Shared channels in Microsoft Teams create collaboration spaces for people inside and outside your team or organisation. They offer a seamless and improved version of collaboration with those inside and outside of the NHSmail central tenant, helping to extend teamwork effectively and efficiently across organisational boundaries.
This article is intended to set out the steps required to enable the Teams shared channels functionality for NHSmail Local Administrators. For more information, please refer to the additional guidance for Local Administrators.
If you are a user wishing to take advantage of the Teams shared channels functionality to better collaborate with users from an external organisation, please contact your Local Administrator to discuss your requirements. For more information, please refer to the guidance for Users.
A NHSmail Portal release on 3rd April 2024 has delivered some new functionality for Teams shared channels. If you have previously enabled your organisation for Teams shared channels, please read this article to understand how the recent changes affect you.
How do I configure Teams shared channels for my organisation?
This section sets out the required steps for NHSmail organisations to enable shared channels for collaboration with:
- A new external organisation
- An organisation that has already been configured for shared channels
- Internal NHSmail users
How to configure Teams shared channels with a new external organisation?
To request the enablement of shared channels functionality with a new external organisation (domain), you will need to submit a cross-tenant configuration request via the Helpdesk Self-Service (HSS).
There are 3 HSS request types to allow Local Administrators to submit cross-tenant configuration request for Teams shared channels.
Local Administrators can request to:
- Add a configuration for their NHSmail organisation to collaborate with an external partner organisation’s tenant
- Modify an existing configuration between their NHSmail and the external partner organisation’s tenants
- Remove a configuration for their NHSmail organisation
For more information, please refer to this section of the Teams Shared Channels LA Guide.
How to configure Teams shared channels with a pre-onboarded organisation?
You can find the list of pre-onboarded external organisations (domains) that have already been configured for shared channels here.
The process to enable shared channels functionality with a pre-onboarded external organisation and to allow users to join internally hosted shared channels is to assign Teams shared channel policies.
Local Administrators can apply shared channel policies at user level via the NHSmail Portal allowing for immediate collaboration with the onboarded domains found here without the need to process the HSS onboarding route.
For more information, please refer to this section of the Teams Shared Channels LA Guide article.
The process to enable shared channels functionality with a pre-onboarded external organisation and to allow users to join externally hosted shared channels is to submit an HSS request. This is required to ensure that the relevant outbound traffic groups are correctly configured.
How to configure Teams shared channels for collaboration with internal NHSmail users?
The process to enable shared channels functionality for collaboration with internal NHSmail users is to assign one of the following Teams shared channel policies: “All Shared Channel Features” or “Inviter Only”.
Local Administrators can apply these shared channel policies at user level via the NHSmail Portal allowing for immediate collaboration with all internal NHSmail users.
Assigning the “All Shared Channel Features” or “Inviter Only” shared channel policies will also configure your users for collaboration with any pre-onboarded external organisations.
For more information, please refer to this section of the Teams Shared Channels LA Guide.
How to submit cross-tenant configuration requests for Teams shared channels?
This section sets out the required steps for an NHSmail Local Administrator to request, edit or delete a third party domain configuration for Teams shared channels.
Three Helpdesk Self-Service (HSS) request types are available for shared channels, the details of which can be seen below.
| Category | Request Type |
| Create | This request can be used by NHSmail organisations looking to configure a new external domain for shared channels (via Azure B2B Direct Connect).This request can also be used by NHSmail organisations looking to add their all user ODS security group for outbound traffic with a pre-configured domain (i.e. an organisation wanting to allow their users to be added to a shared channel hosted by a specific third party). |
| Edit | This request can be raised by NHSmail organisations on behalf of a third party domain looking to modify an existing shared channels configuration, e.g., adding a new security group ID to be configured for inbound traffic as supplied by the third party. |
| Delete | This request can be used by NHSmail organisations looking to remove an existing shared channels configuration for an NHSmail organisation, e.g., disallowing NHSmail outbound groups. Note that other NHSmail organisations may be collaborating with an external partner. In this case, only the outbound configuration for the specified groups will be removed. If the requesting NHSmail organisation is the only organisation configured with the external partner, then the entire configuration (via Azure B2B Direct Connect) will be removed (i.e. both inbound and outbound). |
How to submit a ‘Create’ request?
The ‘Create’ request found here can be used by NHSmail organisations looking to configure a new external domain, that is not yet listed here, for Azure B2B Direct Connect. To submit this type of request, Local Administrators should follow the steps below.
- Local Administrators should submit an HSS request form providing the required external domain information and contact details.
- The request form will ask for the list of NHSmail central tenant ODS codes the Local Administrator is looking to onboard, the permissions of which will be assessed against the NHSmail Portal mapping. These codes will be added to a nested security group configured to limit outbound traffic.
- Local Administrators will be required to accept the data sharing consent checkbox acknowledging associated data risk of using Teams shared channels, Federation, and B2B Guest Access.
- Local Administrators from the requesting NHSmail organisation will need to provide evidence (email) that the Partner Blueprint document has been shared with the external organisation and that they acknowledge/accept the configuration of their domain with the central tenant, or, that they accept the new NHSmail organisation will be added to the security group configured for outbound traffic with their domain.
