When scheduling online meetings, you can use the Meeting Options dialog box to help you determine who should wait in the lobby before being admitted to the meeting, who should have presenter privileges during the meeting, and the level of participation allowed for meeting attendees.
If you are scheduling an online meeting with people outside your organization or if it is expected for the meeting information to be shared with a large number of people, it is recommended that you change the “These people don’t have to wait in the lobby” option from “Anyone (no restrictions)” to “Anyone from my organization” in order for the presenter(s) to be able to moderate who is admitted to the meeting.
Note: These options apply to users joining an online meeting using Skype for Business or dialing in using their phones.
Where do I set online meeting options?
Start in Outlook
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From your Outlook calendar, click New Skype Meeting.
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In the meeting window, click Meeting Options.
These people don't have to wait in the lobby
The lobby is a virtual place where attendees wait to be admitted to your meeting. Options are:
Who gets in directly? |
What happens? |
Recommended when… |
---|---|---|
Only me, the meeting organizer |
You are the only one who gets into the meeting directly. Everyone else has to wait until admitted. |
You have a high security meeting and confidential information. |
People I invite from my company |
Only people who were invited can join the meeting directly. Everyone else has to wait until admitted. |
You’re discussing confidential information, and want to only allow specific people to join. |
Anyone from my organization |
Anyone from your company can get in to the meeting directly, even if not invited. |
You don’t have external participants and you are not discussing confidential information. |
Anyone (no restrictions) (Default option) |
Anyone who has access to the meeting link gets in to the meeting directly. |
You’re inviting outside participants and you’re not discussing confidential information. |
Resource accounts such as meeting rooms, conference rooms, and system accounts have a slightly different behavior for lobby options.
Option |
What happens |
---|---|
Only me, the meeting organizer |
Resource accounts have to wait in lobby until admitted. |
People I invite from my company |
Resource accounts have to wait in lobby until admitted. |
Anyone from my organization |
Resource accounts have to wait in lobby until admitted. |
Anyone (no restrictions) |
Resource accounts get in to the meeting directly. |
Who's a presenter?
Presenter options control which participants are automatically given presenter privileges when you schedule the meeting. Presenters can also let people who are waiting in the lobby into the meeting. The following table describes each of these options in detail.
Presenter option |
Who is a presenter? |
When to choose this option |
---|---|---|
Only me, the meeting organizer |
Only the person who schedules the meetings |
For presentations where the participants don’t have to interact with the meeting content. (You can designate additional presenters during the meeting.) |
People I choose |
You and the participants you choose |
For presentations with more than one presenter. |
Anyone from my organization (Default option) |
Everyone you invite who has an account on your network |
For group work sessions, where all participants work at your organization and can share and modify meeting content. |
Anyone (no restrictions) |
Everyone you invite |
For group work sessions with people who don’t have an account on your network. |
Click Choose presenters to determine who among your invitees will be an attendee or presenter. You must have already added invitees to your meeting request in order to see names in this list.
Do you want to limit participation?
Participation in a Skype for Business meeting includes sending and receiving instant messages, talking, or watching video. Participation options affect attendees only; you can't allow some attendees to participate and not others. If you want someone to participate in the meeting, make them a presenter.
Option |
When to choose this option |
|
---|---|---|
Disable IM |
When you don't want any attendees to send or receive instant messages during the meeting. |
|
Mute all attendees |
When presenters want to present without taking questions from the audience. |
|
Block attendees' video |
When you don't want attendees to see the video that's being presented. |
Turn notification sounds off or on
If you don’t want to hear a beep or chime when people join or leave a meeting, you can turn off notification sounds. To learn more, see Set Ringtones and Sounds options.
See Also
Preload attachments for a Skype for Business meeting
Set up a Skype for Business meeting in Outlook
Start a Skype for Business conference call
Set up Audio Conferencing for Skype for Business and Microsoft Teams
Phone numbers for Audio Conferencing in Skype for Business Online