03 — Manage Meetings & Calling 15–20%


🗺 Domain Overview

mindmap
  root((Domain 3 15–20%))
    Meetings & Events
      Meeting Types
      Meeting Settings
      Meeting Policies
      Meeting Templates
      Customization Policies
      Webinars
      Town Halls
      Virtual Appointments
      Copilot in Meetings
    Phone & Calling
      Phone Numbers
      Calling Plans
      Operator Connect
      Direct Routing
      Voice Policies
      Voicemail Policies
      Auto-Attendants
      Call Queues
      Calling Policies

📅 3.1 Manage Meetings and Events

Meeting Types Comparison

Type Purpose Max Attendees Interactive Registration
Meeting Standard collaboration 1,000 (view-only up to 20,000) Full two-way Optional
Webinar Presentations to large audiences 1,000 Limited (Q&A, chat) Yes
Town Hall Large broadcasts (replaces Live Events) 10,000 (up to 20,000) View-only (Q&A only) No
Virtual Appointment External customer/client meetings 1:1 or small group Full two-way Booking-based
flowchart TD
    NEED{"What do you need?"}
    COLLAB["Team collaboration?\n(Everyone participates)"]
    PRESENT["Present to an audience?\n(Mostly one-way)"]
    BROADCAST["Broadcast to 1000+?\n(One-way, Q&A)"]
    EXTERNAL["External client meeting?\n(Scheduled via booking)"]

    MEETING["📅 Meeting"]
    WEBINAR["🎤 Webinar"]
    TOWNHALL["📢 Town Hall"]
    VIRTUAL["🏥 Virtual Appointment"]

    NEED --> COLLAB --> MEETING
    NEED --> PRESENT --> WEBINAR
    NEED --> BROADCAST --> TOWNHALL
    NEED --> EXTERNAL --> VIRTUAL

Meeting Settings (Tenant-wide)

Configured in Teams admin center → Meetings → Meeting settings:

Setting Description
Email invitations Custom logo, legal URL, help URL in meeting invites
Network Media bit rate, QoS markers for audio/video/sharing
Meeting join Anonymous users can join meetings
Copilot Enable Microsoft 365 Copilot in meetings

Meeting Policies

Per-user policies that control meeting behavior:

Category Key Settings
General Meet now in channels, Outlook add-in, meeting registration
Audio & video Transcription, recording, mode for IP audio/video
Recording & transcription Auto-recording, transcription, meeting coach
Content sharing Screen sharing mode, PowerPoint Live, whiteboard, shared notes
Participants Anonymous join, lobby settings, who can present, reactions
Copilot Copilot availability during and after meetings

Lobby Settings

Who Can Bypass Lobby Description
Everyone No lobby — all join directly
People in my org and guests External users wait in lobby
People in my org, trusted orgs, and guests Includes federated users
People in my org Only internal users bypass lobby
People who were invited Only explicitly invited users
Only organizers and co-organizers Most restrictive

Meeting Templates

Admin-created templates that pre-configure meeting options:

Feature Description
Lock settings Prevent organizers from changing specific options
Default values Pre-set lobby, recording, chat, reactions
Sensitivity labels Associate a label with the template
Template policies Control which templates users can access

Meeting Customization Policies

Customization Description
Custom backgrounds Upload org-approved background images
Custom together mode Custom layouts for together mode scenes
Brand themes Logo and colors in the meeting experience

Webinars

Feature Description
Registration Required — attendees must register before joining
Presenter bio Presenter profiles shown on registration page
Attendee engagement Q&A, polls, chat (limited compared to meetings)
Post-event reports Attendance and engagement analytics
Capacity Up to 1,000 attendees

Town Halls

Feature Description
Audience size Up to 10,000 (20,000 with premium)
Interaction Q&A only — attendees cannot unmute or share video
Presenters Designated presenters and producers
Recording Available to organizers and presenters
Real-time translation Captions in attendee’s language
RTMP-in Stream from external encoders

Microsoft 365 Copilot in Meetings

Feature Description
During meeting Real-time summaries, catch-up, suggested actions
After meeting Meeting recap, action items, follow-up suggestions
Transcript required Copilot needs transcription enabled to function
Policy control Admins control Copilot availability via meeting policies

⚠️ Exam Caveat:

  • Town halls replaced Live Events — know the migration path and feature differences
  • Webinars require registration; meetings have optional registration; town halls have no registration
  • Meeting templates can lock settings so organizers cannot change them — this is different from meeting policies
  • Copilot in meetings requires transcription to be enabled — if transcription is off, Copilot cannot summarize
  • View-only meetings support up to 20,000 attendees but participants in view-only cannot interact

📞 3.2 Manage Phone Numbers and Services for Teams Phone

PSTN Connectivity Options

flowchart TD
    PHONE["Teams Phone System"]
    CP["📞 Microsoft\nCalling Plans"]
    OC["📞 Operator\nConnect"]
    DR["📞 Direct\nRouting"]

