Microsoft Teams has become a staple for virtual collaboration for organizations supporting dispersed and hybrid teams. With Teams Live Events (TLE) set to retire in September 2024, organizations are preparing for the transition from TLE to Teams Town Halls. This change integrates all live event capabilities directly into the Teams meeting experience, streamlining processes, and enhancing user experiences for large-scale virtual events.
Whether you are a Teams or Teams Premium user, Kollective fully integrates with Microsoft Town Halls, providing flawless video experiences and unrivaled observability with Real User Monitoring.
Microsoft Town Halls Features
Teams Town Halls isn't just a replacement; it's an upgrade, designed with user-friendliness and interactive features for a modern audience. Here are some of the new and expanded capabilities for Town Halls:
- Attendee Capacity: Up to 10,000 in Office and Microsoft 365, and 20,000 in Teams Premium.
- Concurrent Events: Host up to 15 events in Office and Microsoft 365, and 50 in Teams Premium.
- Event Duration: Enjoy the same duration as Teams meetings, which is up to 30 hours.
- Infrastructure Integrations: Support for 3rd party ECDN (enterprise content delivery network) providers like Kollective, optimizing content distribution and network performance.
- Insightful Analytics: The Events Insight dashboard provides real-time analytics on attendance, concurrency, duration, locations, and more.
- Virtual Green Room: A space for organizers and presenters to connect and conduct test runs before going live.
- Controlled Attendee Views: Manage what attendees see, focusing only on content and presenters that are on-screen.
- Presenter Visibility: Showcase up to 7 presenters alongside content simultaneously.
- Privacy and Control: Participant lists are visible to organizers only and attendees’ cameras and microphones are turned off by default.
- RTMP Support: Utilize external encoders and media for production quality and stream events on platforms like YouTube or LinkedIn.
- Structured Q&A: A moderated environment for questions, with options for anonymity and threaded responses for clarity.
- Streamlined Content Sharing: Easy access to recordings, with options for on-demand publishing to event landing pages and automated attendee notifications.
- Customizable Communication: Send pre- and post-event emails, with customizable templates available for Teams Premium customers.
- Downloadable Reports: Access and download attendee reports directly from the management experience.
- Live Translation: Offer attendees live caption translations in six preset languages or ten with Teams Premium.
Scheduling a Town Hall in Microsoft Teams
Creating and managing a Town Hall is user-friendly and intuitive. Here’s a quick guide:
- Creating the Town Hall: Go to your Teams calendar and select "Town Hall" to create an event.
- Add Co-Organizers and Presenters: Assign roles easily within the meeting options. Add external presenters if required.
- Event Access Options: Determine who can join—public, organization-wide, or specific groups.
- Invite Attendees: Send out invites like a regular Teams meeting, with the option to customize the email experience for Teams Premium users.
- Save and Publish: Finalize the details and publish to notify attendees.
Kollective and Microsoft Teams Town Halls
As a Microsoft-recommended ECDN provider, Kollective ensures your large-scale Teams and Teams Premium broadcasts are seamless, whether for Live Events, Webinars, or Town Halls. The benefits of leveraging Kollective's Enterprise Observability and Optimization include:
- Bandwidth Optimization
- スケーラビリティ
- Buffer-Free User Experience
- Real User Monitoring
- Digital Employee Experience Monitoring
- ロケーショントレンド分析
- 異常検知
- Proactive Problem Resolution
- Cost and Downtime Reduction
Find Kollective on the Azure marketplace and integrate it effortlessly into your Microsoft Teams experience, aligning with your existing Microsoft Azure Consumption Commitment (MACC).
Transitioning to Teams Town Halls makes producing dynamic and engaging virtual events a more accessible and integrated experience. With Kollective's Enterprise Video Observability and Optimization, your organization can maximize the impact of its communications and ensure every event provides viewers with a flawless experience.