Start by opening the settings in Teams. In the Web and desktop client, you’ll find it in the “…” menu to the left of your profile pic (or initials). On mobile, tap on your profile pic or initials.

Then choose “Settings”. In the settings menu, choose “Calls” or “Calling” depending on the version. Lastly, scroll down to “Manage voicemail” and click on “Record a greeting” or “Change voicemail greeting.”

Of course it looks a little different in Mobile, but basically the same flow…

1. If the display is off, tap it to wake it up.
2. On the base screen (where upcoming meetings are displayed), choose “More”
3. Choose “Settings”
4. You will be prompted to enter an admin password. Enter the password you have been given. If there is no on screen keyboard, tap inside the password box to bring it up. You may need to try a few times.
5. You will now be on the Settings page.
6. Choose “Windows Settings”.
7. You will see a Windows login page that is defaulting to Skype (this is the Teams Account. Don’t choose this right now.
8. Choose “Administrator” and enter the same password again.
   You are now in a (relatively) normal Windows session and can use it as such. This is not private to you however, so be mindful both of your personal data (and that of your clients) and other other users who may follow you.
   Please be careful and don’t install anything except required meeting software here. You will likely want to use mouse and keyboard to make using this as a regular PC easier however, it will need to be plugged in to the pc behind the main display, so wireless devices are best. However, you may find things are a little jittery. Sit as close to the PC as is practical. The screen is split over the main display and the tap/touchscreen. You will not be able to choose things on the main screen using the touchscreen, you will definitely need a mouse for this.
9. Use Private (may be called InPrivate or Incognito) browsing in any browser you open so you don’t leave a trail of data and logged in accounts for others to find. You will find this option in the menu of your browser (usually at the top right of the browser).
10. Do not save any passwords.

After your meeting

1. Choose “logout” from the windows menu.
2. When you return to the main login screen, choose “Skype” and then “login” to return the device to its default state for Teams meetings.

This has been an issue of ongoing concern for more than two years. There is no really good answer to this and I am dumbfounded that this remains so awkward and piecemeal. However, Teams is quite an amazing environment in many ways and so we persist.

Add contacts with Teams (or Skype) accounts

It can be a little slow to respond, but once you enter an entire address into a new chat window, you should be offered the option to “search name@example.com externally” after it fails to find the person in your existing contacts. This will match on Teams accounts and also on Skype accounts. You cannot match Skype handles. Yes, you must enter the entire email address. There is no “type-to-search” here.

Add contacts with phone numbers

The only way to directly add phone contacts to Teams is one at a time, using “add contact” in the Calls->Contacts area (if you have a phone system and calling plan) or matching their Teams-associated email in a new chat (see above).

Adding groups of contacts

I’m assuming you have a bunch of contacts you want to import and aren’t already seeing in Teams. This is harder than it needs to be.

Teams shows contacts from three sources:

1. Your Office 365 Domain (Tenant) global directory. These are contacts for everyone in your organization and for any contacts added by your administrator.
2. Contacts in your Outlook Contacts file for the same account that have a name and phone number
3. Contacts you added manually to Teams via chat or Calls->Contacts.

Importing contacts to Outlook online

I will assume you don’t have control over your global directory and focus on getting your contacts into Outlook. Since you probably wouldn’t be here if your contacts were there, I’ll assume you have them stored somewhere else. You’ll need to export them from that place in a comma separated format (CSV).

Once you have a csv file, you can use the web-based Outlook (https://office.com) to do a pretty reliable import job, by switching to your “contacts” page and then choosing “Import contacts” from the “Manage” menu near the top right corner of the Outlook window.

From there, it’s simply a matter of choosing your csv file and letting Microsoft do the work.

It is theoretically possible to do with desktop Outlook using the File->Open & Export menu item, but I have had little luck. Let’s face it, Outlook on the desktop is a bloated, unreliable behemoth of software. It used to be only the second worst piece of software in wide distribution, but then Apple retired iTunes and elevated it to the number one spot of software misery. Desktop Outlook will catch up if you do the import online, so just do that.

Adding contacts to the Global Address List

A task for another day.

In Outlook

You need to have the Teams App actually installed on your computer for the Teams integration in Outlook to work.

To create a new meeting: 

1. Go to the calendar view to create a new meeting. Click the “New event” button.
   
   
2. It will look pretty much like the image below. The important part is to click the “Teams meeting” slider so that it is turned on. This is crucial for the Teams meeting links to be generated. Both the dial in number and the video conferencing links are generated and sent to anyone invited. 
   
   
3. When it comes to joining the meeting the Outlook calendar view is not as slick but when you click on the calendar entry a little pop-up will appear with the “Join Teams Meeting” button. The view in the Teams app is more polished.
   

To Create a meeting from an email thread: 

1. When in the email thread click the “Reply with Meeting” button, it is the small calendar with the purple arrow that is highlighted in the screenshot below. 
   
   
2. To make it a Teams meeting you’ll need to click the “Teams Meeting” button which has the Teams logo on it. 
   Note: you may be asked to log into your Teams account, use the same credentials you use for your Microsoft account. 
   

In Teams Online and Desktop

Note: If you’re using Firefox, the browser we normally recommend, Teams audio is not supported. However teams will work in Edge and many other browsers. We do recommend downloading the desktop application, it will be more reliable. 

1. Navigate to the calendar 

2. Then click the new meeting button in the top right corner. That will take you to this screen. If you need to add optional attendees click the “+Optional” button to add those attendees. Both the dial in number and the video conferencing links are generated and sent to anyone invited. You need phone service and the Conferencing add-on for there to be a dial in number.

3. You’ll then be able to click on the meeting which will bring up this screen. When the time comes you’ll click the “Join” button to join the meeting. 

4. In addition, when the time approaches for the meeting a join button will appear in the calendar view as well. 

5. If you have phone service and a Conferencing add-on to your Office 365 account, then a dial in number will be automatically created and accessible in the meeting information. 

If someone joins by phone they will be audio only but still be in the same meeting with anyone on video conferencing. 

6. On desktop when you click join for the first time you will be prompted to allow access to your microphone and camera. Do allow access.

7. Once you allow those, the screen will then look similar to this. Click the join button to join the meeting.

8. That will take you the call which looks like this. 

9. The tool bar at the bottom has a variety of options:

• The video camera will turn on/off the camera
• The microphone will turn on/off the microphone
• The button with the rectangle and arrow will allow you to share your screen
• The three dots provides more options

• The rectangular speech bubble will bring up a text based chat
• The two people will show you all the participants
• The red phone will hang up the call
  

10. That is everything you need for a video call in the Teams online or desktop

Appendix A:
Useful text you may wish to add to your invitation 

Just click on the ‘Join Microsoft Teams Meeting’ link below and follow the instructions if you are on your computer. You can view this via a browser, or you can download the Microsoft Teams app.  Either is fine.  Make sure your microphone is enabled and the camera (if you wish to use it) is set up appropriately and that you have a reliable internet connection with a good internet speed.  It is a good idea to put your computer higher up to, so the camera is at the approximate level of your eyes.  

If you have phone and conferencing on your account, you may wish to add something like the following as well:

If you cannot log in via computer or do not have reliable internet, simply call the phone number provided and enter the conference ID.  To find a phone number local to you instead of the default Toronto number provided, click on “Local Numbers” button below.  If you dial in via phone, you will not be able to see camera images or shared documents, if applicable.