In this article, we'll share key tips and strategies to help you enhance your productivity and streamline team collaboration using this powerful webinar integration. Discover the features and best practices that will help you maximize the benefits of Microsoft Teams in your daily work.
Use Case Information
Microsoft Teams is integrated with Thought Industries in order to provide the options to use three different types of webinars: meetings, recurring meetings, and live events. For information about producing a live event using Teams, review this Microsoft Teams article.
Adding a Microsoft Teams Account to Thought Industries
Microsoft Teams is behind a feature flag. Contact your CSM for more information.
Navigate to Apps in your instance to request to have this feature enabled on your site.
Connect your Microsoft Teams account(s) on the Webinars page by doing the following:
- From your homepage, click Courses > Settings.
- In the left menu, click Webinar Providers.
- Click Log out of Microsoft Teams to ensure that you connect to the correct account.
- Click Add Account.
- Once navigated to Microsoft Teams site, log in with the appropriate credentials.
- If it’s the first time connecting the Microsoft account to Thought Industries, click Accept to grant consent for the permissions requested.
- If user consent has been disabled for an organization, you will see a prompt to request admin approval. In this case, we recommend using a Microsoft Admin account to establish the initial connection. Admins can grant consent to permissions for themselves and on behalf of their entire organization.
- Repeat to add as many relevant account as you need.
Note
When connecting a new Microsoft Teams account, consent will be requested for the following delegated permissions. Users must grant consent to the following permissions to ensure the use of the integration to its fullest extent:
- user.read
- OnlineMeetings.ReadWrite
- Calendars.ReadWrite
- onlinemeetingartifact.read.all
- openid
- profile
- offline_access
Doc Attached
See the attachment at the bottom of this page for more information on Microsoft Authentication and Permissions.
Tip
When trying to create a Microsoft Teams event in Thought Industries, you may come across the error "Could not refresh token, please refresh and try again.". This means the Microsoft Teams user license you are assigning to the webinar needs to be refreshed. Go to Courses > Settings > Webinar Providers > click Reconnect next to the user license that needs to be refreshed.
Creating a Meeting
There are two ways to set up a single meeting:
- Import an existing Meeting into Thought Industries (Recommended)
- Create a Meeting directly in Thought Industries
If you import the meeting, the meeting will be available from your Microsoft calendar. However, if you create the meeting directly in Thought Industries, you will need to manually add this to your calendar, but can launch the meeting from within Thought Industries.
Import a Meeting Into Thought Industries (Recommended)
To integrate a single meeting into Thought Industries, create the meeting in Microsoft Teams first, then import the meeting into Thought Industries.
We recommend this method because when the meeting is created in Thought Industries first, the event is not visible in the accountholder’s calendar.
- In the Microsoft Teams interface, log into your Microsoft Teams account. The account should be the same account as the one connected to Thought Industries.
- Click to create a New Meeting.
- Title the Meeting.
- Enter at least one attendee. (Note: This is important for the URL.)
- Save the Meeting.
- From the calendar, click on the Meeting.
- From the pop up, locate the link below the Join button.
- Copy the Join URL.
- Log into Thought Industries and navigate to Courses > All Courses.
- Click the blue + icon.
- Select the VILT or Webinar template.
- Click the Import Existing Webinar link (below the save button).
- Click the Webinar Provider dropdown.
- Select Microsoft Teams from the dropdown menu.
- Select the Webinar Connection. This should be the same account used to create the event in Microsoft Teams.
- Click the Webinar Type dropdown.
- Select MS Teams Meeting from the Webinar Type dropdown.
- Paste the Join URL from Microsoft Teams into the Existing Webinar Join URL field.
- Click Import.
Note
It’s possible to modify the date and time of a Meeting in the Event tab. The changes will be reflected in the admin interface and wherever the date displays for learners within Thought Industries. The change will NOT be reflected on the account’s Microsoft Teams calendar due to Microsoft API limitations.
Creating a Meeting in Thought Industries
- From your homepage, navigate to Courses > All Courses.
- Click the blue + icon.
- Select the VILT or Webinar template.
- Enter a title for your webinar.
- Click the Webinar Provider dropdown.
- Select Microsoft Teams from the dropdown menu.
- Select the Webinar Connection. This should be the same account used to create the event in Microsoft Teams.
- Click the Webinar Type dropdown.
- Select MS Teams Meeting from the Webinar Type dropdown.
- Select the start date and time from the Webinar Date & Time date picker.
