Meeting Types & Settings
Teams has four meeting types — appointments, meetings, webinars, and town halls — each with different capabilities. Learn when to use which and how to configure meeting settings, templates, and Copilot.
Four meeting types in Teams
Think of Teams meetings like four types of events at a conference centre.
Meetings are team huddles — everyone talks, shares screens, collaborates. Virtual appointments are scheduled 1:1s — like booking a doctor’s visit. Webinars are presentations with registration — speakers present, attendees watch and ask questions. Town halls are company-wide broadcasts — leadership presents to thousands, attendees can react and submit Q&A but can’t unmute.
Meeting type comparison
| Feature | Meeting | Virtual Appointment | Webinar | Town Hall |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Max attendees | 1,000 interactive (Enterprise; 300 in Business plans) | 1:1 or small group | 1,000 | 10,000 view-only (up to 100,000 with Attendee Capacity Pack) |
| Interaction | Full bi-directional (all can speak/share) | Bi-directional (scheduled 1:1) | Presenters speak; attendees Q&A | Presenters broadcast; attendees react/Q&A only |
| Registration | No | Built-in scheduling with SMS reminders | Yes — registration forms with approval | No |
| Attendee camera/mic | Yes — all can unmute | Yes | Attendees muted by default (can unmute) | No — attendees cannot unmute or share video |
| Recording | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (auto-available to attendees) |
| Best for | Team collaboration, project standups | Customer appointments, consultations | Training sessions, product launches | CEO all-hands, company announcements |
| Licence | Any Teams licence | Teams Premium for advanced | Teams Premium for advanced features | Teams Premium for advanced |
Scenario: choosing the right meeting type
Kofi at Harbour University needs to run these events:
- Faculty weekly standup (15 people, collaborative) → Meeting — everyone participates equally
- Student counsellor appointments → Virtual appointment — 1:1 scheduled with SMS reminders
- Open day presentation (500 prospective students) → Webinar — registration, Q&A, presenter-led
- Vice-Chancellor’s annual address (10,000 staff + students) → Town hall — broadcast to thousands, Q&A moderated
Tara at Pinnacle Corp:
- Sprint planning (12 people) → Meeting
- Quarterly earnings call (5,000 staff) → Town hall
- Customer product demos (200 prospects) → Webinar (with registration)
Meeting settings
Meeting settings are org-wide configurations in the Teams admin center:
Teams admin center → Meetings → Meeting settings
| Setting | What It Controls |
|---|---|
| Email invitations | Custom logo, legal URL, help URL, and footer text in meeting invites |
| Network | Quality of Service (QoS) markers for meeting traffic |
| Meeting join | Anonymous users can join meetings toggle |
| Copilot | Copilot during and after meetings (transcription requirement) |
Copilot in meetings
Microsoft 365 Copilot in Teams meetings can:
- Summarise discussions in real-time
- Capture action items
- Answer questions about what was discussed
- Generate meeting notes
Configuration:
- Copilot can work in two modes: Only during the meeting uses temporary speech-to-text (no saved transcript needed), while During and after the meeting requires transcription to be started
- Copilot features are controlled via meeting policies and sensitivity labels
- Sensitivity labels can disable Copilot for confidential meetings
Meeting policies
Meeting policies control features available during meetings — assigned per user/group:
| Policy Setting | What It Controls | Common Values |
|---|---|---|
| Allow transcription | Real-time transcription | On/Off |
| Allow recording | Meeting recording | On/Off |
| Allow Copilot | Copilot during meetings | On/Off/With transcript only |
| Lobby settings | Who bypasses the lobby | Everyone / People in my org / Invited users only |
| Screen sharing mode | Who can share screen | Entire screen / Single application |
| Allow external participants to give or request control | External screen control | On/Off |
| Automatically admit people | Lobby bypass settings | Various options |
Meeting templates
Meeting templates provide pre-configured meeting settings for common scenarios:
| Template | Pre-configured Settings | Use Case |
|---|---|---|
| Customer meeting | Lobby: invited users only, recording: allowed, attendee mic: muted | External client meetings |
| All-hands | Lobby: everyone in org bypasses, chat: disabled, recording: on | Large internal meetings |
| Brainstorm | Screen sharing: enabled, Copilot: on, transcription: on | Creative sessions |
| Training | Recording: on, transcription: on, attendee mic: muted by default | Training sessions |
Template policies
Template policies control which meeting templates users see when scheduling a meeting — similar to team template policies. Assigned per user/group.
Meeting customisation policies
Meeting customisation policies control the branding of meetings:
| Setting | What It Customises |
|---|---|
| Meeting theme | Background colour/image for the meeting |
| Brand logo | Organisation logo displayed in the meeting |
| Brand colour | Accent colour for meeting UI elements |
These require Teams Premium licensing.
🎬 Video walkthrough
🎬 Video coming soon
Meeting Types & Settings — MS-700 Module 19
Meeting Types & Settings — MS-700 Module 19
~11 minFlashcards
Knowledge Check
Harbour University needs to host the Vice-Chancellor's annual address to 8,000 staff and students. Attendees should be able to submit questions but not unmute. Which meeting type should Kofi use?
Tara wants Copilot to generate meeting summaries for all meetings at Pinnacle Corp EXCEPT those labelled 'Highly Confidential.' What should she configure?
Next up: Webinars & Town Halls — deep dive into configuring webinar registration, town hall producers and presenters, and event policies.