Microsoft Teams uses a variety of policy types that govern different aspects of user behavior, security, and experience. These policy types help administrators control various features, permissions, and functionalities within Teams to ensure compliance, productivity, and a consistent user experience across the organization.
Here is a detailed explanation of each policy type in Microsoft Teams, including all settings, features, concepts, and usage examples.
1. Meeting Policies
Meeting policies control the behavior and permissions for users during Microsoft Teams meetings. They include settings related to video, recording, screen sharing, meeting roles, and more.
Key Settings:
- Allow IP Video: Controls whether participants can use video in meetings.
- Allow Cloud Recording: Enables users to record meetings to the cloud (stored in OneDrive or SharePoint).
- Allow Transcription: Allows meetings to be automatically transcribed.
- Allow Anonymous Users to Join: Determines whether non-Teams users can join meetings.
- Automatically Admit Users: Sets who can bypass the lobby (Everyone, People in my organization, Invited users).
- Allow Screen Sharing Mode: Defines who can share their screen (Entire screen, Single application, Disabled).
- Who Can Present: Restricts the ability to present (Everyone, Only the organizer, Specific users).
- Allow Meeting Chat: Manages the meeting chat feature (Enabled, Disabled, In-meeting only).
Example Usage:
- Education: A school creates a meeting policy for students that restricts their ability to record, prevents them from sharing their screens, and limits chat to during the meeting only.
- Corporate Meetings: For internal company meetings, the policy allows all employees to use video and chat but disables anonymous user access for security reasons.
2. Messaging Policies
Messaging policies control what users can do within chats and channels, including access to features like GIFs, memes, message editing, and file sharing.
Key Settings:
- Allow Users to Edit Their Messages: Enables users to edit messages they’ve already sent.
- Allow Users to Delete Their Messages: Allows users to delete their own messages.
- Giphy in Conversations: Controls the use of GIFs, including filtering for inappropriate content.
- Allow Stickers and Memes: Determines whether users can use stickers and memes in conversations.
- Allow URL Preview: Enables URL previews when links are shared.
- Read Receipts: Allows users to see if others have read their messages.
- Priority Notifications: Allows users to send priority notifications to others.
Example Usage:
- Legal Firms: A legal firm might disable the ability to delete or edit messages and restrict GIFs and memes to maintain a professional communication environment.
- Marketing Teams: A marketing department might enable all fun features like GIFs, memes, and stickers to foster creativity and engagement during brainstorming sessions.
3. Calling Policies
Calling policies determine what users can do in relation to Microsoft Teams calling features, including call forwarding, voicemail, and outbound call restrictions.
Key Settings:
- Allow Private Calling: Determines whether users can make one-on-one calls.
- Allow Call Forwarding: Enables users to forward incoming calls to another number.
- Allow Voicemail: Enables voicemail for incoming calls.
- Allow Cloud Voicemail: Enables cloud-based voicemail transcription.
- Allow Delegation: Lets users assign delegates to make or receive calls on their behalf.
- Block Inbound/Outbound Calling to/from PSTN: Controls whether users can make or receive external calls to/from the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN).
Example Usage:
- Customer Support Teams: Inbound and outbound calling is enabled, and call forwarding is restricted to ensure support agents manage calls within the organization.
- Executives: An executive might have delegation enabled so that their assistant can handle calls on their behalf, and call forwarding is allowed to route calls to their mobile phone.
4. Meeting Room Policies
Meeting Room policies govern the behavior and settings for Teams devices (such as Teams Rooms) used for meetings in physical spaces.
Key Settings:
- Allow Video in Meeting Rooms: Determines whether video is allowed during meetings held in a meeting room.
- Allow Scheduling of Room Systems: Controls whether users can schedule meetings in Teams Rooms.
- Meeting Room Display Settings: Allows customization of meeting room displays (e.g., enabling custom backgrounds, room information display).
Example Usage:
- Conference Rooms in Offices: The policy allows video to be used, custom display backgrounds for branding, and allows users to schedule meetings directly using Teams Rooms systems.
- Focus Rooms: A smaller room might disable video to preserve bandwidth and simplify the experience for voice-only meetings.
5. Teams Policies
Teams policies define what users can do within a team, such as creating new teams, managing teams, or adding guest users.
Key Settings:
- Create Teams: Allows or prevents users from creating new Teams.
- Discover Private Teams: Enables the discovery of private teams within the organization’s Teams directory.