- Select the end date and time from the Webinar Date & Time date picker.
- Click Save.
Note
It’s possible to modify the date and time of a Meeting in the Event tab. The changes will be reflected in the admin interface and wherever the date displays for learners within Thought Industries. Note: When you initially create a Meeting in Thought Industries, it does not reflect on the Teams calendar, so any changes made to the Meeting in Thought Industries will not be reflected on the Microsoft Teams calendar.
Creating a Recurring Meeting
There are two ways to set up a recurring meeting:
- Import an existing Recurring Meeting into Thought Industries
- Create a Recurring Meeting directly in Thought Industries
Whether you import the Recurring Meeting or create it directly in Thought Industries, these meetings will be available from your Microsoft calendar.
Importing a Recurring Meeting Into Thought Industries
Use the directions below to import a recurring meeting using the Webinar Join URL:
- In the Microsoft Teams interface, log into your Microsoft Teams account. The account should be the same account as the one connected to Thought Industries.
- Click to create a New Meeting.
- Title the Meeting.
- Enter at least one attendee. (Note: This is important for the URL.)
- Select the recurrence from the Recurrence dropdown
- Save the Recurring Meeting.
- From the calendar, click the first meeting occurrence.
- From the pop up, locate the link below the Join button.
- Copy the Join URL.
- Log into Thought Industries and navigate to Courses > All Courses.
- Click the blue + icon.
- Select the VILT or Webinar template.
- Click the Import Existing Webinar link.
- Click the Webinar Provider dropdown.
- Select Microsoft Teams from the dropdown menu.
- Select the Webinar Connection. This should be the same account used to create the event in Microsoft Teams.
- Click the Webinar Type dropdown.
- Select MS Teams Recurring Meeting from the Webinar Type dropdown.
- Paste the Join URL from Microsoft Teams into the Existing Webinar Join URL field.
- Click Import.
Note
It’s possible to modify the date and time of a Recurring Meeting in the Event tab. The changes will be reflected in the admin interface and wherever the date displays for learners within Thought Industries. The change will be reflected on the account’s Microsoft Teams calendar.
Creating a Recurring Meeting in Thought Industries
- From your homepage, navigate to Courses > All Courses.
- Click the blue + icon.
- Select the VILT or Webinar template.
- Title the Webinar.
- Click the Webinar Provider dropdown.
- Select Microsoft Teams from the dropdown menu.
- Select the Webinar Connection. This should be the same account used to create the event in Microsoft Teams.
- Click the Webinar Type dropdown.
- Select MS Teams Recurring Event from the Webinar Type dropdown menu.
- Select the start date and time for the first meeting from the Webinar Date & Time date picker.
- Select the end date and time for the first meeting from the Webinar Date & Time date picker.
- Select the recurrence from the Recurrence dropdown.
- Daily: Enter a number for the recurrence to repeat certain days. Then enter an end date.
- Weekly: Enter a number for the recurrence to repeat certain weeks. Select the day(s) it should repeat. Then enter an end date.
-
Monthly: Enter a number for the recurrence to repeat certain months. Select the week and select a day of the week the meetings should occur.
You can also select Choose a specific date of the month and enter the date. Then enter the end date. - Yearly: Select the month for the meetings to repeat. Choose the week and day of the month, or select Choose a specific date of the month and enter the date. Then enter the end date.
- Click Save.
Note
- It’s possible to modify the date and time of a Recurring Meeting in the Event tab. The changes will be reflected in the admin interface and wherever the date displays for learners within Thought Industries. The change will be reflected on the account’s Microsoft Teams calendar.
- Learners will receive a confirmation email from Microsoft Teams. (This does not apply to single Meetings and Live Events.)
Creating a Live Event
There are two ways to set up a live event:
- Import an existing Live Event into Thought Industries (Recommended)
- Create a Live Event directly in Thought Industries
If you import the Live Event, then the meeting will be available from your Microsoft calendar. However, if you create the meeting directly in Thought Industries, you will need to manually add this to your calendar, but can launch the meeting from within Thought Industries.
Import a Live Event Into Thought Industries (Recommended)
If you wish to integrate a Live Event into Thought Industries, create the Live Event in Microsoft Teams first, then import the event into Thought Industries. We recommend this because if the Live Event is created in Thought Industries first, the event is not visible in the accountholder’s calendar.
- In Microsoft Teams Log into your Microsoft Teams account. The account should be the same account as the one connected to Thought Industries.
