Teams
Teams is the platform for communications and collaboration within Microsoft 365. Teams brings chat, calling, meeting, collaboration, and application integration into a single experience. You can share files and data, manage tasks, and collaborate on documents with people inside and outside your organization. Teams can simplify your work by integrating with the other apps and processes you use.
Additionally, Microsoft Teams delivers the advanced security and compliance capabilities that enable safe and trustworthy online collaboration.
1. Basics
Chat & Messages
Teams provides instant communication through:
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- One‑to‑one or group conversations
- Quick file sharing
- Reactions, mentions, advanced formatting, and conversation history
- Integration with files stored in OneDrive and SharePoint
These features allow institutional communication to be centralized, reducing the fragmentation caused by using multiple platforms.
Beyond text messages, chat includes several tools that enrich the conversation. You can share files, send links, react with emojis, use stickers, or add GIFs to make communication clearer, more dynamic, and even more human. All of this helps create more expressive and productive interactions, keeping collaboration fluid and accessible for everyone.
Teams & Channels
Teams function as structured spaces for ongoing work, each with channels dedicated to topics, courses, projects, or departments.
Each channel provides:
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- Contextual conversations
- Automatically organized files
- Posts and announcements
- Integration with applications (Planner, Forms, Wiki, Notes, etc.)
2. Document Collaboration
Microsoft Teams enhances real‑time co‑authoring through its native integration with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote.
Essential features:
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- Simultaneous editing
- Version history
- Team comments and reviews
- Secure sharing with internal and external users
Integrated collaboration reduces work time, eliminates duplicate versions, and improves coordination across teams.
3. Meetings
Meetings in Microsoft Teams are one of the fundamental pillars of synchronous communication in academic and organizational environments.
They are designed to enable dynamic collaboration, smooth interaction, and efficient information sharing among participants – whether they are on campus, working remotely, or external to Iscte.
3.1. Core Capabilities of Meetings
During a meeting, users have access to a set of features that enhance real‑time communication and collaborative work.
3.1.1. High‑Definition Audio and Video
Meetings support high‑quality audio and video streaming, providing more natural conversations and improving interaction among participants.
This level of definition is especially useful for classes, presentations, project discussions, and tutoring sessions.
3.1.2. Screen Sharing and Window‑Specific Sharing
Participants can share:
- Their entire screen
- A specific application window
- A browser tab
This facilitates demonstrations, presentations, document reviews, and technical explanations.
3.1.3. Meeting Chat
The integrated chat allows users to:
- Send messages during the session
- Share documents
- Record links or important notes
The chat remains accessible even after the meeting ends, making it easy to revisit any topic discussed.
3.1.4. Automatic Recording with Transcription
Meetings can be recorded for later review. Recordings are linked to the session, and when enabled, Teams automatically generates:
- Transcriptions
- Captions
- Speaker‑based indexing
This is extremely useful for students who cannot attend live sessions or for later content review.
3.1.5. Organizer Controls
The organizer can manage permissions and behaviors during the meeting, such as:
- Enabling or disabling participants’ microphones and cameras
- Controlling who is allowed to present
- Admitting participants from the waiting room
- Removing users when necessary
This level of control ensures a secure, organized, and appropriate meeting environment for formal contexts.
4. Webinars
Webinars in Microsoft Teams are a feature designed to support presentation sessions, training, institutional communication, and external events where there is a clear distinction between presenters and participants.
This format combines advanced meeting capabilities with registration tools, audience control, and production features, offering a professional and well‑organized experience.
While traditional meetings are designed for interactive collaboration, webinars focus on structured content delivery to large audiences, ensuring greater control by the organizing team.
4.1. Main Features of Webinars
4.1.1. Presenter‑Oriented Structure
In a webinar, presenters have tools that allow them to manage the flow of the event and ensure a smooth, controlled experience.
These include:
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- Control over participants’ microphones and cameras
- Management of content sharing
- Access to chat and Q&A moderation
- Control over the participant queue
This model reduces interruptions and is ideal for large registered sessions, such as trainings and academic events.
