Livestreaming has a piece of cake, thanks to features offered by platforms like Facebook, Instagram and co. Digital company assemblies, digital customer workshops, panel discussions with the option to ask questions live and concert streams are only two ways we are confronted with more often. Microsoft has also addressed this issue and now offers companies the opportunity to stream content flexibly and easily using so-called live events.

 In this article, you’ll learn what’s behind live events in Microsoft teams, how to use them, and the requirements for using them.

What is a live event and what are the usage requirements?

Teams live events are an extension of Teams meetings that allow users to broadcast video and audio content to a large online audience of up to 10,000 internal or external participants. Each live event can have up to 250 speakers.

The host (speaker and producer) of a live event can control participant interactions, while attendees can primarily view content shared by the host and submit questions in a separate chat window. Participation in a live event works via a participant link. Participants can use the link to follow the live or recorded event in Yammer, Teams and/or Stream and interact with the speakers via moderated Questions & Answers (short for Q&A).

Live events are device independent. This means that participation is possible via a desktop app as well as in a web browser and on mobile devices (iOS, Android).

Live events in teams enable several participants (producer, speaker and participants) to successfully broadcast an event and participate in it.

The participants in a live event can have different roles and rights:

Please note that not for every role a Microsoft Teams license is needed. More information on this is given later in the article.

  • Attendees: Are users who are watching the event live or on-demand. Participation can be either anonymous or authenticated. Participants also have the option to ask questions in the chat. External participants do not necessarily require a Microsoft Teams license and can participate from different devices (desktop app, Web browser, or mobile).
  • Speakers/moderators: Present the shared audio, video or screen content of the live event or moderate the Q&A. Speakers can also participate in an event as producers. Each live event can have multiple speakers.
  • Producers: Start and stop the event. They also control the content to be shared during the live event (e.g. own camera, speakers’ camera or speakers’ screens). Producers can also view, publish and answer all incoming questions (verbally or in chat).
  • Organizer: Plans a live event and makes sure that the event is set up with the correct permissions for the participants and the event group. The organizer can also view reports and control the availability of the recording. In addition to Q&As and automated recording, the event organizer can also specify whether simultaneous AI-controlled translation into different languages should be provided. The organizer of an event is usually also given the role of the producer.

The roles “speaker and producer” can currently only be assigned to colleagues of an organization and can be flexibly adjusted in the deadline. Outlook: It is planned that in future external participants will also be able to take on a speaker role.

The usage requirements differ depending on the role:

  • Producer and speaker require for the planning of events the following licenses and the desktop app for the execution of the event:
    • A license for Office 365 Enterprise E1, E3 or E5 or a license for Office 365 A3 or A5
    • A license for Microsoft Teams
    • A license for Microsoft Stream
  • Participants on the other hand do not necessarily require an Office 365 license and can take part as an anonymous guest. Via the participants link they can simply use their web browser to join the event.

Due to the current situation, Microsoft has rolled out a special offer for using their services: The required Teams licenses will be free until January 2021. Find more information here.

If you have further questions about the licensing of Office 365 or need support with the implementation, feel free to contact us. Please send your questions by e-mail at knkServices@knk.com.

Key takeaways

The most important points to keep in mind if you want to take advantage of the potential of live events are:

  • The people involved in a live event are divided into participants, speakers and producers. The hosts (speakers and producers) are responsible for controlling the interaction and moderate the questions of the participants.
  • Speakers and producers require the licenses mentioned above, while participants can also participate in the live event without a license.
  • The necessary Microsoft Teams license is provided by Microsoft free of charge until January 2021.

If you have further questions about licenses for the use of live events or need support with the setup, please contact us by e-mail at knkServices@knk.com.

(Photo by Noiseporn on Unsplash)