Knowledge base

September 19, 2021

How to use Microsoft Teams Direct Guest Join with Zoom

If your company uses both Zoom and Microsoft Teams, you may want to enable Microsoft Teams direct guest participation for Zoom.

This feature allows Microsoft Teams users to join Zoom Meetings with one click. If you choose not to set up direct guest join in Teams, the manual process of dialing into Zoom Meetings — or a third-party video meeting — is tedious and can reduce your meeting time.

Instead, set up instant guest join to quickly access Zoom Meetings from your Teams environment.

In this blog we cover:

  • What is a Zoom Room?
  • What is a Microsoft Teams space?
  • What is direct guest join?
  • Can a Zoom Room join a Teams meeting?
  • How do I join a Zoom meeting with MTR?

Before we get into the technicalities, let’s make sure we’re familiar with some of the terms and technologies that we’ll be using in this post.

What is a Zoom Room?

A Zoom Room is a software-based room system integrated with the Zoom platform.

Zoom Rooms is designed to enable on-site video conferencing and includes the hardware and software needed to run Zoom Meetings in a conference room or similar space.

Subscribers can bring their own hardware; otherwise, Zoom can provide it at an additional cost.

What is a Microsoft Teams room?

A Microsoft Teams Room, or MTR, is a service that allows companies to integrate their meeting hardware with Teams and Skype for Business.

Like Zoom Rooms, it is intended for business use. A standard plan includes a phone system and audio conferencing, while a premium plan adds managed room scheduling and inventory management.

Microsoft-Teams-room-setup

What is direct guest join?

Instant Guest Join is a one-click feature that allows Microsoft Teams Room users to join online third-party meetings such as Zoom Meetings.

(This functionality also works in the opposite direction: Zoom Room users join a Microsoft Teams video meeting, which we discuss below).

Microsoft Teams direct guest join for Zoom Rooms allows Teams users to skip the tedious process of entering a meeting ID and passcode every time they join a Zoom call.

Your IT administrator can enable Teams Room devices to join third-party meetings by following these instructions.

If you’re having trouble connecting to the third-party service after setting up direct guest join in Microsoft Teams, your IT admin may need to approve URLs. These URLs can be found in the instructions or by contacting the third-party service directly.

Can a Zoom Room join a Teams meeting?

Yes, Zoom Rooms can join a Teams meeting as long as an admin has set up direct guest join in Zoom.
Although it has the same name as the Microsoft Teams feature, it is configured separately in the Zoom app.

How do I join a Zoom meeting with MTR?

To join a Zoom meeting from Teams, you can connect Zoom and Microsoft Teams using the Zoom Microsoft Teams plugin.

Zoom-plugin-for-Microsoft-Teams

You’ll find the plugin in the Zoom Apps Marketplace, along with other third-party apps that extend what Zoom can do (think brainstorming through digital canvas or collaborating on project resources).

For all app-only meetings, the Zoom Microsoft plugin allows users to start, schedule, and join Zoom Meetings directly from Microsoft Teams.

For example, an @Zoom mention in a Teams channel will immediately start a Zoom meeting.

You can also join Zoom meetings from Microsoft Teams Rooms by enabling direct guest join.

source: d ispatch.m.io

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