Microsoft Teams for Staff

Mohawk employees are gradually migrating from Skype for Business to Microsoft Teams for phone service. Part of the move includes moving your Outlook email to the cloud.

Using Teams Calling and Calendar

Skype for Business will no longer work when your account moves to the cloud. You'll see an error message if you try to sign in.

In Teams, you'll notice new features like Calling options and a calendar. Note that phone and calendar can take up to 72 hours to appear in your Teams window.

Screenshot showing location of Calls menu in Teams Screenshot showing the location of the Calendar item in Teams

How to Reconfigure Voicemail

You will be required to re-record any custom messaging that had been previously configured.

If you don't have access to Teams on your computer and need to change your voicemail settings, these settings can be found in the User Setting Portal (new window).

  1. At the top-right of Teams, click your profile picture, then click Settings.
  2. In the Settings window, click Calls, then click Configure Voicemail.
  3. You will see several options to personalize your voicemail settings.
    • Record a Greeting - Click to call the voicemail service and record your greeting.
    • Call Answer Rules - Set how you would like your unanswered calls handled.
    • Greeting Language - Set the language for the default greeting, played if you have not recorded your own.
    • Text-to-speech Customized Greeting Option - Enter a custom or out-of-office greeting the system will read to the caller.
    • Out-of-office greeting - Set when you want your out-of-office greeting to be played to callers.

Accessing Voicemail

New voicemails will appear in Teams, and you'll get a notification in your email. To access your voicemail:

  1. On the left side of Teams, click Calls
     
  2. In the middle History section, click voicemail.
  3. Click the play button to hear the recording. The selected voicemail and transcription will appear on the right side of the screen. Note that the transcription may be inaccurate if the caller's audio is unclear.
    Screenshot of the Calls window in teams. The middle section of the screen says History with the Voicemail filter selected. The right section of the screen show a transcript of a voicemail's message and a Play Button to play the message.

Calendars in Teams

The calendar in Teams is linked to your Outlook calendar. Note that the calendar can take up to 72 hours to appear in your Teams window.

Screenshot of the Calendar window in Teams

Dial Pad and Your Phone Number

Your new direct-dial number will be shown below the dial pad.

Screenshot of the Calls window in Teams. The user's phone number is highlighted below the dial pad.

Making a Private Team

Public Teams are listed in the Teams Gallery and can be joined by any user without the owner's approval.

By default, teams are private. Private Teams can help enhance collaboration, maintain confidentiality, and facilitate focused discussions for department teams, projects, and other purpose-specific groups not open to the public. Teams can be changed from public to private at any time. 

Only Mohawk College staff can create Private teams. You must be the owner of the Private Team to add members to it.

How to Make a Private Team

  1. Find the team you want to make private. Click on the ellipsis (...)
    Screenshot showing the ellipsis menu next to the name of an individual Team
  2. Click Edit team
    Screenshot showing the options inside the ellipsis menu with Edit Team highlighted
  3. In the pop-up window, click the Privacy dropdown and select Private. Click Update to save.
    Screenshot of the teams detail window with the Privacy dropdown menu highlighted

Making a private Channel in a Team

Teams contain Channels, which are the conversations dedicated to specific topics. Channels can be standard or private. A team can have up to 30 private channels.

  • Standard channels are open for all members of the team. Anything posted is searchable by others.
  • Private channels are for discussions that shouldn't be open to all team members.

Warning: A private channel cannot be changed to a standard channel later. Channel privacy can only be set when you create the channel.

How to make a Private Channel

  1. Find your desired team. Click on the ellipsis (...), then Add Channel
    Screenshot showing the ellipsis menu open next to the name of an individual Team with the Add Channel option highlighted
  2. Click the Privacy dropdown
    Screenshot of the Channel detail window with the Privacy dropdown menu highlighted
  3. Select Private - Specific teammates have access
    Screenshot of the Privacy dropdown showing the Private channel option
  4. When finished, click Create
  5. Add members to the private channel by typing their names. When finished, click Add.
    Screenshot of the Add members screen
  6. When you're finished adding members, click Done
  7. The private channel is indicated by the lock next to its name.
    Screenshot of the new private channel with a lock icon next to its name

Guest access for non-Mohawk partners in Teams

Guests are people from outside of Mohawk, such as partners, clients, vendors, consultants, or any individual who does not have a Mohawk College email. The team owner must invite them to join. Guests have fewer capabilities than team members or owners but can join meetings, calls, and other actions.

Only team owners can invite guests.

How to add a Guest to your Team

You must be the team owner to invite guests.

  1. Find the team you want to add guests to in Microsoft Teams. Click on the Ellipsis.
    Screenshot showing the ellipsis menu next to the name of the Team
  2. In the ellipsis menu, click Add Member.
    Screenshot showing Add Member option in the ellipsis menu
  3. The Add Member window will appear. Enter the guest's email address. Click the dropdown that says "Add as a guest"
    Screenshot showing a non-mohawk email address entered and the drop down to add them as a guest
  4. When you're finished entering guest email addresses, click Add
    Screenshot showing a non-mohawk guests entered and the Add button highlighted
  5. A banner will notify you that your guest might take a while to appear in your member list. Click the X to close this message.
    Screenshot showing the notification that guests may not appear right away
  6. Your guest will receive an invitation email. Click Open Microsoft Teams
    Screenshot showing the invitation your guest receives by email
  7. A browser window will open to Mohawk's identity verification page. Click Send Code. The page will change to wait for your guest to enter the code.
    Screenshot of the Mohawk identify verification page with the Send Code button highlighted
  8. Your guest will receive an account verification email containing a number code.
    Screenshot of the verification code email with the numerical code highlighted
  9. Your guest must copy and paste or type the code into the identity verification page, then click Sign In.
    Screenshot of the Mohawk identify verification page with the code entered and the Sign In button highlighted
  10. Your guest must review Mohawk's required permissions before clicking Accept to proceed.
    Screenshot of the permissions required by Mohawk to be a Teams guest with the Accept button highlighted
  11. Your guest can now access your team.