Working Remotely with Microsoft Teams session materials - March 31 (Beginner's course)

How long can I host a meeting for free? How many participants can join a meeting?

Microsoft meetings support up to 250 people at a time. As long as you have Teams access, you will be able to host meetings.

Can we use Teams for both UW users and external persons not with UW to collaborate on project documents

Yes you can! For more info, see our knowledge base article on how to Add guests to a team.

Does the calendar function in Teams merge with Outlook?

Yes - because Teams and Outlook are both under your O365 account, your Outlook calendar items and Teams calendar will be synced.

How do I create a conference call with external contacts? Do they need to have Teams installed? Can I use Teams like Zoom?

Yes, you can do conference calls with external contacts. Currently, you would add those members as guests to your team, and start a Teams meeting. We will have dial-in capability for Teams available in the near future.

Is the idea to have a separate team for each collaboration? Each team is a request from IST?

Teams could be created for departments, projects, or really any reason where you might want to collaborate with a certain group of people. Please visit the Jira portal to request a Team. (It's automated, and pretty quick)

Can members remove themselves from a team and its various channels or is it only Owners who can remove members?

Team members can also remove themselves from a team.

How many people total can be apart of a meeting and many people total can connect with video camera in a meeting and can a meeting be recorded?

Up to 250 can be in one meeting!

How do you archive these to keep a permanent 'paper trail'?

We have worked with the University Records Officer to determine the length of time chats are kept for, and have gone with their recommendation. If you need to get an archived copy of something, if you submit an RT, we can help you do that.

Can I set up a meeting if I have not set up a Team?

Yes you can!

What feature are you using to host this event? This looks different than a teams meeting.

We are currently using the Teams live events feature - as of right now it is not available to the staff/faculty members.

Can you re-name/re-use channels, if you somehow went beyond the 200?

A channel that was deleted can be used again after ~90 days. 

Is your calendar content viewable by others?

Not unless you share it with others.

How do you delete a file if you decide you no longer want to share?

If you no longer wish to share a file with someone, you can update the file sharing permissions: Share files and folders

Can channels have different members than the team?

Yes - you can create private channels, which can have subsets of your Team as members.

Can I undock this live meeting window, so it can be moved the a different screen, outside the Teams' window?

No, however the meeting window can be minimized to take up less space within Teams.

How can I activate the teams meeting through Outlook? I have this option at my office computer but not at home?

In order to have the Teams meeting add-on in Outlook, please install the latest version of Microsoft 365 onto your computer. For more info, see: Microsoft 365

Is it possible to use Teams as a replacement for RemoteHelp?

Teams can be a basic replacement for remote help as you can audio/video call and screen share. However, Teams does not allow you to control the user's desktop.

Are we able to record lectures and post it for students to review on their own time?

We recommend using WebEx for online teaching, for more information please see: https://uwaterloo.ca/keep-learning/webex.

Can you create roles within a team. Perhaps people who have a role also have access to collaborate on certain documents, etc.?

Teams have three default roles: Owner, Member, and Guest, and generally, those roles have access to all "Team" Resources. If you want to narrow things down, you can create private channels which allow you to restrict certain files or conversations to a set group of people.

Are you saying that you can take the audio of the meeting and it will transcribe it to a word doc?

Yes!

If a professor is using Teams to collaborate with their research group, can they use their 5TB OneDrive space to store shared documents with the group?

You can use your personal OneDrive space to share documents, but storing the files within your Team would be easier and keep everything in one collaboration space. 

Can regular team meetings (or chats) be 'popped-out' to a different window?

The feature is currently being developed by Microsoft. 

So this event is live streamed and non-presenters are muted. Assuming though we could create a live event (not a call) where anyone can interact (and choose to mute themselves, etc.).

That is correct. However, attendees have a 20s delay of information, so the content you are seeing are from 20s ago.

How do I know if I am on mute right now, can't tell?

All attendees in this session are muted and can't speak - only the presenter has the capability to speak.

Why are retirees who are still working at UW only allowed on Teams as 'guests'?

