Configure tenant-level settings for Microsoft Teams
As a Microsoft 365 administrator, you can configure various organization-level tenant settings for Microsoft Teams. These settings affect how users and guests can access and use Teams features and capabilities. The following table outlines the different organization-level settings that you can configure in the Microsoft Teams admin center.
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Guest access | Allows you to enable or disable guest access to Teams. Guests are external users who can participate in Teams chats, calls, meetings, and channels, but have limited access to other resources. You can also control which domains can have guests in your organization, and which Teams features are available to guests. |
| Teams upgrade | Allows you to choose how users and organizations transition from Skype for Business to Teams. You can select from different coexistence and upgrade modes, such as Islands, Teams Only, Skype for Business Only, and others. Each mode determines which app is used for chat, calling, and meetings, and whether users can switch between apps. |
| Teams settings | Allows you to customize various aspects of Teams, such as the app setup policies, the meeting policies, the messaging policies, the live events policies, the voice settings, and the device settings. Each policy defines the user experience and permissions for a specific scenario, such as what apps are pinned to the app bar, what meeting features are enabled, what messaging options are available, what live event capabilities are supported, what voice services are configured, and what device management settings are applied. |
| Teams apps | Allows you to manage the apps that users can access and use in Teams. You can view, approve, upload, block, or uninstall apps. You can also create app permission and app setup policies. App permission policies control which app categories and specific apps are allowed or blocked for users. App setup policies control which apps are pinned to the app bar and which apps are installed by default for users. |
| Teams analytics and reports | Allows you to monitor and analyze the usage and performance of Teams in your organization. You can view various reports and dashboards, such as the Teams user activity report, the Teams device usage report, the Teams live event usage report, and the call quality dashboard. These reports and dashboards provide insights into the user adoption, device distribution, event statistics, and call quality of Teams. |
Teams meeting settings
The following sections examine in greater detail the more popular Teams meeting settings - Meeting policy settings and Meeting configuration settings. These settings control how users can schedule, join, and conduct meetings in Teams. You can create and assign different meeting policies to different users or groups, depending on their needs and preferences.
Meeting policy settings
A meeting policy is a set of settings that defines the user experience and permissions for meetings in Teams. You can use the predefined meeting policies or create your own custom policies. You can assign a meeting policy to individual users, groups of users, or the entire organization. Some of the settings that you can configure in a meeting policy include:
- Allow scheduling private meetings. This setting determines whether users can schedule private meetings, which are meetings that aren't published to a channel and have a specific list of invitees. If this setting is enabled, users can schedule private meetings with specific participants. If it's disabled, users can only schedule channel meetings or meet now in channels.
- Allow meet now in channels. This setting determines whether users can start an instant meeting in a channel, which is a meeting that anyone in the channel can join. If this setting is enabled, users can start an instant meeting in any channel they're a member of. If it's disabled, users can only schedule meetings in advance.
- Allow channel meeting scheduling. This setting determines whether users can schedule channel meetings, which are meetings that are published to a channel and have the channel members as invitees. If this setting is enabled, users can schedule meetings in any channel they're a member of. If it's disabled, users can only schedule private meetings or meet now in channels.
- Allow IP video. This setting determines whether users can use video in meetings. If this setting is enabled, users can turn on their camera during a meeting to share video. If it's disabled, users can only share audio and content.
- Allow screen sharing. This setting determines whether users can share their screen or an app in meetings. If this setting is enabled, users can share their entire screen or a specific app or window during a meeting. If it's disabled, users can only share files and use the whiteboard.
- Allow transcription. This setting determines whether users can generate a transcript of the meeting audio. If this setting is enabled, users can turn on the transcription feature during a meeting to generate a real-time transcript of the audio. If it's disabled, no transcript is generated.
- Allow cloud recording. This setting determines whether users can record and store the meeting video and audio in the cloud. If this setting is enabled, users can start and stop a recording during a meeting. The recording is then processed and stored in the cloud, where it can be accessed and shared by the meeting organizer and participants. If it's disabled, no recording is available.
- Allow live captions. This setting determines whether users can see captions of the meeting audio. If this setting is enabled, users can turn on the live captions feature during a meeting to see real-time captions of the audio. If it's disabled, no captions are available.
- Media bit rate (Kbps). This setting determines the maximum bit rate for media traffic in meetings. The bit rate is the amount of data that is transmitted per second, measured in kilobits per second (Kbps). A higher bit rate can improve the quality of the audio and video, but it can also increase the network bandwidth usage. You can set the maximum bit rate to a value that balances quality and bandwidth usage for your organization.
- Allow live events. This setting determines whether users can create and host live events, which are large-scale online events that can have up to 10,000 attendees. If this setting is enabled, users can create and host live events, using the same tools and features as for regular meetings. If it's disabled, no live events are available.
Meeting configuration settings
A meeting configuration is a set of settings that applies to all meetings in your organization. You can configure these settings from the Meetings > Meeting settings page in the Microsoft Teams admin center. Some of the settings that you can configure include:
- Designated presenter role mode. This setting determines who can be a presenter in meetings. A presenter can share content, mute other participants, and admit people from the lobby. You can choose from four options: Everyone, Everyone in the same organization, Everyone in the same organization and federated users, or Organizer only. The option you choose determines who can be a presenter in all meetings in your organization.
- Who can bypass the lobby. This setting determines who can join the meeting directly without waiting in the lobby. You can choose from six options: Everyone, Everyone in my organization, Everyone in my organization and federated organizations, Everyone in my organization and trusted organizations, People I invite, or Only me. The option you choose determines who can bypass the lobby in all meetings in your organization.
- Announce when callers join or leave. This setting determines whether a sound is played when someone joins or leaves the meeting. If this setting is enabled, a sound is played when a participant joins or leaves the meeting, so that other participants are aware of their presence or absence. If it's disabled, no sound is played.
- Allow dial-in users to bypass the lobby. This setting determines whether users who join the meeting by phone can bypass the lobby. If this setting is enabled, users who join the meeting by dialing in with a phone can join the meeting directly without waiting in the lobby. If it's disabled, dial-in users must wait in the lobby until they're admitted by a presenter.
- Automatically admit people. This setting determines whether people are automatically admitted to the meeting or must wait in the lobby. You can choose from four options: Everyone, Everyone in your organization, Everyone in your organization and federated organizations, or Everyone in your organization and trusted organizations. The option you choose determines who is automatically admitted to all meetings in your organization.
- Allow anonymous users to join a meeting. This setting determines whether users who aren't signed in to Teams can join a meeting. If this setting is enabled, users who aren't signed in to Teams can join a meeting by clicking on the meeting link and entering their name. If it's disabled, only signed-in users can join a meeting.
- Allow users to chat privately. This setting determines whether users can send private chat messages to other participants during a meeting. If this setting is enabled, users can send private chat messages to other participants during a meeting, without other participants seeing the messages. If it's disabled, users can only send chat messages to the entire group.
- Allow users to send reactions. This setting determines whether users can send emoji reactions during a meeting. If this setting is enabled, users can send emoji reactions during a meeting, such as a thumbs up or a heart, to express their feelings or opinions. If it's disabled, no reactions are available.
- Allow users to view shared notes. This setting determines whether users can view the shared meeting notes during or after a meeting. If this setting is enabled, users can view and edit the shared meeting notes during the meeting. They can also access them after the meeting from the meeting chat or the meeting details. If it's disabled, no shared notes are available.
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