Teams FAQ

Teams and Zoom are both videoconferencing tools that can be used for setting-up online meetings.

While Zoom is mainly used for videoconferencing. Microsoft Teams also offers options for collaboration among colleagues and peers, including a (group) chat, team channels and the possibility to work together on documents.

Maastricht University has been using both Zoom for education and Teams for UM staff. Teams will replace Zoom as of 1 August 2025. The University Library offers guidance on switching to Teams. Have a look at Getting Started with Teams and Teams Guides

To transition from Zoom to Microsoft Teams for education, follow these steps:

• Download Teams.
• Create a Teams meeting (UM guide). 
• Share the Teams meeting to Canvas (or other tools) (UM guide).

The biggest differences:

• Zoom was integrated in Canvas. Teams is not integrated. You have to copy and share the meeting link
• There will not be a Teams menu item in Canvas.
• By default, students can share their screen and their mic is turned on. If you do not want this, change the meeting options beforehand.

The University Library offers guidance on switching to Teams. Have a look at Getting Started with Teams and Teams Guides.

Yes, Teams has an app with almost the same functionality as the desktop application. You can download the app via the App store or Google Play Store.

You can also use Teams directly in your browser at teams.microsoft.com.

Teams meetings have a maximum of 1000 participants per meeting. Breakout rooms have a maximum of 300 participants. 

There are 2 other options for large meetings: webinars and town halls. Webinars have a maximum of 1000 participants and Town halls can host 10.000 participants.

Microsoft guides:

• Best-practices for a large meeting in Microsoft Teams. 

You can download Teams via the official Microsoft Teams website. It is also possible to use Teams on your mobile device or via the browser.

• Desktop (Windows, Mac)
  Download Teams for Windows or Mac from the official website.
• Mobile
  Get Teams for iOS or Android from the App Store or Google Play Store.
• Web (Windows, Mac, Linux)
  Use Teams directly in your browser at teams.microsoft.com.

First make sure to download Teams to your desktop or phone.

After downloading Teams you can log in with your Maastricht University username and password.

1. Open the Microsoft Teams app or go to the web application.
2. Enter your university email address and click “Next”.
   
3. Enter your password and complete any additional sign-in steps.
   

If you already have a personal account in Teams, you can easily add your UM Teams account. You can switch between the different accounts and receive notifications for both accounts.

Click on “Get Started” below to see a step-by-step guide. Click on the enlarge-icon for a full screen view.

This is how you join a Teams meeting: 

• Download Teams (download)
• Log in with your Maastricht University username and password
  • Enter your university email address and click “Next”.
    

• Join the meeting by clicking on a meeting link or by starting the meeting from your agenda. 

You will get the best experience by joining a meeting from your Teams UM account. 

Microsoft guides:

• Join a meeting in Microsoft Teams

If you already have a personal account in Teams, you can easily add your UM Teams account. You can switch between the different accounts and receive notifications for both accounts.

Click play below to watch the video (< 1 minute). Or read the UM guide: How to add your UM Teams account to your personal account.

The meeting link does not expire. You can also access the session link before or after the official meeting time. 

Microsoft discontinued the official Teams Linux client. Therefore you have to use the web version of Teams:

• Go to https://teams.microsoft.com in a Chromium-based browser (Chromium, Chrome, Brave, etc.).
• Install the Progressive Web App (PWA)* by clicking on the download icon next to the address bar.
  
• Click ‘Install’.
• Start Teams by clicking on the Teams icon in your system’s app launcher.
• Sign in with your UM email and password.

UM staff can also join the closed Linux and BSD group on Umployee.

*Firefox does not support PWA.

There are different ways to schedule a Teams meeting. The easiest way is via the Teams application.

Schedule in Teams

Click play below to watch the video (<1 minute). Or read the UM guide: How to schedule a meeting in Teams.

Schedule in Outlook

It is also possible to schedule a Teams meeting in Outlook. This is the preferred option if you want to share the meeting via email. You can find instructions in the guides below.

