Teams FAQ

How do I join a Teams meeting?

You can join a Teams meeting three ways:

1. Desktop App (Computer): Download and install Microsoft Teams on your personal device. Make sure to sign in with your college credentials to access meetings. Teams is already installed on all college systems.

2. Web Version (Computer): You can join a meeting directly from your browser, whether you are signed in or not. Make sure to grant your browser access to your microphone and camera.

3. Mobile App (Phone/Tablet): Download the Teams app from your device’s app store. You can use it to join meetings as a guest without signing in, or sign in with your Cambrian college email and password account.

Note: Attendees cannot join Teams meetings from a phone browser, they must use the Teams mobile app, which allows joining without signing in.

Can I make a perpetual Teams meeting link?

A perpetual meeting link is one that never expires and can be reused indefinitely. Microsoft Teams does not currently support this feature; however, there are a few workarounds:

Generate a Meet Now link from the Meet app. This link can be reused, but it will expire 60 days after it is created.
Reuse a scheduled meeting link. A scheduled meeting link will also expire after 60 days of inactivity, but the 60-day timer resets each time the link is used.
Create a recurring meeting in your Outlook calendar with no end date. This provides a long-term reusable link tied to your recurring schedule.

Please note: Meeting chat is persistent. Anyone who joins a session using the same link, at any time, will be able to see the full chat history from previous meetings.

What’s the best method for making annotations during class?

Teams offers several ways to annotate during a meeting, whether you’re collaborating with students or presenting on your own. While Teams does provide built-in annotation tools, we recommend using the annotation features within the application you’re sharing, such as Word, or PowerPoint.

This is because Teams’ built-in annotations do not appear in meeting recordings, which can cause confusion for students reviewing the material later. By annotating directly within the app you’re using, your notes will be visible both during the live session and in the recorded version.

The only exception is when you need collaborative annotation. In that case, we recommend using a whiteboard. A copy of the whiteboard is saved to your OneDrive and linked in the meeting chat.

Click here for more info on classroom annotation.

Where can I find my recordings?

A link to your meeting recordings is automatically saved in the meeting chat. The recordings themselves are stored in a folder named Recordings in your OneDrive and will remain accessible for 150 days before they expire.

What should I do if I have technical issues?

Call the IT Service Desk, they can be reached by phone at 705-566-8101 x7370 or by logging a ticket.

Can I limit who joins my Teams meeting to only people in my organization?

Yes, you can restrict meeting access so only people within your organization can join automatically.

Who can bypass the lobby? People in my organization
Who can admit from the lobby? Organizers and co-organizers

External users will be forced to wait in the lobby and can only join if you admit them.

Does Teams allow partial screen sharing?

No. Microsoft Teams does not currently support sharing a cropped portion of your screen. Zoom’s Share Portion of Screen feature does not have a direct equivalent in Teams.

Workarounds

Share a specific window, only the selected application is visible to participants.
Resize the application window to show only the area you want, then share that window.

What are the options for assigning students to breakout rooms in Teams?

Screenshot of the Teams Meetings controls with the Rooms button circled.

Microsoft Teams offers several options for assigning students to breakout rooms:

1. Students choose their own rooms

You can enable Let participants choose a room in the breakout room settings.
When this option is turned on, students can browse available rooms and move themselves freely.

2. Instructor assigns rooms manually

You can manually assign students to specific rooms either:

Before the meeting (pre-assignment), or
During the meeting through the breakout room panel.

3. Automatic assignment

Teams can automatically distribute participants evenly across rooms.
This can be done when creating breakout rooms during the meeting.

Screenshot of the create breakout rooms in Teams meetings.

Note: breakout room assignments can persist across recurring meetings as long as the meeting link and participant identities remain the same.

What's the difference between Teams Polls and Teams Q&A?

Polls: Used to collect structured responses, like multiple-choice questions. Created with Microsoft Forms, results can be shown live. Great for quick votes, surveys, or knowledge checks. Note: Zoom polls cannot be imported, you must create them in Teams.

You must add the Polls app to your Team meeting in order to use it. You can find it by clicking Apps, searching Polls and clicking Add.

Q&A: Used for open-ended questions. Participants type questions in the Q&A panel, and presenters can answer live or later. Ideal for discussions, clarifications, and feedback.

This feature must be enabled in the Meeting options prior to starting the meeting.

Can I add Apps to my Teams meetings?

All official Microsoft apps are automatically allowed in Teams. Third-party apps are disabled by default for security reasons, but requests for third-party apps can be submitted to the IT Department via a support ticket or by phone at (705) 566-8101 x7370.

Does Cambrian have Branded Teams Backgrounds?

Cambrian-branded backgrounds are available for download from the Brand Toolkit.

To upload a background:

In a Teams meeting, click the arrow next to Camera.
Select More video effects and settings.
Click Add new and select the image you downloaded.
Choose the uploaded image and click Apply to use it.

Can I Pause Teams a Recording?

Teams recordings cannot be paused. To manage long meetings, stop a recording and start a new one. This creates multiple video files.

How can I Submit a Feature Requests?

In the Teams app, click your profile picture in the top-right corner.
Select Help, then Give feedback to submit a feature request or report an issue.
You can describe your suggestion or problem, and it will be sent directly to Microsoft for review.

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