Teams Live Events: Planning and Scheduling a Teams Live Event

Overview

Microsoft Teams Live Events is a tool similar to GoToWebinar that allows for a presenter or series of presenters to share information with a large group of people (up to 10,000).  Here are the key features available in Teams Live Events:

  • Up to 10,000 attendees in a single event
  • Share presentations, applications, or cameras (just like in Teams)
  • Share audio/video directly from the presenter's computer
  • Text-based Q&A
  • Text-based Chat
  • Recordings available
  • Attendee list available
  • Transcriptions available (.vtt format)
  • Captioning available

Note: Teams Live Events require at least one producer and one presenter to operate efficiently.  While you can technically do everything from one computer, it is strongly recommended that you have someone who is producing what is live for attendees to see separate from the person or people who are presenting that content.  The Office of Information Technology can help you produce your event. Click here to fill out the Live Event Production Request Form if you would like assistance in producing the event, or even just planning the event.

Creating a Teams Live Event

  1. First, you will want to decide how you will communicate the event.  Will you simply send an email with a link, or would you like attendees to register?  If you would like to send an email, the attendee link will be available after the event is scheduled in Teams.  If you would like attendees to register first, you will need to create a Microsoft Form and distribute that link to potential attendees.  You can either follow up with an email including the link, or include the link in a Forms auto-response after sign up.
  2. To schedule the event, in Teams Select Calendar
  3. Then, in the upper right corner next to New Meeting, click the Down Arrow then Live Meeting

     
  4. Next, you will see the New live event setup screen #1.  Fill out the title, choose start date and time, then the time the event will end and details.  Next, on this screen, you will want to invite the other producers (if you have any besides yourself) and presenters. Remember, producers, are in charge of making sure the right content is presented to the attendees, and the presenters are responsible for making that content available.  When you add someone, they are added as a presenter, click the down arrow if you need them to be a producer.  More information on being a presenter or producer is available in other articles and Tech Talks.  Click Next.

    Note: You can add other producers/presenters or change the roles of anyone in this list after you schedule your event.  However, we strongly recommend doing so no later than 24 hours before you event to ensure the changes are propagated across the system.
  5. On the next screen, you have multiple sets of options.  The first set is who can attend the event.  The People and groups allows you to set who at Cedar Crest can view the event.  This can be limited by individual names or groups.  The Org-wide option allows anyone with a cedarcrest.edu email address can attend if they have the link.  They will have to log in to Teams to attend.  The Public choice allows anyone with the link to attend, without signing in.  Scroll down.


     
  6.  At the bottom of the screen, choose your meeting options.  Recording available to producers and presenters makes the recording of the event available to the producers and presenters after the event, in the calendar event page.  The same is true for Recording available to attendees, but if you do not want attendees to be able to download the recording, you should uncheck this.  Captions turns on the capability for captions to be seen by attendees - and the languages.  Attendee engagement report will allow for the producers and presenters to download a list of who was in the event, when they came into the event and when they left.  Q&A turns on the ability for attendees to ask questions, and producers to answer them in a text format.  An external app or device allows you to connect to a third-party device to run the event (we currently are not supporting this feature at Cedar Crest).  Once this is filled out, click Schedule.



    You have successfully created and scheduled a Teams Live Event. 

    For help troubleshooting guest connections to events, click here.

    To view the Tech Talk on Teams Live Events, which covers scheduling, producing and collecting data from Live Events, click here.