This has to do with the user's Microsoft 365 license. If a retiree shows up as a guest, they can submit a request approved by their department to obtain a temporary Microsoft 365 license.

What is the benefit of having more than one owner?

A Team owner has elevated privileges when it comes to configuring the team settings, adding members, etc. Having more than one owner could make the team 'housekeeping' more efficient!

Can you see the video of multiple people? if not, how many at a time?

You can view up to 4 video screens at a time.

If you edited in the app for a shared document, would it automatically load to the shared document or would you have to re-attach the file with the changes you have made?

Changes you make to a shared document will automatically be saved.

Where is all the information created saved? On my computer?

All of these information will be saved on a Microsoft server, or under your Microsoft 365 account.

How long are chats saved? Do items eventually delete after a specific period of time?

Chat messages are kept indefinitely. Messages within the Team are kept for a period of two years.

How many channels can be created?

Each team can have up to 200 channels (including deleted channels).

What is the difference between a Group Chat and a Team?

Group chats are typically used for smaller groups of people and are private conversations between that group. Team chats are visible to everyone who is a part of the team. Team/channels stores data on your team's Sharepoint site, which is more manageable than group chats. Teams also gives team owners more abilities for file management, member permissions and application integration.

Do guest users have a similar view?

Guests can see and do almost everything a regular user can!

Do you need a channel to communicate with team members?

A channel is usually for communicating with a large number of people vs chats you are communicating with 1-2 people.

With whom can one chat? Only team members, or anyone with an email address? Are earlier chats automatically migrated from Skype?

You can chat with anyone who is within our organization (Staff and Faculty), and soon, Students. If you would like to chat with someone outside our organization, you can add them as a guest and chat with them too. Earlier chats are not going to be migrated from Skype at this time.

If you start a specific group private chat, will the other members on the Team be above to view the chat?

No, if you start a group chat, it is private to the members in the chat.

Can you add an existing SharePoint site to a channel?

There are currently no way to move an existing Sharepoint site to the Teams Sharepoint.

As an instructor, I'm interested in how I can easily share an app (e.g. power point, one note, whiteboard) and video (my face) with students, and how I can avoid accidentally sharing my screen and potentially private messages?

We recommend Teams as the tool for working remotely and WebEx as the tool for online teaching. For more information about WebEx, please see https://uwaterloo.ca/keep-learning/webex.

How should a department that is new to Teams organize itself most effectively? E.g. Separate Teams or a single team with sub-channels? Are there naming conventions?

If you submit an RT, we can help you with that!

Would Teams be an appropriate tool for virtual interviews, knowing that the candidate might not have a Teams account and will need to present?

Some groups on campus have used Teams for interviews - The Teams client itself is free, and you can add any user as a guest to your team (for purposes of an interview). Guests have full capabilities to share screens, work with files, etc. 

For a team that has multiple channels... can everyone see all channels (hidden or otherwise) or only those channels they were set up as being part of?

Channels can be hidden so people don't have to pay attention to them. Members do not see private channels unless they are a member of that private channel.

How can meeting notes be accessed following a meeting?

Yes they can be accessed. meetings will show up as chat items under chat tab.

Any recommendations/advice on using a dedicated microphone or headset microphone instead of computer mic to help with sound?

We always recommend having a headset when meeting online, reduces echo's and with improved sound quality.

How do you remove yourself from a team?

If you click on the ellipsis beside the team name, you can select "Leave Team" to remove yourself.

It appears I don't have the access needed to make a team. Who should I reach out to to create a team?

A Team can be created by submitting a request to IST.

Can you change background like what you can do in Zoom with virtual background?

You can blur the background, but you can't put anything fun / interesting behind you.

What is the difference in adding the meeting in Teams or in outlook?

There is no difference - changes made in either Teams/Outlook will show up the same in both calendars.

So two people can work on a document at the same time?

That is correct, you can have more than two people working on the same file.

Are all the transcripts/captions automatic by default?

Captions are available if the event organizer turns them on.

How do I view mentions?

You can type '@' to view mentions.

How long does the team last? Will it be there always once I make it?

The team will last indefinitely until the team is inactive for a certain period of time or if the owner disbands the team.