Microsoft Teams: Getting Started, AI Notetaking, and Facilitator

Microsoft Teams: Getting Started, AI Notetaking, and Facilitator

Quick Overview
  • Microsoft Teams is SFA's hub for chat, team collaboration, online meetings, and shared files.
  • Available to all faculty, staff, and students with an SFA account on desktop, web, and mobile.
  • Microsoft Copilot features in Teams are the approved way to take AI meeting notes. Third-party AI notetakers are not approved.
  • Copilot in meetings and Facilitator require a Microsoft 365 Copilot license to turn on.
  • Select a section below to expand it.

This guide covers the basics of using Microsoft Teams at SFA, how to record and transcribe meetings, how to use approved AI notetaking features, and how to use the Facilitator agent to run more organized meetings. For Microsoft's full overview, see Microsoft Teams overview on Microsoft Learn.

Getting Started  All Users  Access, sign-in, and the Teams layout ⌄

What Teams Is For

Microsoft Teams is the collaboration hub in Microsoft 365. Use it to chat with colleagues, work in shared team spaces, hold online meetings, and store and co-edit files.

Area Use it for
Chat One-on-one and small group conversations, quick questions, and ad hoc calls.
Teams and channels Ongoing work for a department, committee, or project. Channels keep conversations and files organized by topic.
Calendar Scheduling and joining Teams meetings. Syncs with your Outlook calendar.
Activity Your notifications: @mentions, replies, reactions, and missed calls.
Files Documents shared in chats (stored in OneDrive) and in teams (stored in SharePoint).

Ways to Access Teams

  • Desktop app (recommended): Installed on most university-managed computers. You can also download Teams for Windows or Mac.
  • Web browser: Go to teams.microsoft.com.
  • Mobile app: Install Microsoft Teams from the Apple App Store or Google Play.

Sign In

  1. Open Teams.
  2. Enter your full SFA email address (for example, username@sfasu.edu) and select Next.
  3. Enter your SFA password and approve the Duo prompt.
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Tip
Some meeting features, including turning on Facilitator and some meeting options, are only available in the desktop or web app. If you cannot find a feature on your phone, try the desktop app.

Set Your Status

Your status (Available, Busy, Do not disturb, Away, Appear offline) tells others whether you are free to chat. Select your profile picture at the top of Teams to change it or set a status message. See Change your status in Microsoft Teams.

Chats, Teams, and Channels  All Users  Conversations and shared workspaces ⌄

Start a Chat

  1. Select Chat on the left side of Teams.
  2. Select New chat.
  3. Type the name of the person or people you want to chat with in the To field.
  4. Type your message and select Send.

For a group chat, you can add a group name so the conversation is easy to find later. When you add someone to an existing group chat, you can choose whether they see the chat history.

Teams vs. Channels

A team is a group of people with shared conversations, files, and tools. A channel is a topic area inside a team.

Channel type Who can see it
Standard Everyone in the team.
Private Only specific members of the team.
Shared Selected people, including people in other teams or organizations.

Create a Team

  1. Select Teams on the left, then select Create and join teams and channels.
  2. Select Create team.
  3. Enter a name and a short description.
  4. Choose Private (members must be added or approved) or Public (anyone at SFA can join).
  5. Name the first channel and select Create.
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Tip
Use Private for any team that will hold non-public university information. Public teams can be found and joined by anyone in the SFA tenant.

Files in Teams

Files shared in a channel are stored in the team's SharePoint site. Files shared in a chat are stored in the sender's OneDrive. Teams, OneDrive, and SharePoint are approved storage locations for university data. See the Approved File Storage and Sharing Services article for details.

!
Important
Be careful with guests and shared channels. Anyone you add to a team or shared channel can see its conversations and files. Do not share Confidential (Category I) data with people who do not have a business need to see it.
Microsoft Resources Get started with chat: start, name, and manage chats
Get started with teams and channels: create teams, add channels and members
Meetings, Recording, and Transcription  All Users  Schedule, run, and follow up on meetings ⌄

Schedule a Meeting

  1. Select Calendar on the left side of Teams.
  2. Select New event (or New meeting).
  3. Add a title, attendees, date, and time.
  4. Make sure the Teams meeting toggle is on.
  5. Select Send (or Save).

