MS Teams - Webinar and Registration options

Introduction

MS Teams offers a variety of ways to deliver virtual events (a meeting, a live event, and a webinar). Webinars allow for up to 1,000 attendees to interact and engage with one another. This feature helps Organizers gauge attendee interest with an optional registration page, and track attendance in a variety of ways. This article reviews how to setup an initial invite, registration page, configure meeting options, and utilize the data produced after the webinar. 

Table of Contents

 

Create a Webinar

Please note: Webinar invitations can only be selected/created on the MS Teams app; it is not available currently through the Outlook calendar.

  1. Go to the "Calendar," list along the left-hand navigation bar of the MS Teams app. 
  2. Click the chevron next to "New meeting" button, and and select the "Webinar" option from the drop-down menu.
  3. Complete the following textboxes with information about your webinar:
     
    1. Title
    2. Presenters (a calendar invitation will be sent to all listed here).
    3. Date/times
    4. Add location
    5. Description (not visible on registration page; these notes are only for Organizer and additional presenters)
  4. Select the "Require registration: For everyone" drop-down menu to allow people outside of the university to register and attend.
  5. Click the "View registration form" to customize the registration page and/or get a copy of the page's link:
     
    1. Click the "Edit" button.
    2. Make edits to the Event details:
       
      1. Add a title
      2. Date/times
      3. Add a description:
         
        1. Please note: the description from the original webinar invitation does not import into the registration page.
    3. Click the "Add speaker" button to list names of speakers and add biographical data.
    4. Click "Add field" to add additional questions for registrants to complete in addition to the pre-populated "First name," "Last name," and "Email fields" that are required. 
       
      1. Please Note: fill-in or choice questions are optional under "Custom question."
    5. Select "View in browser" to preview the registration page from the perspective of a registrant.
    6. Select "Copy registration link" to copy a direct link of the page to your clipboard to share/paste with participants (eg. email, webpage, classroom announcement). 
    7. Click "Save" to publish the page customization. 
  6. Click the "Send" button to invite presenters and create the webinar event. Organizers can return to this calendar invitation to edit meeting options and create a registration page after the webinar has been created. 

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Customize the Registration Page

  1. Go to the "Calendar," list along the left-hand navigation bar of the MS Teams app, and open the meeting invitation for the webinar.
  2. Click the "Customize registration form" link under the "Details" tab, a new window will open displaying the page. 
  3. Click the "Edit" button.
  4. Make edits to the Event details:
     
    1. Add a title
    2. Date/times
    3. Add a description:
       
      1. Please note: the description from the original webinar invitation does not import into the registration page.
  5. Click the "Add speaker" button to list names of speakers and add biographical data.
  6. Click "Add field" to add additional questions for registrants to complete in addition to the pre-populated "First name," "Last name," and "Email fields" that are required. 
     
    1. Please Note: fill-in or choice questions are optional under "Custom question."
  7. Select "View in browser" to preview the registration page from the perspective of a registrant.
  8. Select "Copy registration link" to copy a direct link of the page to your clipboard to share/paste with participants (eg. email, webpage, classroom announcement). 
  9. Click "Save" to publish the page customization. 

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Configure the Meeting Options

Please note: meeting options can only be configured after the invitation has been sent. It's not available when you're first creating the invitation. 

  1. Go to the "Calendar," list along the left-hand navigation bar of the MS Teams app, and open the meeting invitation for the webinar.
  2. Scroll to the "Description" section of the invitation under the "Details tab," and click the "Meeting options" link.
  3. Select the "Meeting options” link in the meeting invitation, it appears below the "Click here to join meeting" link, and a new tab will open in your internet browser.
     
    1. A picture containing text, screenshot, font, line Description automatically generated
  4. Adjust the settings for the following options:
     
    1. Who can bypass the lobby? (default is "Everyone"): anyone attending the meeting, other than the organizer, can be sent to a virtual lobby until the Organizer (or a designated presenter) lets them into the meeting. The lobby can be disabled so all participants can go straight to the meeting room. 
    2. Always let callers bypass the lobby: create a lobby, pre-meeting space for participants entering with a dial-in number.
    3. Announce when callers join or leave (default is "No"): all participants will see a notification in the chat when others enter or exit the meeting. 
    4. Who can present? (default is "Everyone"): designate how participants enter a meeting, as a presenter or attendee. Options include:
       
      1. Everyone: all participants, regardless of how they accessed the meeting invitation will come in with presenter access by default.
      2. People in my organization and guests: participants with a SUNY Empire username and guests signed in with their own MS Teams account/license will come in with presenter access; all other guests will come in as an attendee.
      3. Specific people: allows the organizer to specify someone (besides themselves ) to be a presenter.
         
        1. Please note: The “Specific people” option only allows Organizers to select individuals have been sent an invitation to the meeting already. Someone who has not been sent an invitation yet cannot be selected/added in the drop-down box.
      4. Only me: allows the Organizer to designate themselves as the only presenter. All other participants will be designated as attendees when first entering the meeting; the organizer can designate additional presenters during the meeting.
    5. Allow mic for attendees (default is "Yes"): disable microphones for all attendees before they enter the meeting. They will not be muted (which allows them to turn on their mic eventually); they can't turn it on at all unless the Organizer or presenters allow them to turn it on specifically during the meeting. 
    6. Allow camera for attendees (default is "Yes"): disable camera for all attendees before they enter the meeting. They can't turn it on at all unless the Organizer or presenters allow them to turn it on specifically during the meeting. 
    7. Record automatically (default is "No"): a recording will automatically start when the first participant (regardless of role) enters the meeting room. The Organizer will "own" the recording.
    8. Allow meeting chat (default is "In-meeting only): determines which participants have access to the chat before, during, or after the meeting based on the setting.
       
      1. Enabled:anyone listed on the invitation has access at all times. Anyone who joins the meeting without an invitation is given temporary access while attending the meeting. 
      2. Disabled: the chat is not available to any participants and the icon will not appear in the meeting toolbar.
      3. In-meeting only: the chat is available to all participants during the meeting. All participants are removed from the chat after the meeting. They can view the chat history, but they can no longer send new messages. 
    9. Allow reactions (default is "Yes"): allow for hand raising and emoticons to display. The icon will be removed from the toolbar entirely when set to "No."

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View the Registration & Attendance Dashboard

  1. Go to the "Calendar," list along the left-hand navigation bar of the MS Teams app, and open the meeting invitation for the webinar.
  2. Click the "Attendance" tab. 
  3. View an overview noting registration page views, registered participants, canceled registrations, total attendees to the session, the duration of the meeting, and start/end times.
  4. Scroll down to see a detailed list of each registrant, their status (registered, canceled, attended), and their join/leave times during the meeting. 

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Download Registration and Attendance .csv Files

  1. Go to the "Calendar," list along the left-hand navigation bar of the MS Teams app, and open the meeting invitation for the webinar.
  2. Click the "Registration" and/or "Attendance" icons under the "Details" tab to begin the download. 
     
    1. Please note: some web browsers may prompt you to enter where the files should be downloaded to if a default location is not set.
  3. Find the file(s) on your device in the "Downloads" folder or the alternate location you have selected. 
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