it easier to manage afterwards. If one of the meeting attendees starts the recording, they have full rights while the meeting organiser only has editing and sharing rights.

The recording is automatically uploaded to the recording owner’s OneDrive for Business account, in the Recordings folder. It is accessible on the top folder level. Follow these instructions to download and install OneDrive for Business.

All internal attendees who were either originally invited or added during the meeting have view access only. A link is automatically shared with these attendees. External parties do not have access to recordings. The meeting recorder or organiser therefore need to give them access. They can only view the chat and transcript for the part of the meeting they attended.

Channel meetings

Channel meetings take place in a channel or team and are accessible to all team members.

The individual who started the recording has editing rights. The rest of the members’ permissions are based on the channel’s SharePoint permissions.

Recordings are saved in the Teams site documentation library. The folder is called Recordings and is accessible under Documents in SharePoint.

Recordings has also been enabled for internal and external calls. In the Teams call window, click More •••.> Start recording.

Call recordings are saved in the chat window as well as in the OneDrive folder of the individual who started the recording. The recording owner will be able to share the recording, as necessary.

Can I turn off the chat functionality in a meeting?

Yes, the meeting organiser can now decide if they would like the meeting chat enabled or disabled during meetings.

Go to Meeting options.
- Before the meeting: Open the meeting invitation you created and click Meeting options.
- During the meeting: On the meeting toolbar click the ••• (More options) > Meeting options.
Click Allow meeting chat, which is enabled by default.
- You can either leave it Enabled.
- Select Disabled, which will allow no further messages to be displayed, even if someone is trying to type.
- In-meeting only: Allow the chat to only be used during the meeting and not after the meeting ends.
Select your preferred option and click Save.

How does an external guest become a team member?

You first need to add the guest as a team member. Thereafter they can follow these instructions to get access.

Can I have a customised background when displaying my video in a Teams meeting?

If you’re going to display your video in Teams and don’t want to use your actual background, you can either blur it, use one of the default backgrounds available in Teams or add your own background.

Follow these step-by-step instructions to select your preferred background and to see what UCT background options are available.

How do I get a meeting chair’s attention if I want to comment or ask a question?

If you’re in a meeting with more than one person, the raise your hand option will appear on the meeting controls bar under Show reaction. Click the hand icon and everyone in the meeting will see you want to say something. Attendees listed as meeting presenters also receive notifications and can lower your hand once you’ve spoken. You can either access this feature via the meeting controls bar or use these shortcuts:

Windows	macOS
Raise your hand: Ctrl+Shift+K	Raise your hand:Command+Shift+K
Lower your hand: Ctrl+Shift+L	Lower your hand: Command+Shift+L

Where more than one person has their hand raised, click Show participants to see the order of who clicked this option first.

You can also express yourself via live reactions.

How do I set up my video and audio prior to a meeting?

You can now set your audio and video settings when joining a meeting. Select whether you would like to stick to the default, which is your computers speakers, as well as using a meeting room, mobile device, or simply disable your audio.

A video preview appears on the left, where you also have to option to turn on background effects. Click the cogwheel icon under the video preview to view device settings and find an alternative mic and camera.

How can I ensure that attendees' videos aren't turned on for my meeting?

If meeting organisers prefer that attendees don't switch on their video cameras during meetings, they can set this via Meeting options before the meeting. Open the meeting invitation click the Meeting option tabs. You can then turn off Allow camera for attendees. During meetings, click ••• (More options) on the toolbar > Disable camera for attendees.

How do I set up breakout rooms?

This feature is currently only available for the desktop app and accessible for standard meetings.

Alternatively, watch the ICTS Training’s short video on how to set it up.

Watch the ICTS Training’s short video on how to set it up.

Can I see who attended my meeting?

Microsoft Teams now allows you to download the meeting attendance list. You must, however, download this list before you leave the meeting. Thereafter it will no longer be available. Click Show participants > Download attendee list. The CSV file can be opened in Excel and contains attendees’ names as well as the times they joined and left the meeting.

How many video streams can I see during a meeting?

When you’re in a meeting you will be able to see up to 49 attendees’ video streams in a 7x7 view, even when they’re on mute. This is applicable to those who turn their video on during meetings as well as those who use audio only. The rest of the attendees are listed in the panel below.

How do I share my screen?

When you are in a meeting and need to share a document, application or web browser on your screen, on the meetings toolbar click Start sharing screen. You can share your screen using one of the following options:

Desktop: everything that you see on your screen will be displayed.
Window: allows you to only display one application
PowerPoint: show a presentation
Browse: find a specific file you would like to display.

Once you select an option, a red border appears around the content you're sharing. When you're done, click Stop sharing.

If you selected the PowerPoint sharing option and need to stop presenting midway through your presentation, when you reshare your PowerPoint again, simply click the Resume button in the floating presentation bar and you will automatically go back to the slide you stopped on. The PowerPoint option in the desktop or web app versions also has the capability to skip or go back to certain slides. When you have opened your PowerPoint presentation, in the lower left corner click Go to slide, which will display a thumbnail view of each slide in a grid view.

What should I do if I play a video while screen sharing but no one can hear the sound?

You share a video in an online meeting and see a message in the chat that there is no sound. Instead of pausing the video and stop sharing, simply click pause and move your mouse to the top right of your screen where the Presenting toolbar appears. Click the Computer Sound icon

, which is located between Give Control and Stop Presenting, and continue playing your video.

What is the new meeting experience in Teams?

Teams' new meeting experience, which is accessible by going to your Teams profile picture and selecting Settings > General > Turn on new meeting experience, allows you to better manage meetings. Your meetings open in a separate window so you can continue working in Teams, even while a meeting us underway. Additionally, the meetings control toolbox appears on the top of the meeting window and you can now see up to 49 videos in one meeting window. There is also a Meeting Notes tab in the main Teams window where you can directly take minutes. To access it, click More options (…) in your meeting window > Show meeting notes. From the side pane click the Take notes button which takes you to the Meeting notes tab.

One of the cool features of this new experience is that you can set Together mode. When enabled, everyone whose videos are on will look like they are together in one venue. Initially there was only background, which is auditorium. Additional backgrounds have since been added so you can choose your preferred one by going to Together and clicking Change scene

Why am I seeing a five minute warning pop up in my meetings?

You may have started seeing a banner pop up towards the end of your scheduled meeting, that you only have five minutes left. This is to alert you that your scheduled time is nearing an end and that you should start to wrap up to avoid going over time.

Can I add subtitles or captions to a Microsoft Stream video?

You can add subtitles or captions to any video on Microsoft Stream during or after it's been uploaded. Stream can also automatically generate captions via Automatic Speech Recognition Technology. The file can then be downloaded from the Update video details page.

Subtitles and captions can then be viewed on the playback page.

Microsoft Stream currently doesn't allow you to only access the transcript text. You can however use a tool to extract the text from the downloaded file.

What Microsoft Teams online learning opportunities are available?

We have a range of Microsoft courses and information sessions that you can use to effectively use this platform. Alternatively, contact ICTS training for their on-demand training opportunities and courses that can be customised just for you.