Microsoft is going to kick off the rollout of the Webinars capability in Teams from May 11. The new webinars feature supports up to 1,000 attendants, with the option to scale up to 10,000 people in the view-only broadcast setting.
Microsoft expanded the view-only broadcast mode to 20,000 people but it will go back to 10,000 by the end of this year. The expansion was to support remote workers during Covid-19.
Webinars have the benefit of offering users customizable registration pages and attendee emails, post-event reports, and presentation options (host controls like the ability to disable an attendee’s video or chat functions).
Teams’ external face
Beginning this month, Microsoft will enable Dynamics 365 Marketing customers to export attendee data from Teams using Teams and Dynamics 365 integration the software giant has been working on. Some third-party companies already have webinar software and services that integrate with Teams.
However, Microsoft’s Teams General Manager, Nicole Herskowitz, says that customers want to use fewer tools for internal and external engagements.
Teams is used for internal-facing meetings mostly. With Webinars added, external-facing meetings will be possible too.
Who gets access?
Microsoft is making the feature available at no additional cost to Microsoft 365 Government G3/G5, Microsoft 365 A3/A5, and Microsoft 365 E3 & E5 plans. Microsoft 365 Business Standard and Business Premium plans will include features supporting 300 attendees.
Users are not required to have a separate ‘Teams Pro’ subscription, even though a previous message from the company had said they do.
Microsoft offers several options for events and meetings (including the Live Events Assistance Program) and consulting services for the events. It is also working on revamping the Microsoft Stream video service to cater to more than just high-end events.
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