- Create the Live Event and schedule it.
- From the calendar, click on the Live Event.
- From the popup, click the expand icon to view the Live Event details.
- Scroll down to the very bottom of the modal. Right click on the Join live event link and copy this Join URL.
- In a separate tab, log into Thought Industries, and navigate to Courses > All Courses.
- Click the blue + icon.
- Select the VILT or Webinar template.
- Click the Import Existing Webinar link.
- Click the Webinar Provider dropdown.
- Select Microsoft Teams from the dropdown menu.
- Select the Webinar Connection. This should be the same account used to create the event in Microsoft Teams.
- Click the Webinar Type dropdown.
- Select MS Teams Live Event from the Webinar Type dropdown.
- Paste the join URL from Microsoft Teams into the Existing Webinar Join URL field.
- Click Import.
Note
It’s possible to modify the date and time of a Live Event in the Event tab. The changes will be reflected in the admin interface and wherever the date displays for learners within Thought Industries. The change will NOT be reflected on the account’s Microsoft Teams calendar due to Microsoft API limitations.
Creating a Live Event in Thought Industries
- From your homepage, navigate to Courses > All Courses.
- Click the blue + icon.
- Select the VILT or Webinar template.
- Enter a title for your webinar.
- Click the Webinar Provider dropdown.
- Select Microsoft Teams from the dropdown menu.
- Select the Webinar Connection. This should be the same account used to create the event in Microsoft Teams.
- Click the Webinar Type dropdown.
- Select MS Teams Live Event from the Webinar Type dropdown.
- Select the start date and time from the Webinar Date & Time date picker.
- Select the end date and time from the Webinar Date & Time date picker.
- Click Save.
Note
It’s possible to modify the date and time of a Live Event in the Event tab. The changes will be reflected in the admin interface and wherever the date displays for learners within Thought Industries. Note: When you initially create a Live Event in Thought Industries, it does not reflect on the Teams calendar, so any changes made to the Live Event in Thought Industries will not be reflected on the Microsoft Teams calendar.
Notes
- If you create the event from within Thought Industries, the default selection of event permissions is Org-Wide. You cannot select another choice.
- If you create a Live Event in Thought Industries, or you create a People & Groups, or Org-Wide permissions only and import it, the learners who gain access to the content must be users within your organization in Microsoft Teams.
Permission Type Description People and Groups The event can only be watched by individual people, Microsoft 365 security groups, or Microsoft 365 Unified Groups that you name.You can specify up to 150 individual email addresses, security groups, or unified groups. Distribution lists are currently not supported. Org-wide Everyone in your org can watch the live event, including guests Public Anyone can join: both people in your org and those outside of it
How To Launch Any Event Type as a Admin
From the Event Tab in the Course Authoring Interface
- From your homepage, navigate to Courses > All Courses.
- Select the event you wish to launch.
- Click the Event tab at the top of the of the authoring interface.
- Click Meeting URL to launch the meeting.
From the Content List Actions Menu
- From your homepage, navigate to Courses > All Courses.
- Select the title of the event you wish to launch.
- Click the action menu/three dot menu next next to the event.
- Click Launch.
Learner Experience
The learner experience for Microsoft Teams is consistent with behavior for existing webinar providers.
For all Microsoft Teams meeting types, learners will be able to:
- Enroll in a session
- When learners enroll in a session with an Microsoft Teams event, Thought Industries adds them as a participant to that event in Teams, which sends the learner’s name and email address to Microsoft Teams. That participant list is visible in Microsoft Teams by visiting the calendar and clicking on an event to edit it.
- Receive Thought Industries Learner Notifications, if applicable:
- Learner notifications in Thought Industries come with three default VILT/webinar email templates: Thank you for Attending, Confirmation, and Reminder.
-
When using learner notifications with recurring meetings: The initial confirmation email will contain an .ics file to download, which will only contain the first meeting occurrence. However, the reminder email is sent the day prior to future meeting occurrences and also contain an .ics file to download.
Example: You have a meeting that occurs weekly on February 8th and February 15th. The learner would receive a confirmation email that would include a .ics file for the February 8th occurrence. Then on February 14th, they would receive a reminder email with a .ics file to add the February 15th occurrence to their calendar. This is consistent with recurring meetings for other webinar providers that integrate with Thought Industries. - Learner notifications contain the event Join URL to launch the Teams meeting directly from their calendar.
- Receive Microsoft Teams confirmation email: Learners will only receive these when registering for recurring meetings.