4.1.2. Support for Large Audiences
Webinars are designed to accommodate a larger number of participants than a standard meeting, enabling open or semi‑open presentations for:
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- The academic community
- External audiences
- Companies and partners
- Training groups
This flexibility is particularly relevant in the institutional context of Iscte, where communication with diverse audiences is frequent.
4.1.3. Professional Control of the Experience
Similar to live events, webinars benefit from extended control features but with greater interactive dynamics, offering:
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- Strict permission management
- Moderated chat and Q&A
- Ability to promote participants to presenters
- Engagement monitoring
This level of control is essential to ensure the event unfolds as planned.
4.2. Advanced Features
4.2.1. Registration (Pre‑Event)
Webinars allow the creation of customized registration pages where:
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- Participants register in advance
- Organizers collect relevant data
- The system sends automatic confirmations
This functionality is valuable for formal events such as:
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- Training sessions
- Welcome sessions
- Project presentations
- Public seminars
4.2.2. In‑Session Features
During the webinar, organizers have access to several advanced tools:
a) Screen and Presentation Sharing
Sharing options include:
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- Full screen
- Specific windows
- Integrated PowerPoint presentations
b) Moderated Q&A
A structured mode where:
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- Participants submit questions
- Moderators approve, reject, or group questions
- Responses may be public or private
c) Controlled Chat
The organizing team decides whether:
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- Chat is open
- Participants can interact with each other
- Only messages to organizers are allowed
d) Reactions and Raise Hand
These allow non‑intrusive participation:
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- Organized interventions
- Immediate feedback
- Audience engagement
4.2.3. Recording and Transcription
As in meetings, a webinar can be recorded. After the event, the following become available:
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- The recording
- Automatic transcription
- Synchronized captions
These tools are extremely useful for training content and institutional events that require archiving.
4.3. Organization and Production of the Webinar
4.3.1. Role of the Organizer
The organizer:
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- Creates the webinar
- Manages registration
- Assigns presenters and moderators
- Configures permissions
- Controls the session in real time
4.3.2. Role of the Presenters
Presenters:
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- Lead the session
- Share content
- Respond to Q&A
- Interact with designated participants
- Can promote attendees to co‑presenter when needed
4.3.3. Role of the Participants
Participants can:
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- Attend the session
- Interact through chat or Q&A (depending on settings)
- Use reactions and raise their hand
- View shared content
4.4. Advantages of Webinars in the Teams Ecosystem
4.4.1. Integration with Microsoft 365
All shared files, presentations, and recordings are automatically organized within Microsoft’s secure environment.
4.4.2. Secure and Controlled Environment
Organizers maintain full control over the audience and session behavior.
4.4.3. Excellent for External Communication
Anyone can join even without a Teams account, simply by following the link — ideal for:
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- External guests
- International partners
- Open seminars
4.4.4. Professional Experience
Webinars resemble formal events, offering:
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- Flow control
- Question queues
- Audience management
- Post‑event follow‑up
4.5. When to Use Webinars Instead of Meetings or Live Events?
| Situation | Meeting | Webinar | Live Event |
|---|---|---|---|
| Collaboration among multiple participants | ✔️ | — | — |
| Training with a large audience | — | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Highly controlled event with technical production | — | ✔️ | ✔️ (even more controlled) |
| Easy external participation | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Moderated audience interaction | — | ✔️ | — |
4.6. Available Training
4.7. Learn More
5. Town halls
Town Halls in Microsoft Teams are sessions designed for large‑scale communication within an organization.
They are particularly suitable for moments when it is necessary to gather large groups — such as entire departments, schools, research units, extended teams, or the academic community — ensuring order, control, and a presenter‑oriented experience.
These meetings combine easy participation with robust management and presentation features. They differ from traditional meetings by offering higher audience capacity and additional control mechanisms, while still maintaining a more collaborative dynamic than Live Events.
5.1. Purpose of General Meetings
General Meetings are intended for broad communication sessions, such as:
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- Institutional briefings
- Results presentations
- Strategic updates
- Internal clarification sessions
- Large gatherings between teams or departments
They are designed for scenarios where many participants need to attend, but only a few must intervene directly.
