Preparing to facilitate a Microsoft Teams town hall

Description

Microsoft Teams Town Halls are an extension of Teams meetings that enable you to schedule and produce events that stream to large online audiences. 

Environment

Mac, PC, web browser, and mobile app

Solution 

If you plan to run your own Microsoft Teams town hall without seeking fee-based assistance from audiovisual professionals, Microsoft has thorough documentation on  getting started with a Teams town hall .

While it is possible to run a Teams town hall using only a laptop with a webcam, Teams town halls are best suited to high-profile events, such as keynote speeches or presentations to large audiences. For a successful town hall, OIT recommends:

• Professional-grade A/V equipment (e.g. a mixer, cameras, microphones, projectors, etc.)

• An “event group” (i.e. people who work behind the scenes to make the event successful)

There are a few things to keep in mind when choosing a Teams town hall as your solution:

• Town hall events run on a 20-30 second delay, making them a poor choice for an event with much back-and-forth between the remote audience and the presenters.

• Assigning event group roles correctly is very important to the success of your town hall. For example, due to the 20-30 second delay, if you have any remote presenters, they will need to be assigned the Presenter role in order to receive the non-delayed feed. The following articles provide more information:

  • Present in a town hall in Teams

  • Customize a town hall in Teams

Outcome:You should now be able to successfully facilitate a Microsoft Teams town hall.

Get help from OIT

• Visit the  Microsoft Teams  page to create a ticket

• Visit the  Help and Resources article  for further assistance with Microsoft Teams

• Visit the  Technology Resources and Training page  for an OIT training

Additional resources

• Comparison: Microsoft Teams meetings vs. town halls vs. webinars

• Creating and joining a Microsoft Teams meeting, town hall, or webinar

• Preparing to facilitate a Microsoft Teams meeting

• Preparing to facilitate a Microsoft Teams webinar

• Setting up equipment for a Microsoft Teams meeting