With (almost) the entire world of white-collar population working from home, attending meetings online is the new normal. What makes it more interesting (or challenging) is that, sometimes we do need to attend external vendor meetings that use a different type of software from what our company have installed for us.
Let’s say you are using Skype, which is the default application that is installed in your laptop, and you have received an invitation to join a Microsoft Teams meeting. Although both applications are under Microsoft, but they aren’t exactly the same. Here’s how you can join the meeting as a guest without having to install the Teams software:
1. Click the link in your meeting invitation.
2. Your web browser will automatically launch. Assuming that your default web browser is Chrome, here’s what you will see. Click Continue on this browser:
3. You may need to wait just a tad bit for Teams to set things up in the background. Once it is done, you’ll see this page. You can also choose to adjust your audio and video settings. Enter your name and click Join Now.
4. You will see this page while waiting for your host/organiser to admit you into the meeting session. That’s all!
If you are using the Internet Explorer web browser, what you will see is slightly different but the steps are pretty similar. Here are some important points I’d like to highlight based on the consolidated feedback I’ve received from my colleagues:
- Try to join the meeting five minutes earlier so that you will have enough time to set things up
- Using Chrome browser is your best bet. When I first used Internet Explorer, it seems to run a little slower. Firefox is the worst, as my colleague said it does not work at all
- When you’ve joined the meeting but could not hear the audio, try to unplug your headset and plug it in again. This normally does the trick. But if it doesn’t, drop out of the meeting and join in again
And lastly, please MUTE your microphone unless you have questions to ask. You don’t want to hear screaming kids or someone slurping a cuppa coffee in the background while the meeting is on!