- View and launch the session in the Events tab of their learner access widget.
- For standalone event sessions, launch the meeting from the learner access widget.
- For event sessions with pre-post learning:
- Access the course from their learner access widget
- Launch a meeting(s) from the Meeting page(s) within a course
Joining an Event
Learners must be admitted into the meeting in order for them to be marked as attended. If learners enter the waiting room only, they will not be marked as attended.
Meetings & Recurring Meetings
Learners can enter as a signed in Teams user or as a Guest. If the learner is already signed into Microsoft Teams, the email associated with this Microsoft account will need to match the email learners use in the Thought Industries platform in order for attendance to be tracked.
If the learner is not signed in, they can enter as a guest. The learner will see a field that says Enter Name and a button to Join. They will need to input the email learners use in the Thought Industries platform in order for attendance to be tracked.
Microsoft Teams does not have user-specific join links, so Thought Industries can’t pre-fill or pass over any learner info. (This user flow is different than our Zoom integration, for example, which does not require the learner to enter any information, even when they are signed out, in order to access the webinar and have attendance tracked.
View of Meetings Guest Mode (Learners must enter the email used in the Thought Industries platform in the "Enter name" field.)
Live Events
Learners can enter as a signed in Microsoft Teams user or anonymously.
Attendance will not be tracked in Thought Industries for Live Event.
If a learner is a new member of the customer’s Microsoft organization, they may see a pop-up after signing in that asks them to allow the organization to access certain data. This permission request is coming from the Microsoft organization that the learner is a part of, not Thought Industries.
If Admins create a Live Event directly in Microsoft Teams and make the event Public, anyone can join anonymously.
View of Live Events (Learner must sign in)
Reporting
- Reporting for Microsoft Teams will be consistent with reporting for other webinar providers.
- Content-level reporting will show the count of how many learners registered versus how many learners attended.
- In order to retrieve automated attendance data, a learner must access the meeting with the email that they use to log into Thought Industries.
- When joining meetings, a learner must sign into Teams or join as a guest with the email that they use to log into Thought Industries.
- If a learner joins with only a name or an email that is different than than the email that they use to log into Thought Industries, their attendance will not be reflected in Thought Industries. However, they will be shown as a participant in the Microsoft Teams Attendance Report.
- The Learner Attended Meetings Log in Reporting can be used to review attendance.
- Learners who attended an event will be marked completed when all completion criteria have been met.
- If attending a meeting(s) is the only completion criteria for a session, then learners who attended will earn a completion in the VILT.
- If meeting attendance is the required completion criteria, learners who attended will be automatically marked complete in the VILT.
- Microsoft Teams will count a learner as attended if they join the meeting for any length of time-–there is no minimum time required to be marked as complete.
- Attendance data is synced from Microsoft Teams every hour, so attendance will be reflected in Thought Industries reporting within an hour after a meeting has ended. Attendance data should be reflected in Thought Industries between 1-2 hours after an event has ended.
Note
Automated attendance is not supported for Live Events.
Additional Information
API
- Meeting and Live Event API Documentation: onlineMeeting API
- Recurring Meeting API Documentation events API
Limitations
-
Automated Attendance is not supported for Live Events.
- If meeting attendance is a required completion criteria for the VILT, admins should disable automated attendance and manually input attendance using the roster. Within Teams, admins can download the Microsoft Teams Attendee Engagement Report.
- Using SSO: Learners will not necessarily know their email address when they enter the Thought Industries platform through SSO. In order to be able to track attendance when learners are not able to join with an email address, we recommend including instructions on the meeting page for learners to enter their full name when they join the meeting so it will be reflected in the Microsoft Teams Attendee Report. Further, we recommend that you disable automatic attendance for these events and manually track attendance using the Microsoft Teams Attendee Report that is generated after the event is over.
- If learners anonymously join a public event, Thought Industries is unable to track them since the platform will not be able to link them to a registered email address.
- Microsoft Teams Meetings and Live Events created within Thought Industries will not display on the accountholder’s Microsoft Teams Calendar because of the limitations of Microsoft APIs. However, launch links can be copied from within Thought Industries so that admins can start the meetings.
- Recordings cannot be retrieved through Thought Industries, but can be retrieved from within Microsoft Teams.
- Microsoft Teams is not compatible with the bulk import function.
Tip
If Pre/Post learning (event-based courses) is enabled, the Thought Industries Meeting page is needed in your course outline for learners to access your webinar.