Microsoft Teams Guides:

• Schedule a meeting in Microsoft Teams
• Schedule a Microsoft Teams meeting from Outlook
• Schedule online meetings in Outlook (Mac)

You can change the meeting settings in Teams. This is explained in the following guide.

Click play below to watch the video (<1 minute). Or read the UM guide: How to schedule a meeting in Teams.

The following settings are important to look at before creating a Teams meeting:

• Who can bypass the lobby (default: people at UM and guest)
• Who can present (default: everyone).
• Allow mic/camera for attendees (default: on).
• Meeting chat (default: on)
• Allow reactions (default: on)

In the following guide you will learn how and where to change these meeting settings:

Click play below to watch the video (<1 minute). Or read the UM guide: How to schedule a meeting in Teams.

Microsoft guides: 

• Overview of all Teams meeting options available. (Note: some options may not be available, because they are turned off at institutional level).

Yes, it is possible to create multiple Teams meeting at the same date and time.

There are four roles in a Teams meeting:

• Organizer
• Co-organizer
• Presenter
• Attendee

Best practice for adding roles: the one who schedules the meeting is the Organizer. Add co-organizers (up to 10) to help manage the meeting. Only UM participants can be made co-organizers.

Important:

• Co-organizers cannot: manage the meeting recording or remove/change the meeting organizer’s role.
• External participants cannot become co-organizers.
• Other participants in the meeting have the role of attendee or presenter

More information:

• Roles in Microsoft Teams meetings

In Zoom it was possible to assign a co-host. This works in a similar way in Teams. A co-host is now called “co-organizer”.

Click play below to watch the video (< 1 minute). Or read the UM guide: How to add a co-organizer in Teams.

Important:

• You can add up to 10 co-organizers.
• Co-organizers cannot manage the meeting recording or remove/change the meeting organizer’s role.
• External participants cannot become co-organizers.
• Other participants in the meeting have the role of attendee or presenter

Microsoft guides:

• Add co-organizers to a meeting in Microsoft Teams

The meeting organizer can add the first co-organizer. Co-organizers that are added can add other co-organizers (up to 10 in total).

Click play below to watch the video (> 1 minute). Or read the UM guide How to add a co-organizer in Teams.

Important:

• You can add up to 10 co-organizers.
• Co-organizers cannot manage the meeting recording or remove/change the meeting organizer’s role.
• External participants cannot become co-organizers.
• Other participants in the meeting have the role of attendee or presenter

Microsoft guides:

• Add co-organizers to a meeting in Microsoft Teams

The organizer of a Teams meeting has to add the first co-organizer. Co-organizers that are added can also add other co-organizers (up to 10).

Click play below to watch the video (> 1 minute). Or read the UM guide How to add a co-organizer in Teams.

Important:

• You can add up to 10 co-organizers.
• Co-organizers cannot manage the meeting recording or remove/change the meeting organizer’s role.
• External participants cannot become co-organizers.
• Other participants in the meeting have the role of attendee or presenter

Microsoft guides:

• Add co-organizers to a meeting in Microsoft Teams

Yes, make sure to assign someone as a co-organizer to manage the session.

Click play to watch the video (< 1 minute). Or read the UM guide: How to add a co-organizer in Teams.

Important:

• • • You can add up to 10 co-organizers.
    • Co-organizers cannot manage the meeting recording or remove/change the meeting organizer’s role.
    • External participants cannot become co-organizers.
    • Other participants in the meeting have the role of attendee or presenter

Microsoft guides:

• • Add co-organizers to a meeting in Microsoft Teams

Yes, it is possible to invite external participants who do not have a UM account to your Teams meeting.

You can use the meeting lobby so that participants cannot directly enter the meeting. They will be waiting in the lobby. Organizers, co-organizers and presenters are notified and can let them into the meeting. Be aware that if UM students join from an external account or without an account, they will also have to wait in the lobby.

Microsoft guides:

• Use the lobby in Microsoft Teams 

You can use the meeting lobby so that participants cannot directly enter the meeting. They will be waiting in the lobby. Organizers, co-organizers and presenters are notified and can let them into the meeting.

