Tutorial / Cram Notes
When managing your organization’s Microsoft Teams environment for the MS-700: Managing Microsoft Teams exam, it’s vital to understand how to create and manage these bridges to allow seamless integration of telephony with digital collaboration.
Creating Conference Bridges
To create a conference bridge in Microsoft Teams, you’ll begin by setting up audio conferencing for your organization. Here’s how you proceed:
- Acquire Audio Conferencing Licenses: Purchase audio conferencing licenses from within the Microsoft 365 admin center as part of an Office 365 E5 subscription or as an add-on for E1 or E3 subscriptions.
- Assign Licenses to Users: Navigate to the Users section in the Microsoft 365 admin center and assign audio conferencing licenses to users who will be organizing meetings with dial-in options.
- Access the Teams Admin Center: To configure conference bridges, go to the Microsoft Teams Admin Center (teams.microsoft.com/admincenter).
- Configure Dial-In Numbers: Under ‘Meetings’ > ‘Conference Bridges’, select “Add” to provide your dial-in numbers. You can acquire shared or dedicated toll or toll-free numbers.
- Assign Dial-In Numbers to Users: Assign dial-in numbers to users or to specific meetings to ensure participants can join via phone.
- Set PINs for Users: Establish a secure conference bridge by assigning PINs for users. These PINs are necessary for meeting organizers to start a meeting if they are dialing in.
- Send Instructions to Users: Notify users of their assigned dial-in number and PIN, ensuring they understand how to host or join a meeting.
Managing Conference Bridges
Once a conference bridge is created, ongoing management is key to ensuring security, compliance, and a seamless user experience.
- Change Default Number: You can change the default conference bridge number at any time through the Teams Admin Center under ‘Meetings’ > ‘Conference Bridges’.
- Assign/Change PINs: Administrators can reset PINs for users in the event of necessity for security reasons.
- View Reports and Usage: Use the Reports section in the Teams Admin Center to analyze the usage of conference bridges to understand the frequency and duration of audio conferencing calls.
- Communication Credits: If you utilize toll-free numbers, ensure you have enough communication credits to support the calls, as toll-free numbers will use these credits.
- Monitor and Update Licenses: Regularly review the assigned licenses and their utilization. Update or remove licenses based on changing requirements of your organization.
By maintaining good practices for creating and managing conference bridges, you ensure not only that your organization is making the most out of its investment in Teams but also that it adheres to best practices for security and compliance.
| Task | Tool/Section | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Acquire Licenses | Microsoft 365 Admin Center | Purchase audio conferencing add-on licenses. |
| Assign Licenses | Microsoft 365 Admin Center | Assign audio conferencing licenses to users. |
| Configure/Manage Dial-In Numbers | Teams Admin Center > ‘Meetings’ | Add, assign, and manage dial-in numbers for the conference bridge. |
| Set/Reset PINs | Teams Admin Center > ‘Conference Bridges’ | Assign or reset PINs for meeting organizers. |
| Reporting and Usage Analytics | Teams Admin Center > ‘Analytics & reports’ | View detailed reports on audio conferencing usage. |
| Manage Communication Credits | Microsoft 365 Admin Center | Ensure there are enough credits for toll-free calls on conference bridges. |
Best Practices for Conference Bridge Management
- Regularly review your conference bridge settings and policies to align with organizational changes and updates.
- Train users and meeting organizers on proper usage, including joining instructions and security protocols.
- Keep audio conferencing firmware and tools up-to-date.
- Set strong, unique PINs for meeting organizers to prevent unauthorized access.
- Evaluate toll vs. toll-free offerings based on organizational needs to optimize costs and usage.
In preparing for the MS-700 exam, understanding the creation and management of conference bridges is just one component of mastering Microsoft Teams administration. As Teams evolves, staying current with Microsoft’s documentation and best practices is essential for effective and efficient management of your Teams infrastructure.
Practice Test with Explanation
True or False: Conference bridges in Microsoft Teams allow users to join meetings using a phone line.
- True
Conference bridges are a feature in Microsoft Teams that allow users to call into a meeting using a regular phone line, providing a dial-in option for participants.
A conference bridge in Microsoft Teams can have multiple dial-in phone numbers from different regions.
- True
Microsoft Teams conference bridges can be set up with multiple dial-in phone numbers, including numbers from different regions or countries to facilitate easy access for international participants.
Who can configure conference bridge settings in Microsoft Teams?
- A. Any team member
- B. The team owner
- C. The Microsoft Teams service administrator
- D. Only external IT support
C. The Microsoft Teams service administrator
Conference bridge settings in Microsoft Teams are typically configured by someone with an admin role, such as the Microsoft Teams service administrator or a global administrator.
True or False: Conference bridge settings can be managed in the Microsoft Teams desktop client.
- False
Conference bridge settings are not managed in the Microsoft Teams desktop client, but rather through the Microsoft Teams admin center or via PowerShell commands.
The default conference bridge number assigned to an organization in Microsoft Teams can be changed.
- True
The default conference bridge number, also known as the auto-assigned number, can be changed by the organization’s administrator to meet their specific needs.
Which of the following pin types is used for controlling a meeting on a conference bridge?
- A. User PIN
- B. Admin PIN
- C. Meeting PIN
- D. Audio Conferencing PIN
D. Audio Conferencing PIN
An Audio Conferencing PIN in Microsoft Teams is used by meeting organizers to manage the meeting over a phone line, such as admitting people from the lobby.
True or False: The dial-out feature from a Teams meeting via a conference bridge is available to all participants by default.
- False
The dial-out feature to add someone by calling their phone number from a Teams meeting is restricted to meeting organizers and presenters by default; it is not available to all participants.
Microsoft Teams conference bridges support which of the following features?
- A. Custom hold music
- B. Automatic transcription
- C. Entry and exit announcements
- D. Meeting recording
- E. All of the above
E. All of the above
Microsoft Teams conference bridges support features like custom hold music, automatic transcription, entry and exit announcements for participants joining or leaving, and the ability to record meetings.
True or False: An Audio Conferencing license is required for every user in an organization to create meeting invites with dial-in numbers.
- True
An Audio Conferencing license must be assigned to users who need to create meeting invites with dial-in phone numbers in Microsoft Teams.
In Microsoft Teams, what role does the conference bridge play in meetings?
- A. It allows for video sharing.
- B. It enables live streaming to a large audience.
- C. It provides dial-in numbers for audio conferencing.
- D. It automatically generates meeting agendas.
C. It provides dial-in numbers for audio conferencing.
A conference bridge in Microsoft Teams provides dial-in phone numbers that participants can use to join Teams meetings via audio conferencing.
True or False: If toll-free numbers are added to a conference bridge, additional costs will be incurred by the organization.
- True
When toll-free numbers are used in conference bridges for Microsoft Teams, the organization incurs charges for the minutes used by participants dialing in with those numbers.
The number of dial-in participants in a Microsoft Teams meeting can be limited by the organization’s administrator.
- True
The organization’s administrator can set limitations on the number of dial-in participants in a Microsoft Teams meeting to control costs and manage resources.
Great post on managing conference bridges! I found it very helpful.
Can anyone guide me on how to set up a conference bridge in Microsoft Teams?
Is it possible to customize the conference bridge settings for different departments within our organization?
Thanks for the detailed write-up.
I’ve been struggling with conference bridge disconnections. Any troubleshooting tips?
Excellent breakdown of conference bridges. Much appreciated!
How do I monitor the usage and performance of conference bridges?
Is there a way to set up a dial-in number for external participants?