Connect with anyone, anytime with meetings in Teams for Personal

With free meetings up to 60 minutes, Microsoft Teams for Personal makes it easy to connect with anyone, anytime. In this post we’ll explore all your options when hosting a meeting.

Choose the Teams meeting type that suits your needs

Teams offers you different meeting types to choose from, depending on your needs. They are all Teams meetings, so you can join them easily on any device.

Instant meeting

This option lets you meet now and share a meeting link right away. These links have no expiration date, so you can begin your meeting right away or any time in the future. You can share the link with others from the Teams app or copy the link and share it via email, text message, or any place where you plan your meetings.

How this works: When rushing to organize a last-minute birthday party with friends, it’s crucial to confirm the details. Generate an instant meeting link and distribute it to your friends through email, SMS, or any messaging application for a swift start to the meeting. With just a tap on the link, they can join from any device, even if they don’t have Teams installed.

Learn how to create an instant meeting

 

Scheduled meeting

Choose this option to meet with specific people at a specific date/time. Invite people by typing their emails or phone numbers in the new meeting form. They will get an email or SMS invite. You can also copy the meeting invite and share it in other apps.

How this works: When planning a weekend getaway with friends and family, and you’re in charge of coordination, scheduling a meeting in Teams can ensure everyone’s availability to discuss the plans. Recipients will receive a meeting invite through email or SMS, which they can add to their preferred calendar. When the time comes, joining is simple across all devices: a single tap on the meeting link within the calendar entry connects you to the meeting, even for those not using Teams.

Learn how to schedule a meeting

 

Community event

If you have created a community in Teams for Personal, you can host an event with your community. This way, the event goes to the whole community, and everyone gets notified when you make or change it. To make an event in community, tap the community’s name and then ‘Events’ to start.

How this works: You’ve created a community in Teams for your homeowner’s association where all new matters are discussed, from organizing garbage collection to maintaining a clean neighborhood. For the monthly HOA meetings, you can set up a community event in the community calendar. This automatically invites all community members, who will also see the event in the community. Since the community event is a Teams meeting, members can easily join through the community in Teams or from their preferred calendar if they added the event to it.

Learn about community calendar and events

 

Before the meeting

• For scheduled meetings, review the meeting options to choose the right options for you. A meeting lobby is on by default, meaning you will receive a request when people try to join your meeting. Use this option when you’ve posted the meeting link on social media or in multiple places so you can prevent your meeting from being disrupted by unwanted guests. You can also opt to switch the lobby off so that anyone who joins the meeting will get in automatically without waiting for you to let them in. You also have the option to choose who can present during your meeting.
  
• Pick a calm and bright place for your meeting. Stay away from noises and interruptions that can lower your audio quality and focus. If you can, use a headset and a webcam to enhance your sound and video. You can also use the background blur or background effects feature in Teams to cover your environment and create a suitable appearance.
• You can start preparing for the meeting in the related meeting chat even before the meeting. Share the agenda or any other useful information needed in the meeting. Learn how to use meeting chat

 

During the meeting

You have access to many features that can help you make the meeting interactive, productive and respectful when it’s time to meet. Learn what you can do in a meeting

• You can use the chat window by tapping Chat to interact with others and exchange your thoughts. The chat window lets you talk to your participants without disturbing the speaker. You can also use the chat window to send links, files, polls, and emojis. The chat meeting will persist after your meeting ends, allowing you to continue collaborating on your own schedule.
• In the meeting, tap People to check attendance. You can also ‘Share Invite’ to invite more people. If there are people in the lobby, admit them. As the organizer, you can mute/un-mute or remove anyone from the meeting if needed.
• You can use the Raise hand feature to indicate that you want to speak. This is helpful when you have a large meeting and you need a way to manage questions/comments in an orderly way.
• Tap React to express yourself with our animated emojis during meetings. We love the expanding heart reaction!
• To turn your camera on or off, just tap Camera. Turning on your camera and inviting others to follow will make the experience more engaging and personal.
• Tap Mic to mute yourself when others are speaking. This lowers noise and echo and makes the sound better for all.
• Tap Share to display what you’re working on (e.g. document, or application) on your screen. The share screen feature lets you choose to share your whole desktop or a particular window with your participants, ensuring you share only what’s important for your meeting.

 

After the meeting

• Keep in touch and collaborate with your participants on your own schedule using the meeting chat.
• Consider setting up a group chat or a community if attendees want to keep in touch regularly. Both group chats and communities offer convenient ways to stay connected through meetings, posts and messages.

You share, we listen.

We are always grateful to receive your feedback and suggestions to make Teams better.

• Report bugs and glitches by sending us relevant feedback using the in-app form. Please include diagnostic logs and screenshots to help us to investigate your issue. Learn more how to send feedback or suggest a feature in Teams (free)
• If you have suggestions for new features or changes to the existing ones, you can vote and submit ideas on Microsoft Teams (free) Feedback Portal.
• You can always create a post on the Microsoft Support Community as well.