Meetings scheduled from Outlook with Teams meeting turned on work the same way.

Meeting Roles

Role What they can do
Organizer The person who schedules the meeting. Controls meeting options, owns the recording and transcript, and can delete them.
Co-organizer Has most organizer controls. Add co-organizers in Meeting options.
Presenter Can share content and, depending on meeting options, admit people from the lobby.
Attendee Can participate but has limited controls.

Meeting Options to Know

Open the meeting in your Calendar and select Options (or Meeting options) to control:

  • Who can bypass the lobby: Who goes straight into the meeting and who waits to be admitted.
  • Who can admit from the lobby: Limiting this to organizers and co-organizers gives you the most control.
  • Who can present: Who can share their screen.
  • Copilot and other AI: Whether Copilot and Facilitator can be used. See AI Notetaking below.

Record or Transcribe a Meeting

  1. During the meeting, select More actions (...) in the meeting controls.
  2. Select Record (records and transcribes) or Transcribe (transcript only).
  3. Confirm the language spoken in the meeting and select Confirm.
  4. To stop, select More actions > Recording or Transcribing and choose what to stop.

Everyone in the meeting is notified when recording or transcription starts. Recordings and transcripts are saved to the organizer's OneDrive and appear in the meeting chat under Recap. Guests and people from other organizations cannot start a recording.

!
Important
Let attendees know before you record or transcribe, especially when students or people outside SFA are present. Recordings and transcripts of meetings that discuss students, employees, or other non-public information must be handled according to their data classification.

Find a Recording, Transcript, or Recap

  1. Select Chat and open the meeting chat.
  2. Select Recap.
  3. Choose Recording, Transcript, Notes, or AI summary (if available).
Microsoft Resources Schedule a meeting in Microsoft Teams: scheduling options
Start, stop, and find meeting recordings: recording permissions and storage
Start, stop, and download live transcripts: transcription and downloads
Recap in Microsoft Teams: what a recap includes
AI Notetaking  Copilot  Approved options and when to use them ⌄

AI notetaking tools listen to a meeting and produce summaries, notes, and action items. They can save time, but they also create records of what was said. Use only approved tools and be thoughtful about when to use them.

!
Use Approved Tools Only
Microsoft Copilot is the AI system approved for use by all SFA faculty and staff. Third-party AI notetakers and meeting bots (for example, Otter.ai, Fireflies.ai, Read.ai, or similar services) are not approved and must not be added to university meetings. These services can send meeting audio, transcripts, and attendee information to outside companies.

Approved AI Notetaking Options in Teams

Feature What it does License needed
Transcription Creates a written transcript of the meeting. Not AI summarization, but required for most AI features. Standard Teams
Copilot in Teams meetings Private Copilot pane you can ask questions during or after a meeting ("What decisions were made?" "List action items."). Microsoft 365 Copilot
Intelligent recap AI-generated summary, notes, and suggested follow-up tasks on the meeting's Recap tab. Microsoft 365 Copilot or Teams Premium
Facilitator AI agent that takes shared live notes, tracks the agenda, and manages time. See the Facilitator section. Microsoft 365 Copilot (to turn on)

Choose How Copilot Works in Your Meeting

When scheduling, open Options > Copilot and other AI and set Allow Copilot and Facilitator:

  • During and after the meeting: Copilot needs transcription. People can ask Copilot about the meeting afterward from the meeting chat or Recap.
  • Only during the meeting: Copilot works during the meeting without saving a transcript. Copilot conversations are not available after the meeting ends.
  • Off: Copilot is disabled, and recording and transcription are also turned off. Use this for meetings that should not be recorded or summarized.
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Tip
Even if you do not have a Copilot license, as the organizer you still control these settings for your meeting.