Microsoft guides:

• Use the lobby in Microsoft Teams 

It is possible for a student to enter a meeting anonymously or via an external account. However, the best experience is to access the meeting with a UM account. Attendance reports do not work if joined anonymously.

You can share a Teams meeting via a link or by email.

Best practice for educational meetings:

• Share the link via an announcement in Canvas (for tutorial groups: send the announcement to a sections).
• Share the link on a strategic place in your Canvas course that can easily be found by students.
• Share the link on multiple places in your Canvas Course.

Click play to watch the video (< 1 minute). Or read the UM guide: How to share a Teams meeting.

< coming soon >

The easiest way to share a Teams meeting to Canvas is to copy the meeting link and share it to your Canvas course.

Here are some of the possible options:

• Post the link in an announcement in Canvas (for tutorial groups: send the announcement to a sections).
• Post the link on a strategic place in your Canvas course that can easily be found by students, for example in the ‘course overview’.
• Make sure to post the link to multiple places in your Canvas Course.

Click play to watch the video (< 1 minute). Or read the UM guide: How to share a Teams meeting.

< coming soon >

No, there is no Teams menu item in Canvas, because there is no integration between Canvas and Teams.

Previously with Zoom, there was a menu item. This is not available anymore. You can now directly share a meeting link to Canvas.

Click play to watch the video (< 1 minute). Or read the UM guide: How to share a Teams meeting.

< coming soon >

All participants of a Teams meeting – who are invited or have access to the link – can present in a Teams meeting. This means that they can use their microphone and share their screen.

Do you only want organizers to be able to present. This is how to set this up:

• Option 1: Create a Lecture in Teams. By default, only organizers and co-organizers can present during a Lecture.
• Option 2: Go to meeting options and change who can present to: ‘only organizers and co-organizers can present’.

You can still allow a meeting participant to present during a meeting:

• Go to People.
• Search for the participant.
• Place your cursor on the name of the participant.
• Click the three dots.
• Click ‘Make presenter’.
• You can also undo this again.

Microsoft guides:

Present content in Microsoft Teams meetings

It is always possible to allow a meeting participant to present during a lecture:

• Go to People.
• Search for the participant.
• Place your cursor on the name of the participant.
• Click the three dots.
• Click ‘Make presenter.’
• You can also undo this again.

As a meeting host or co-organiser, you have two options:

1. You can turn off the video/mic of all participants before the session.
2. You can turn off the microphone of a single participant or all participants during the Teams meeting. It is not possible to turn off the video during a meeting.

Turn off the video/mic before the start of a meeting

• Open the Calendar in Teams
• Double-click the meeting to open its details.
• Select meeting options.
• Select Participation.
• Turn off the “Allow mic for attendees” and/or “Allow camera for attendees” toggles.
• Select Save.

Turn off the microphone during a Teams meeting

You can mute a participant during a Teams meeting, for example if there is background noise:

• Go to People.
• Search for the Participant.
• Place your cursor on the name of the participant.
• Click on the three dots.
• Click ‘Mute’.

It is only possible to turn off the microphone during a scheduled Teams meeting. If you call someone directly via Teams, you cannot turn off the other participants’ microphone.

Microsoft guides:

• Manage attendee audio and video permissions in Microsoft Teams meetings.

By default, the chat is on for Teams Meetings.

You can change the chat settings via Meeting options / Vergaderopties.

• Go to Microsoft Teams on your device.
• Open the Teams Meeting.
• Click More options.
• Go to Participation.
• Turn off the chat.
• Click ‘Save.’

The meeting lobby in Teams keeps people from directly entering a meeting when they join. UM students, UM staff and invited guests can always bypass the lobby (default setting). You can change these settings via the meeting options.

Keep in mind that students have to wait in the lobby if they log in with an external account or without an account.

Possible solutions:

• Advise UM students to always use their UM account for Teams.
• Allow everyone to bypass the lobby (via meeting options).

Microsoft guides:

Using the lobby in Microsoft Teams meetings

The meeting lobby in Teams keeps people from directly entering a meeting when they join. UM students, UM staff and invited guests can always bypass the lobby (default setting).

