Accessing Microsoft Teams as a guest

Description

A guest is defined as someone who isn’t an employee, student, or member of Ohio University with an active OHIO account. Anyone with a non-OHIO consumer email account (e.g. outlook.com, gmail.com, etc.) can participate as a guest in a Team with full access to all of its features. 

Please note that OIT will not provide troubleshooting support for guests and guest-side access issues. 

Environment

Mac, PC, web browser, and mobile app

Solution 

How do I add a guest to my Team?

1. Only a Team owner can add a guest. Follow the directions to add members to a Team and enter the guest's non-OHIO email address. 

2. The guest will receive a welcome email from the Team owner with information about the Team. The guest must accept the invitation. 

3. Guest users must have a Microsoft account associated with their email address. If they don't, they can create one for free. Have any new guests complete this process prior to the start of the meeting. 

   • After the guest accepts the invitation, the guest can participate in Teams and channels, access files in channels, participate in chats, join meetings, collaborate on documents, and more. 

4. Once added, guests are clearly identified in the team with a "(Guest)" label next to their username, and there will be an icon next to any channel to which the guest has access. 

Removing a guest from a Team 

Once a guest is no longer needed for collaboration, owners of the Team must remove the guest's access: 

1. Select the three dots next to the Team 

2. Select More Options 

3. Select Manage Team 

4. Select the Member tab 

5. Expand the members and guests drop-down 

6. Select the X next to the guest you wish to remove 

What is the guest experience like?

Joining the team 

1. When you add the guest's email address to a Team, they receive an email from Microsoft Teams with the subject "You have been added as a guest to Ohio University in Microsoft Teams." 

2. Once the guest has accepted the invitation, they will receive an email with an access URL specific to them. Make sure the user saves this URL in their bookmarks for future access. 

3. Team members will see a message in the General channel announcing that a guest has been added. 

Participating in meetings 

Guests have the ability to join the Team's channel meetings, as well as any other Teams meetings to which they have been invited. 

• Note that guests will access Teams using their web browser. It is recommended that guests test their setup prior to joining their first meeting. Microsoft has directions for managing your call settings, including a section on how to "Make a test call." 

Presenting in meetings

Guests can present and share content in Teams meetings, live events, and webinars once they have been promoted to Presenter. Once they've been granted Presenter rights, guests should experience the same functionality as non-guests.

Collaborating on files 

Guests can: 

• Collaborate on documents and files added to the Team's channels 

• Upload files into the channel just like other members

Guests cannot collaborate on files outside of the Team, such as in a person-to-person chat. 

What can't a Team guest do?

• Access Microsoft OneDrive

  • The guest will still be able to collaborate on files shared within a Team 

• Access Outlook calendar, which includes the Calendar feature within Microsoft Teams that allows you to schedule a meeting 

  • The guest will still be able to view and join channel meetings

• Create or make changes to a Team; only a Team owner can do that

• Browse for other OHIO teams 

• Upload files in a person-to-person chat 

Outcome: You should now be able to access Microsoft Teams as a guest or add a guest to your Team.

Get help from OIT

• Visit the Microsoft Teams page to create a ticket

• Visit the Help and Resources article for further assistance with Microsoft Teams

• Visit the Technology Resources and Training page for an OIT training