Often, it’s crucial to collaborate effectively with individuals who are outside one’s organization. To facilitate this, Microsoft Teams, an integral part of Microsoft 365/Office 365, allows for guest access. This feature provides the ability to grant access to teams, documents in channels, resources, chat, and applications within an organization while still sustaining control over corporate data. Configuring guest access in Microsoft Teams involves managing settings in both the Microsoft Teams admin center and Azure Active Directory (Azure AD).
This article provides you with a step-by-step guide on configuring guest access to Microsoft Teams from the Azure AD admin center, as stipulated by the MS-700 Managing Microsoft Teams exam content.
Step 1: Enable Guest Access in Teams
To begin with, you need to enable guest access in Teams by visiting the Microsoft Teams admin center and signing in. Next, navigate to Org-wide settings > Guest access and set ‘Allow guest access in Teams’ to ‘On’. Then, in Calling, Meeting, and Messaging, choose the desired permissions for your guest users and select Save.
Step 2: Configure Guest Access Settings in Azure AD
The next step involves configuring the guest access settings in Azure AD.
Log into the Azure portal with a Global admin account for the directory, then head to Azure Active Directory > External Identities > External collaboration settings.
Under the ‘Collaborate with external users’ section, select the external collaboration settings that best fit your organization’s needs:
- Allow invitations to be sent to any domain (most inclusive)
- Deny invitations to the specified domains
- Allow invitations only to the specified domains (least inclusive)
Under the ‘Collaboration restrictions’ section, you can do the following:
- No restrictions
- Block new invites to the following users, and block existing guests who match these settings
- Allow existing guests who match these settings but block future invites (most restrictive)
When you’re done, click on ‘Save changes’.
Moreover, you have the option to appoint a guest reviewer, who will be in charge of periodically reviewing guests still requiring access to resources in your directory.
Step 3: Configure Sharing in Office 365
Next up, configure sharing settings in Office 365 to ascertain the kind of access that guests have to SharePoint and OneDrive resources. This can be controlled via SharePoint sharing settings and OneDrive sharing settings, each of which allows you to determine the type of links people can select to share files and folders.
Step 4: Enable Guest Access for an Individual Team
The final step concerns configuring guest access permissions for a specific team. This can be done by clicking on ‘Teams’ from Teams, then selecting the team you wish to add a guest to. After that, click on ‘More options’ (icon with 3 dots) > ‘Manage team’ > ‘Add member’. Enter the guest’s email address, and you can opt to add a message to the invite if you want. Finish off by clicking on ‘Add’. Your guest will get an invitation email containing information and a link to join the team.
Thorough understanding of these steps is critical as they are a key focus in the Microsoft MS-700 Managing Microsoft Teams exam. Guest access is a powerful tool for collaboration across organizational boundaries, and being able to correctly configure this access is vital as it constitutes a significant part of the exam. Proper knowledge of guest access settings in Azure AD and Teams also helps you manage collaboration effectively while keeping control over the corporate data.
Practice Test
True or False: To configure guest access to Microsoft Teams, you must first enable guest access in the Azure AD admin center.
– True
– False
Answer: True.
Explanation: Before you can allow guest access in Microsoft Teams, guest access must be allowed in the Azure AD admin center, which manages the overall guest access settings.
Multiple select: Which of the following are configurations that must be enabled to enable guest access in Microsoft Teams from the Azure AD?
– A) Teams Settings
– B) Azure AD Settings
– C) SharePoint Settings
– D) Office 365 groups Settings
Answer: A, B, D.
Explanation: Guest access in Teams requires you to enable Teams Settings, Azure AD Settings, and Office 365 groups Settings.
Single select: Who can provide guest access to Microsoft Teams in the Azure AD admin center?
– A) Manager
– B) Admin
– C) Developer
– D) User
Answer: B. Admin.
Explanation: Only the Admin has the necessary permissions to configure and manage guest access to Microsoft Teams.
True or False: Guest users get the full range of Teams features as regular members.
– True
– False
Answer: False.
Explanation: Though guest users get access to a decent variety of features, it does not include the full range that is available to regular members.
Single select: What permission is required for a user to add guests in Azure AD?
– A) Guest inviter role
– B) Teams Administrator role
– C) Owner role
– D) Admin role
Answer: A. Guest inviter role.