- The requesting organisation is required to meet the DCB1596 secure email standards and/or ISO27001 certification standards and/or evidenced via an entry on the publicly available lists.
Organisations that do not maintain the mandated accreditation standards (DCB1596 / ISO:27001) will risk losing access to shared channels.
Once all pre-requisites have been validated, the NHSmail Service Desk will add the NHSmail side configuration and share the details with the requestor. It is responsibility of the local organisation to manage communication with the third party to ensure external configuration is added.
External domains onboarded for shared channels will also be added to the Teams Federation Allow List, SharePoint Allow List, as well as Azure B2B allow list to provide a rich collaboration experience for NHSmail users. For more information on those specific services, please click the links.
How to submit an ‘Edit’ request?
The ‘Edit’ request found here can be raised by NHSmail organisations on behalf of a third party domain looking to modify an existing configuration.
Once an external domain has been configured for shared channels, there may be a requirement to update the group ID previously supplied by the third party on initial set up. Edit requests must be submitted by an NHSmail organisation on behalf of the third party.
If any external organisation is changing their domain or moving to a different tenant, then those changes will need to be carried out as a new shared channel request process and following all the pre-requisites.
How to submit a ‘Delete’ request?
The ‘Delete’ request found here can be used by NHSmail organisations looking to remove the B2B Direct Connect configuration for a NHSmail organisation.
Only the configuration for the requesting NHSmail organisation and the external organisation will be removed to provide ongoing collaboration for other organisations.
The entire removal of an external organisation may occur when one of the following happens:
- The requesting NHSmail organisation is the only organisation configured with the external organisation.
- When the external organisation is no longer authorised for shared channels or falls outside of the mandated accreditation standards, by direction of NHS England and in coordination with the configured NHSmail organisations, reviewed on a monthly basis
It is responsibility of the local organisation to work with the third parties throughout the shared channel configuration period.
What else do I need to know about submitting cross-tenant configuration requests for Teams shared channels?
The NHSmail tenant has no control over the third party configuration settings for outbound / inbound traffic.
How to assign Teams shared channel policies?
The Teams policies control which shared channels features are available to users. User level controls can be applied for Teams shared channel policies via the NHSmail Portal.
The permissions associated with the Teams shared channel policies that are applied will dictate the extent to which users can collaborate, assuming the cross-tenant configuration has been applied.
Users assigned with Teams shared channel policies will be able to communicate and collaborate with all external domains configured for shared channels found here, and in some instances, internal NHSmail users.
Local Administrators can apply Team shared channel policies for users in their organisations via the NHSmail Portal. There are 5 policy options, each representing a different level of permissions which Local Administrators can assign to users via the NHSmail Portal. The default Global policy for all users is to have shared channels disabled. This policy is automatically applied and will not appear in the drop-down options.
The following policies are supported.
| Name | Description | Create Private Channels | Create Shared Channels | Invite External Users | Join External Channels |
| Global | The default for all users, shared channels disabled | On | Off | Off | Off |
| All Shared Channel Features | Create and participate in shared channels on both sides and able to invite external users into shared channels | On | On | On | On |
| Shared Channel Inviter | Able to create and add users to shared channels, but cannot participate in external shared channels | On | On | On | Off |
| Join Externally Hosted Shared Channels | Able to participate in external shared channels only | On | Off | Off | On |
| Inviter Only | Invite only, not able to join external channels | On | Off | On | Off |
| Invite and Join Only | Invite and join shared channels | On | Off | On | On |
NHSmail users with the Invite External Users permission in the assigned Teams shared channel policy and Teams ownership permissions will be able to add external users from configured inbound groups to a shared channel. This is a separate process to the Azure B2B Guest Inviter role which must still be assigned via the NHSmail portal and is not a firm requirement for shared channels.
To assign policies, Local Administrators must navigate to the ‘Admin’ area of the NHSmail Portal, select ‘User Policy’ and choose the shared channel policies to be assigned to users under the new ‘Shared Channel Permissions’ area.
Assigning users with a shared channel policy will allow them to collaborate with the approved external domains seen here to the extent their permissions allow, and, if assigning the “All Shared Channel Features” or “Inviter Only” policies, internal NHSmail users as well.
The HSS request forms should continue to be used for requesting new domains, updating the outbound groups for existing domains as well as editions and deletions.
Where can I access reporting for Teams shared channels?
Reporting on the shared channel policies can be accessed via the ‘Admin Reports’ page.
A new shared channels report has been introduced to provide a summary of the shared channel policies applied to users.
If no shared channel policy has been applied to a user, they will not appear in report.
Where can I find out more about Teams shared channels?
For more information, please refer to the additional guidance for Users and the guidance for Local Administrators. For more information about how to use Teams shared channels, please refer to the Using Teams Shared Channels article.
You can also refer to the following Microsoft guidance for more information:
- Create a shared channel in Microsoft Teams
- Share a channel with people in Microsoft Teams
- Share a channel with a team in Microsoft Teams
- Why use a shared channel versus other channel types in Teams?
- Guests and shared channels in Microsoft Teams
- Shared channel owner and member roles in Microsoft Teams
- Manage shared channels in Microsoft Teams
| Last Reviewed Date | 04/04/2024 |