5.2. Essential Features of General Meetings
5.2.1. Support for large audiences
General Meetings are optimized to support a larger number of participants than a standard meeting, while maintaining smooth video, audio, and presentation streaming. They are ideal for large‑scale Iscte meetings in academic and administrative contexts.
5.2.2. Presenter‑oriented structure
As in webinars, there is a clear distinction between:
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- Organizers
- Presenters
- Participants
Presenters maintain primary control over sharing and interactions, ensuring that the focus remains on the content being presented.
5.2.3. Interaction control
The organizer can:
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- Manage participants’ microphones
- Decide who can present
- Enable or disable chat
- Use the waiting room to control entry
This control is essential to avoid interruptions in meetings with hundreds of participants.
5.2.4. High‑quality audio, video, and screen sharing
General Meetings support:
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- HD video
- Specific window sharing
- Integrated PowerPoint presentations
- Presenter overlay (Presenter Mode)
5.2.5. Participation open to external guests
As with standard meetings, anyone can join even without a Teams account by simply following the invitation link.
This is useful for sessions involving institutional partners or external guests.
5.3. Advanced Features Available
5.3.1. Moderated chat
Chat can be:
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- Open to all
- Restricted to presenters
- Completely disabled
This helps maintain discipline and focus in large meetings.
5.3.2. Raise Hand
This feature supports the management of speaking requests, enabling:
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- Organized discussions
- Structured interventions
- Effective moderation
5.3.3. Interactive reactions
Reactions allow light and non‑intrusive participation, useful for:
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- Quick approvals
- Visual alignment with the audience
- Immediate feedback during presentations
5.3.4. Collaborative notes
Notes allow participants to contribute to:
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- Summaries
- Action points
- Decisions taken
These notes remain accessible after the event.
5.3.5. Recording with automatic transcription
As in meetings and webinars:
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- The session can be recorded
- Automatic transcription is generated
- Captions are added
- The recording becomes available for later consultation
This feature is essential for institutional transparency and accessibility.
5.4. When to choose General Meetings?
| Characteristic | Standard Meeting | General Meeting | Webinar |
|---|---|---|---|
| Large audience | ✔️ (limited) | ✔️✔️ | ✔️✔️ |
| Interaction | High | Moderate | Moderate/Low |
| Presenter control | Medium | High | High |
| External participation | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Production complexity | Low | Medium | Medium |
| Ideal for | Teamwork | Large internal sessions | Training & external events |
6. Live events
Live Events in Microsoft Teams are designed for large‑scale broadcasts where one or more presenters communicate with a broad audience in a controlled, one‑way, and professional format.
Unlike meetings, webinars, or general meetings, Live Events emphasize production quality, strict moderation, and a refined broadcast experience, making them ideal for institutional sessions, formal presentations, or corporate events.
This modality is especially relevant at Iscte for strategic communications, public sessions, large academic events, and any scenario requiring broadcast‑level quality and full control over what is transmitted to the audience.
6.1. Purpose of Live Events
Live Events are ideal for:
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- Large‑scale formal broadcasts (1000+ participants)
- Institutional sessions of administration, leadership, or services
- Presentations for external audiences: companies, partners, public institutions
- Scientific and academic dissemination focused on presentation rather than interaction
- Corporate events such as kickoffs, official announcements, or plenary sessions
While meetings and webinars allow greater interaction, Live Events are designed for large audiences who primarily watch as spectators.
6.2. Core Features of Live Events
6.2.1. Professional Broadcast Experience
Live Events allow producers to fully control:
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- What is broadcast (camera, screen, content)
- The exact timing of transmission
- Switching between presenters
- The quality and synchronization of the session
They work as a “broadcast” version of meeting features, similar to television‑style production.
6.2.2. Production Team
Unlike meetings, there is always a production team, which may include:
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- Producers — full control of the broadcast
- Presenters — responsible for content
- Moderators — manage Q&A
This separation of roles ensures an organized and uninterrupted flow.
6.2.3. Broadcast for Large Audiences
Live Events support a high number of participants, who watch as viewers without interfering with the broadcast.