    PHONE --> CP
    PHONE --> OC
    PHONE --> DR

    CP --> |"Microsoft provides\nphone numbers &\nPSTN trunk"| CPDETAIL["Simplest setup\nLimited countries\nPay-per-user"]
    OC --> |"Operator provides\nPSTN via Microsoft\nmanaged portal"| OCDETAIL["Operator managed\nBroader coverage\nOperator billing"]
    DR --> |"Your SBC connects\nto Teams Phone\nvia SIP trunk"| DRDETAIL["Full control\nUse existing PSTN\nMost complex"]
Option Managed By Best For
Calling Plans Microsoft Small/medium orgs, simple deployment, Microsoft-managed numbers
Operator Connect Certified operator Orgs wanting operator-managed PSTN with Teams integration
Direct Routing Your IT team Existing PSTN infrastructure, SBCs, full control over routing

Phone Number Types

Type Purpose
User (subscriber) Assigned to individual users for inbound/outbound calling
Service (toll) Assigned to auto-attendants, call queues, conferencing bridges
Service (toll-free) Toll-free numbers for auto-attendants, call queues, conferencing

Resource Accounts

Required for auto-attendants and call queues:

  • Must have a Teams Phone Resource Account license (free)
  • Can have a phone number assigned (service number)
  • Created in Teams admin center → Voice → Resource accounts

Voice Policies and Settings

Policy Controls
Voice routing policy Which PSTN routes users can use (Direct Routing)
Dial plan Number normalization rules — translate dialed digits
Caller ID policy What caller ID is displayed for outbound calls
Call park policy Allow users to park and retrieve calls
Emergency calling policy Dynamic emergency calling, notification groups

Voicemail Policies

Setting Description
Voicemail enabled Turn voicemail on/off per user
Transcription Auto-transcribe voicemail messages
Translation Translate transcription to user’s language
Max recording duration Limit voicemail message length
Call answering rules When to route to voicemail

Auto-Attendants

Interactive voice menus that route callers:

Feature Description
Greeting Audio file or text-to-speech
Menu options DTMF keys (1–9, 0, *, #) mapped to actions
Business hours Different menus for business hours vs. after hours
Holiday schedules Custom greetings for holidays
Directory search Dial by name or extension
Nested auto-attendants Route to another auto-attendant
Actions Transfer to user, call queue, voicemail, external number, or announcement
flowchart TD
    CALLER["📞 Incoming Call"]
    AA["🤖 Auto-Attendant"]
    BH{"Business\nHours?"}
    MENU["🔢 Menu Options\nPress 1 for Sales\nPress 2 for Support"]
    AFTERHOURS["🌙 After Hours\nGreeting + Voicemail"]
    CQ["📋 Call Queue\n(Sales)"]
    USER["👤 Transfer to\nUser"]

    CALLER --> AA
    AA --> BH
    BH -->|Yes| MENU
    BH -->|No| AFTERHOURS
    MENU -->|Press 1| CQ
    MENU -->|Press 2| USER

Call Queues

Distribute incoming calls to a group of agents:

Feature Description
Routing methods Attendant (ring all), Serial, Round robin, Longest idle
Agents Users, M365 groups, or Teams channels
Overflow Action when queue is full (voicemail, redirect, disconnect)
Timeout Action when wait time exceeds threshold
Conference mode Faster connection (recommended for most scenarios)
Presence-based routing Only route to agents with “Available” presence
Music on hold Default or custom audio file

Calling Policies

Setting Description
Private calling Allow/block 1:1 PSTN and VoIP calls
Call forwarding Allow simultaneous ring, call forwarding, delegation
Voicemail routing Where unanswered calls go
Busy on busy Block incoming calls when user is already on a call
Web PSTN calling Allow PSTN calls from the Teams web client
Inbound call routing Route to voicemail, unanswered settings

⚠️ Exam Caveat:

  • Auto-attendants and call queues each need a resource account — and the resource account needs a Teams Phone Resource Account license
  • Calling Plans are the simplest but have limited country availability — Direct Routing or Operator Connect for broader coverage
  • Direct Routing requires a certified SBC (Session Border Controller) connected via SIP trunk
  • Emergency calling policies are required for compliance in many regions — know dynamic emergency calling for Teams Phone
  • Call queue routing methods: Attendant rings all agents simultaneously; Serial rings agents in order; Round robin distributes evenly; Longest idle routes to the agent who has been idle the longest

📝 Domain 3 — Quick-Reference Scenarios

Scenario Answer
Present quarterly results to 5,000 employees (view-only) Town Hall
Host a customer webinar with registration Webinar
Standard team sync for 15 people Meeting
External client consultation with booking Virtual Appointment
Set up an IVR menu for incoming calls Auto-attendant
Distribute support calls to available agents Call queue
Connect Teams to existing PBX infrastructure Direct Routing (SBC)
Get Microsoft-managed phone numbers quickly Calling Plan
Prevent organizers from disabling recording Meeting template with locked recording setting
Limit who can bypass the meeting lobby Meeting policy — lobby settings

← Previous: Teams, Channels, Chats & Apps Next → 04 — Monitor, Report & Troubleshoot

🏠 Home