Explanation: The ‘Guest inviter role’ permission is required in Azure AD to invite and manage guests.
Multiple select: In which ways can you control who can invite guest users in Azure AD?
– A) Sharing policies
– B) User settings
– C) Group settings
– D) Password settings
Answer: A, B, C.
Explanation: ‘Sharing policies’, ‘User settings’, and ‘Group settings’ provide options to control who can invite external users.
True or False: A guest user in Teams must have a valid email address.
– True
– False
Answer: True.
Explanation: A guest user must have a valid email address that is associated with their Microsoft 365 work or school account.
Single select: From where can you manage the settings for guest user access?
– A) Microsoft Teams Admin Center
– B) Azure Portal
– C) Exchange Online
– D) All of the above
Answer: D. All of the above.
Explanation: Settings for guest user access can be managed from different platforms including Teams Admin Center, Azure portal and Exchange Online.
True or False: Guest access in Teams is turned off by default.
– True
– False
Answer: True.
Explanation: By default, guest access in Teams is turned off, it needs to be enabled by an admin.
Single select: What kind of groups benefit from inviting guests to Microsoft Teams through Azure AD?
– A) Security groups
– B) Distribution groups
– C) Office 365 groups
– D) All of the above
Answer: C. Office 365 groups.
Explanation: Office 365 groups in particular benefit from inviting guests to Microsoft Teams through Azure AD, as Teams is built on Office 365 groups.
Interview Questions
What is the main purpose of configuring guest access to Microsoft Teams from the Azure AD admin center?
Configuring guest access allows individuals outside the organization to access teams and channels. They can participate in conversations, meetings, and also have access to files, resources, and more.
What setting in the Azure AD admin center do you need to set to ‘Yes’ to enable guest access in Teams?
The ‘Guests can join’ setting in the ‘Teams settings’ pane in the Azure AD admin center needs to be set to ‘Yes’ to enable guest access.
Can you add a guest user to an Office 365 Group in Azure AD admin center?
Yes, you can add a guest user to an Office 365 Group via the Azure AD admin center. The guest user will then have access to all teams where the group is added.
What are the steps to configure Teams guest access settings in the Azure AD portal?
To configure Teams guest access settings, you should head to Azure Active Directory > External Identities > External collaboration settings. Then, choose the ‘Guest users’ option and modify the permissions as needed.
How do you configure guest sharing permissions for SharePoint in the Azure AD admin center?
You can configure guest sharing permissions by going to the SharePoint admin center, selecting Policies > Sharing, and then choosing the appropriate options under the section ‘External sharing’.
What functionality is available to guest users in Microsoft Teams?
Guest users can participate in channels, conversations, chats, and meetings; share and collaborate on files; and access all resources and applications within Teams.
Can collaboration settings be customized for each guest user in the Azure AD admin center?
No, collaboration settings in Azure AD apply to all guest users in your directory and cannot be customized for each guest user.
Which Azure AD license allows you to manage guest access to Microsoft Teams?
The Azure AD P1 or P2 premium licenses allow for managing guest access settings to Microsoft Teams.
Can you limit guest access to certain Teams only?
Yes, through Teams policies in the Teams admin center, you can control which Teams a guest can access.
Is there a way to get a report on guest user activity in Microsoft Teams from Azure AD?
Yes, Azure AD provides sign-in activity reports that can include guest user activities within Microsoft Teams.
Does enabling Teams guest access from Azure AD admin center automatically provides all guests with access to Teams?
No, enabling Teams guest access from the Azure AD admin center merely provides the option to add guests in Teams. Actual guest users still need to be added to Teams individually.
What happens if you disable guest access in Azure AD while having active guest users in Teams?
If you disable guest access in Azure AD, active guest users will lose their access to Teams.
How many guests can be added to a single team in Microsoft Teams?
There are no hard limits on the number of guests that can be added to a single team. However, the total number of members (users and guests) in a team can’t exceed 10,000.
How can you control guest access to third-party apps and services in Teams?
This can be controlled through Teams policies in the Teams admin center. You can enable or disable third-party apps for guest users.
Are all Teams features available to guest users?
Most of the Teams features are available to guest users. However, certain capabilities like one-on-one chats, making organizational charts, or accessing the calendar may not be available.