Students or externals have to wait in the lobby if they join via an external or without an account.

Possible solutions:

• Advise UM students to always use their UM account for Teams.
• Allow everyone to bypass the lobby (via meeting options).

Microsoft guides:

Using the lobby in Microsoft Teams meetings

Click play below to watch the video (< 2 minutes). Or read the UM guide: How to share your screen in Teams.

The preferred setup is to use two desktops. This setup allows you to view your audience on one desktop, while sharing your screen on the other (find an instruction in the guide below). 

If you have one desktop, a popup appears that shows the presenter. Click on ‘Show more people’ to view more participants in the popup. You can also split your screen, so you will have the shared screen on the left and the audience on the right.

Click play below to watch the video (<2 minutes). Or read the UM guide: How to share your screen in Teams.

Everyone who is a presenter can share their screen in a Teams meeting. By default, everyone is a presenter in a Teams meeting.

It is possible to limit who can share their screen in a Teams meeting:

• Open the Calendar in Teams.
• Double-click the meeting to open its details.
• Select Meeting options.
• Change ‘who can present’.
• Select Save / Toepassen.

Click play below to watch the video (<1 minute). Or read the UM guide: How to schedule a meeting in Teams.

Yes, it is possible for UM staff to record and transcribe a Teams meeting. UM students who need recording rights can ask their teacher or supervisor. They can request access via their faculty information manager or faculty IT support.

How to turn on recording and transcribing during your meeting:

• Click the three dots with More.
• Select Record and transcribe.
• Choose the language.
• The meeting is now recorded and transcribed. All participants receive a message about the meeting being recorded.

Students cannot record and transcribe a Teams meeting by default. UM students who need recording rights can ask their teacher or supervisor. They can request access via their faculty information manager or faculty IT support.

Yes, a co-organizer can record a breakout room they are in.

• The co-host needs to have the role ‘Presenter’ and has to start the recording manually.
• In total, 1 parent session and 10 breakout sessions can be recorded simultaneously. 
• Once the recording is started, it will continue even if the co-organizer leaves the breakout room. 

The meeting organizer can access the recording and transcript via the chat. After downloading the recording, it should be uploaded to Mediasite (how to upload your video to Mediasite) before it is shared to other platforms.

More information:

• Microsoft guide: play, share and download a meeting recording in Microsoft Teams.
• Microsoft guide: View live transcription in Microsoft Teams meetings.
• UM Mediasite support.

Teams meeting recordings will expire after 60 days and moved to the Recycle bin. Therefore it is important to directly download and upload the recording to Mediasite.  

More information:

• UM guide: how to upload your video to Mediasite)
• UM Mediasite support.

You can create breakout rooms in Teams to divide participants/students into smaller groups.

Make sure the person who has to create the breakout rooms is an organizer or co-organizer in the Teams meeting. When you are going to use breakout rooms for the first time, practice first with peers/colleagues.

Watch and/or read the videos and manuals from Microsoft:

Video: How to use breakout rooms in Microsoft Teams

More information:

• Microsoft – Create and manage breakout rooms during class meetings
• Microsoft – Breakout rooms troubleshooting guide in Microsoft Teams

Currently it is not possible for UM staff to create their own teams. A request for a new team can be directed to the Information Manager – or Officer.

UM students can create their own teams as follows:

You can use Microsoft Polls or Wooclap.

Microsoft Polls
This app is integrated in Teams and can be downloaded via ‘Apps’. 

Wooclap 
You can integrate Wooclap in a PowerPoint live or share your screen and open a Wooclap presentation.

More information:

• UM Wooclap support page 

Yes, it is possible to download a meeting attendance report.

Important to know:

• Organizers and co-organizers can view and download this report in the chat (a few minutes after the event ends).
• Creating an Attendance report can be turned off in the meeting options.
• If students enter the meeting as a guest or without logging in, their names will not be in the attendance report.

Microsoft guides:

• Manage meeting attendance reports in Microsoft Teams.

Have a look at our Teams support page to find an instruction on how to raise a support ticket.