Microsoft Teams User Guide
[updated August 20, 2020] Microsoft Teams is a unified communication and collaboration platform that combines persistent workplace chat, video meetings, file storage (including collaboration on files), and application integration. Teams are made up of channels. Each channel is typically built around a faculty/department name or topic. Channels are where you hold meetings, have conversations, and work on files together.
Getting Started
Request a Teams Group
To request a Teams group for your department, contact the IT Service Desk providing the following details:
- Name of your Faculty, Department, etc.
- Name of the Faculty/Department leader
- Individuals who will require access to the Team channel (Sheridan email address or username required)
- Name of an individual will act as a local Microsoft Teams 'champion’ or point-of-contact
You can reach the IT Service Desk at servicedesk@sheridancollege.ca or call 905-845-9430 ext. 2150.
Download the Teams app
Go to Sheridan's AppsAnywhere page to download and install the MS Teams desktop app.
Sign-in to start using Teams
- Launch the Teams app and enter your Sheridan email address and click Sign In.
- You will be redirect to Sheridan's signle-sign-on page. Enter your Sheridan username and password and Login.
- You're ready to start using Teams.
Teams Features, Resources & Tips
New Teams Features (updated August 13)
"Only Me" can bypass lobby - Teams Meeting Option (introduced July 2020)
Once enabled, only the organizer will be able to join the meeting directly. Everyone else, including people from within the same organization, will be sent to the lobby. Learn more 
New Teams Meeting Experience (introduced July 2020)
Multi-window experiences have come to Teams meetings and calling. Users now have the ability to pop out meetings and calls into separate windows to help them optimize their workflow. Learn more
Visio as a tab in Microsoft Teams (introduced July 2020)
To make collaborating on Visio diagrams within Teams an even better experience, Visio as a tab helps you easily access and manage the Visio files you need or interact with the most, allowing team members to access services and content in a dedicated space within a channel or a chat. Learn more
Meeting Attendee Limit Increased from 250 to 300 (introduced June 2020)
To help customers meet rapidly changing communication and meeting needs, Microsoft has increased the maximum number of participants allowed in a Teams meeting from 250 to 300. Learn more
Contextual Search (introduced June 2020)
Find information faster with contextual search in Microsoft Teams. Users now have the ability to search for content in a specific channel or chat by pressing CTRL + F. Search results will only contain messages and files found in the selected chat or channel.
Update Your Office 365 Profile Image in Microsoft Teams (introduced June 2020)
You Teams profile picture appears at top-right corner of the Teams app is also shared throughout all Office 365 services like Outlook, OneDrive, and SharePoint Online. Users now have the ability to upload a profile picture directly from Teams, among the other methods noted previously. Learn more about adding a profile image
Raise Your Hand in a Meeting (introduced May 18, 2020)
This new feature allows muted meeting attendees to indicate that they wish to speak by toggling the hand icon in the meeting control bar. When a meeting participant has raised their hand, an icon will appear next to their name in the roster view as well as their profile picture or video on the main meeting stage.
View up to 9 Video Participants at the Same Time (introduced May 15, 2020)
This new experience is optimized for attendees who have enabled video; audio-only participants are listed below the meeting stage. The new layout logic considers user bandwidth to provide the highest quality audio/video experience for your meetings.
Guest Access (introduced April 27, 2020)
Guest access allows teams in Sheridan to collaborate with people outside of the organization by granting them access to existing teams and channels in Teams. Anyone with a business or consumer email account, such as Outlook, Gmail, or others, can participate as a guest in Teams with full access to team chats, meetings, and files. Learn more.
MS Teams Tips (updated August 13)
Here's some handy tips for using Teams. The links below will direct you to resources from Microsoft.
Send an email to a Channel in Teams
If you want to send an email to a channel in Teams, use the channel email address. Once an email is part of a channel, anyone can reply to it to start a conversation. Learn more
Six things to know about notifications
This is the who, what, where, and shh! of notification settings in Microsoft Teams. Visit Manage notifications in Teams for more details about how to adjust your notification settings. Learn more
Add Emoji's to your Channel Names
Microsoft has implemented a way to further individualize your channel names in Microsoft Teams by adding images in the form of emoji icons to the name. Learn more
Use Read Receipts in Private Chats
Do you often wonder if your teammates saw your message in Teams? Read receipts in private chats allow senders to know when a message was read by the recipients. Learn more
Manage your Teams Meeting Options*
A meeting organizer may want to change the default participant settings for a specific meeting. Organizers can make these changes on the Meeting Options web page. Learn more
* Note: changing meetings options is browser-based and not currently available for Safari. You can use Google Chrome, Firefox, or MS Edge.
How to work in Teams Channels
Stay connected with channels in Microsoft Teams. Channels in Teams are where team conversations and collaboration happen, and this tutorial will give you some tips on how to use them.
Sync SharePoint and Teams files with your OneDrive application
You can sync your SharePoint or Teams files to a folder on your computer where you can work directly in File Explorer and access the files even when you're offline. Whenever you're online, any changes that you or others make will sync automatically. Learn more
Cross-Post a conversation to multiple channels
Do you have information or an announcement that needs to be shared across multiple teams and channels? Learn how to post messages to multiple channels at once. Learn more
Pop out a chat conversation to a separate window
You can instantly pop out your one-on-one or group chat into a separate window. and then, resize, reposition, or close the window as you wish. It’s a great way to get a lot done when you’re in a meeting or in a call. FYI: You can pop out multiple conversations, but not the same chat twice. Learn more
MS Teams Resources
Visit the links below for more details about using Teams.
Instructor Led Training from Microsoft
Microsoft is offering a few different instructor-led online courses that you can register to attend. Demand is high, so be sure to book your training session early.
Training Videos from LinkedIn Learning
Several video tutorials regarding MS Teams are available from LinkedIn Learning. Follow the instructions below to access the courses:
- Go to https://linkedin.sheridancollege.ca/
- You will be directed to Sheridan's single sign-on page. Enter your Sheridan credentials. You will return to LinkedIn Learning.
- Use the search field at the top of the page to find learning resources (e.g. Microsoft Teams)
Join the Microsoft Teams Community
With over 200 members (and growing) Sheridan’s MS Team’s community is a place to learn, share ideas, and ask questions about the Teams service. We’d love to have you as a member of our Teams community.
- Sign-in to your Microsoft Teams app
- Click on the Join or create a team button
- In the Join a team with a code box, enter h9p35y9 and click the Join Team button