They are ideal when the audience is large and interaction must be moderated or limited.
6.2.4. High‑Quality Video and Content Sharing
The broadcast supports:
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- High‑definition video
- Presentation and screen sharing
- Switching between multiple visual sources
- Integration of PowerPoint presentations
The result is a highly professional visual experience, suitable for institutional events.
6.3. Audience Interaction
Unlike traditional meetings, interaction in Live Events is controlled and one‑directional.
6.3.1. Moderated Q&A
Participants may submit questions that:
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- Are visible only to moderators until approved
- May be answered privately or publicly
- Can be organized, filtered, and managed in real time
This ensures order and avoids distractions in large audiences.
6.3.2. Simplified Participation
As in other Teams session types, any participant can attend without having a Teams account, simply by opening the broadcast link.
Ideal for:
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- External audiences
- International guests
- Large communities
6.4. Recording and Post‑Event
6.4.1. Automatic Recording
After the event, the following become available:
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- Full recording of the broadcast
- Automatic transcription
- Synchronized captions
These recordings are useful for:
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- Institutional archiving
- Later dissemination
- Inclusion in teaching platforms or public information spaces
6.4.2. Attendance Reports
Producers can access:
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- Participant lists
- Viewing duration
- Q&A interactions
This supports impact analysis and documentation.
6.5. When to Use Live Events Instead of Other Formats?
| Need | Meeting | Webinar | General Meeting |
|---|---|---|---|
| High interaction | ✔️ | — | Moderate |
| Professional broadcast | — | Partial | Partial |
| Large audience | — | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Full control of transmitted content | — | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Highly controlled Q&A | — | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Structured technical production | — | — | Medium |
Official guidance indicates that Live Events are the most robust option when broadcast quality and control are essential, outperforming meetings, webinars, and general meetings in those aspects.
6.6. Practical Examples at Iscte
Live Events are ideal for:
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- Institutional plenary sessions
- Launch of academic programs
- Publicly accessible conferences
- Seminars or roundtable sessions with large audiences
7. Segurança e Conformidade
Microsoft Teams offers enterprise-grade security, compliance, and manageability. With Microsoft Teams, organisations can embrace collaboration and communication among users while protecting their data and business interests at an enterprise scale.
Security
Teams enforces two-factor authentication, single sign-on through Active Directory, and encryption of data in transit and at rest. Teams security capabilities include:
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- Secure links
- Secure attachments
- Multi-geographic support
- End-to-end encryption
- Meeting security controls
- Conditional access policies
- Microsoft Defender for Office 365
- Microsoft Defender for cloud applications
Compliance
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- Security
Teams enforces two-factor authentication, single sign-on through Active Directory, and encryption of data in transit and at rest. Teams security capabilities include:
-
-
- Secure links
- Secure attachments
- Multi-geographic support
- End-to-end encryption
- Meeting security controls
- Conditional access policies
- Microsoft Defender for Office 365
- Microsoft Defender for cloud applications
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-
- Compliance
Teams compliance features include:
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- eDiscovery
- Sensitivity labels
- Retention policies
- Information barriers
- Compliance recording
- Data loss prevention
- Communication compliance
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8. Zoom vs Microsoft Teams
8.1. Strengths of Teams
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- Deep integration with Microsoft 365;
- Organised work in teams, channels and files;
- Better project management and continuous work;
- Centralised environment for communication and collaboration.
8.2. Strengths of Zoom
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- Easy and immediate access for external guests.
- Simple interface, especially for occasional users.
- Very consistent performance in quick meetings.
- Widely used in webinars and external events
8.3. Summary
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- Zoom is excellent for quick meetings with external participants.
- Teams is superior for internal, structured, and collaborative work.
9. Using Teams at Iscte
Microsoft Teams supports:
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- Online or hybrid classes;
- Tutorials and study groups;
- Research projects;
- Departmental and administrative meetings;
- Large-scale institutional events;
- Collaboration with external partners.
Centralisation in the institutional account ensures security, synchronisation with the calendar, and easy access to other Office 365 services.