- Guest Access: Controls whether external users (guests) can be added to teams and what they can do.
- Use Tags in Teams: Allows users to create and use custom tags for groups of team members to @mention specific sub-groups within a team.
Example Usage:
- IT Department: IT might restrict team creation to specific departments or users to avoid sprawl and better manage team structures.
- Project Management: In a project management scenario, guest access might be enabled to allow collaboration with external contractors or clients.
6. Live Event Policies
Live event policies control the behavior and permissions for Teams live events, which are used for large-scale broadcasts like webinars, company town halls, or virtual conferences.
Key Settings:
- Who Can Schedule Live Events: Determines who can schedule live events (e.g., Everyone, Only specific users).
- Recording: Enables or disables the ability to record live events.
- Who Can Join: Controls whether live events are open to everyone or restricted to internal users.
- Q&A: Determines whether participants can ask questions during the event via a Q&A panel.
Example Usage:
- Company-Wide Events: A global corporation uses a live event policy that restricts scheduling to executives and HR and allows employees to attend but not record the event. Q&A is enabled to gather feedback during the event.
- Public Webinars: A marketing team might schedule live events that are open to the public and allow recording and Q&A to foster interaction.
7. App Permission Policies
App permission policies control which third-party and Microsoft apps are available to users within Teams.
Key Settings:
- Allow All Apps: Users can install and use any app from the Microsoft Teams store.
- Block All Apps: Prevents users from installing any apps.
- Allow Specific Apps and Block Others: Enables admins to whitelist specific apps that users can install while blocking others.
- Blocked Apps: Lists specific apps that users cannot install or use.
Example Usage:
- Financial Institutions: A bank might restrict third-party apps due to regulatory compliance requirements, only allowing specific trusted apps that meet security guidelines.
- Creative Agencies: A marketing agency might allow all apps, enabling employees to use third-party design and collaboration tools like Trello and Adobe Creative Cloud.
8. App Setup Policies
App setup policies control the arrangement and availability of apps for users within the Teams interface, including pinning apps for easy access.
Key Settings:
- Pinned Apps: Determines which apps are pinned to the Teams navigation bar for users.
- Default Apps: Specifies which apps are automatically installed for users when they sign in to Teams.
Example Usage:
- IT Management: The IT department might pin the Helpdesk app to all employees’ Teams navigation bars, ensuring that users can easily submit support requests.
- HR Teams: In an HR scenario, an app like Shifts might be pinned for all users so that employees can easily view their work schedules.
9. Guest Access Policies
Guest access policies control what external users (guests) can do within Microsoft Teams when they are invited to collaborate in a team or meeting.
Key Settings:
- Allow Guest Access: Determines whether external guests can join teams or meetings.
- Allow Guests to Edit Messages: Controls whether guests can edit their own messages.
- Allow Guests to Delete Messages: Enables or disables the ability for guests to delete their own messages.
- Allow Screen Sharing for Guests: Specifies whether guests can share their screens during meetings.
- Allow Private Calling for Guests: Allows guests to make private one-on-one calls within Teams.
Example Usage:
- Partnerships: A company collaborating with external vendors might enable guest access to allow vendors to join specific teams and contribute to discussions. However, message editing and deleting might be disabled for security reasons.
- Customer Projects: In a customer-facing project, guest users are allowed to collaborate in project teams but are restricted from making private calls or deleting messages.
10. Emergency Calling Policies
Emergency calling policies govern how emergency calls (e.g., 911 or other local emergency services) are handled within Teams when using the Phone System.
Key Settings:
- Emergency Calling Numbers: Configures the specific numbers that are treated as emergency numbers.
- Location-Based Routing: Determines how calls are routed based on the user’s physical location.
- Notification Settings: Sends alerts to specific users or groups when an emergency call is placed.
Example Usage:
- Corporate Office: A company configures emergency calling policies to route all emergency calls placed from their headquarters to local emergency services. Notifications are sent to the security team when an emergency call is placed.
- Remote Employees: For employees working remotely, the policy routes emergency calls to the nearest local authorities based on the employee’s registered address.
Microsoft Teams offers a broad range of policy types that control various aspects of user behavior, collaboration, security, and communication. These policies help administrators fine-tune Teams to meet organizational requirements, whether it’s managing meetings, messaging, app permissions, or controlling how external users (guests) interact with internal teams.
By tailoring these policies, organizations can ensure a secure, productive, and compliant environment, providing the right balance between functionality and control for users.
