Teams is a versatile and powerful platform that allows NHS staff to communicate and collaborate in various ways, depending on their needs and preferences. Whether you want to host a small team meeting, a large-scale webinar, or a live town hall event, Teams has the features and options to make it happen.
In this page, we will explain the differences between Teams meetings, webinars, and town halls, and help you choose the best option for your event. We also provide user personas to bring these scenarios to life.
FAQs and video learning materials are available to support your use of Teams effectively and securely within the NHS.
N.B. The use of Teams for clinical delivery to patients is not yet covered in detail here. Please see the existing Virtual Visits pages for more information.
Which meeting type is right for my event?
| Meeting | Webinar | Town Hall | |
| How many people in the meeting / event? |
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| As the meeting / event attendee how much interaction do I have in the meeting /event |
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Meeting polls are possible Apps can be used and installed into the meeting |
Q&A can be used by the attendees. The organiser can configure Q&A to reduce interactions, or disable entirely. |
| In addition to the items above (attendee interactions) As the meeting / event team you have control over these meeting /event elements | All above items from attendee interactions
Can use lobby controls to secure meeting attendance Recording – can choose to record, or not Invite will appear in invitee calendar based on RSVP |
All above items from attendee interactions
Can use lobby controls to secure meeting attendance Recording – organiser can choose to record, or not Invitee will only receive a calendar entry if they respond to the webinar registration. Live Caption Translation for up to 6 languages |
All above items from attendee interactions
Can use event controls to allow access to org users, limit to specific accounts or make a public event. Event is automatically recorded, organiser has the choice to publish to attendees. Invitee will appear in calendar based on RSVP. Event link can be advertised Live Caption Translation for up to 6 languages |
| In addition to the items above, as the meeting /event organiser with a Teams Premium license, what additional features do I benefit from? | Teams Premium License required
Hide attendee names Manage what attendees see Prevent copying chat content to clipboard Restrict who can record Sensitivity labels Use Custom meeting templates for Meeting options and controls Watermarking |
Teams Premium License required
Hide attendee names Manage what attendees see Customise email comms for webinars Limit registration start and end times Enable and manage the waitlist for webinars Manually approve registrants Live Caption Translation for up to 10 languages |
Teams Premium License required
Town hall technical insights Customise email comms for town halls Live Caption Translation for up to 10 languages |
| How much effort for the event team to organise and run the meeting / event | low to no effort | Medium effort | High effort |
| How do invitees receive the invitation?
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A Teams meeting creation allows for email address for people and groups to be added.
The teams meeting link can also be shared out via other communication routes, such as email, newsletter, intranet etc. Registering for a Teams meeting is not possible, adding a registration page converts the meeting to a webinar. |
Webinar event creation includes a registration service.
Attendees MUST register for the webinar in order to be sent a webinar invitation. The registration page can be customised by the webinar organiser. |
Town Hall event creation includes a section to add email addresses for people and groups.
Alternatively the Town Hall organiser can include the attendee link in their existing communication routes, such as email, newsletter, intranet etc. Registering for a Town hall is not possible. Attendees receive a meeting RSVP invite. |
| Who can access the meeting / event? | Teams meetings are accessible to anyone with the meeting link. | Webinar can be set to either
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Town Hall can be set to either
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| Who can access the meeting / event recording? | Only NHS.net people can access the recording.
The meeting (co-)organiser can choose to restrict access further. The meeting (co-)organiser recording can be downloaded, saved and used elsewhere. |
The webinar (co-)organiser has the option to publish the recording to all who registered for the webinar.
The webinar (co-)organiser recording can be downloaded, saved and used elsewhere. |
The Town hall (co-)organiser has the option to publish the recording, which emails those people and groups added to the Town hall event invite.
If the attendee link was shared via existing communication routes, such as email, newsletter, intranet etc, then the link to the recording will need to be shared in a similar way. The Town Hall (co-)organiser recording can be downloaded, saved and used elsewhere. |
Useful resources for each meeting and event type
| Meeting | Webinar | Town Hall | |
| Useful links (Work in progress) |
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| Last Reviewed Date | 05/11/2024 |