Use Copilot During or After a Meeting

  1. During the meeting, select Copilot in the meeting controls. A private Copilot pane opens. Only you see your questions and answers.
  2. Ask a question, such as "Summarize what has been discussed so far" or "What questions are still unresolved?"
  3. After the meeting, open the meeting chat and select Recap or Open Copilot to keep asking questions (requires the meeting to have been transcribed).

When Not to Use AI Notetaking

Consider turning AI features off, or not transcribing, for meetings involving:

  • Student records, advising, or conduct matters (FERPA)
  • Personnel actions, investigations, or grievances
  • Health information, legal advice, or attorney-client discussions
  • Security incidents or other sensitive operational details

Uninvited Bots in Your Meeting

Teams can detect many external AI bots that try to join a meeting and hold them in the lobby with a warning. If you see a participant in the lobby flagged as a bot, or a participant name such as "Notetaker" or "[Name]'s AI Assistant", do not admit it. If one is already in the meeting, remove it from the participant list.

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Tip
Always review AI-generated notes and summaries before sharing them. AI can misattribute who said what, miss context, or get details wrong. The person sharing the notes is responsible for their accuracy.
References Get started with Copilot in Microsoft Teams meetings: Microsoft Support
Recap in Microsoft Teams: Microsoft Support
Manage external bots in Teams meetings: Microsoft Learn
Artificial Intelligence (AI) Use Guidelines and Responsibilities: SFA IT knowledge base article
Facilitator  Copilot License  AI agent for notes, agendas, and timekeeping ⌄

Facilitator is a Microsoft AI agent that joins a Teams meeting to help it run smoothly. It takes live notes everyone can see and edit, keeps track of the agenda and time, and summarizes decisions and open questions.

What Facilitator Does

  • Live notes: Creates real-time AI notes in a shared Loop page that participants can co-edit.
  • Agenda tracking: Finds the agenda in the meeting invite or meeting notes, posts it in the chat, and checks off topics as they are covered.
  • Timekeeping: Shows agenda timers, runs countdown timers, and alerts you when the meeting runs over.
  • Questions: Answers questions from participants when @mentioned in the meeting chat.
  • Follow-ups: Helps schedule follow-up meetings and can create a Word document from the discussion (saved to OneDrive).

Who Can Use It

  • A Microsoft 365 Copilot license is required to add Facilitator to a meeting or turn it on.
  • Only the organizer or a presenter, using the Teams desktop or web app, can turn Facilitator on or off during a meeting.
  • Participants from SFA without a license can still see Facilitator's notes and chat updates. External participants cannot.

Turn On Facilitator When Scheduling

  1. In Teams Calendar, create a new event and make sure the Teams meeting toggle is on.
  2. Select Options > Copilot and other AI.
  3. Set Allow Copilot and Facilitator to Only during the meeting or During and after the meeting.
  4. Turn on the Facilitator toggle and select Apply.

Turn On Facilitator During a Meeting

  1. In the meeting controls, select More actions (...).
  2. Select Turn on Facilitator. Choose the meeting language if prompted.
  3. To stop note-taking, select More actions > Turn off Facilitator. Notes already taken are kept.
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Tip
Put your agenda, with time for each topic, in the meeting invite or the meeting notes before the meeting. Facilitator uses it to track topics and time. You can also @mention Facilitator in the meeting chat and give it the agenda.

Find Facilitator Notes After the Meeting

Open the meeting chat, select Recap, then Notes. Anyone who attended from SFA can view and edit the notes. Turn on transcription during the meeting if you want to ask Facilitator questions about the meeting after it ends.

Limitations

  • Works only in scheduled meetings. It does not work in channel meetings, Meet now (instant) meetings, or Teams calls.
  • Notes take a few minutes to appear after Facilitator is turned on.
  • Facilitator cannot read an agenda in an invite or notes protected by an encryption sensitivity label.
  • Some features, such as task capture to Planner, are in preview and may change.
!
Important
Facilitator notes are visible to and editable by all SFA attendees, and are kept after the meeting. Follow the same guidance as When Not to Use AI Notetaking above before turning Facilitator on.
Reference Facilitator in Microsoft Teams meetings: Microsoft Support
FAQ and Troubleshooting  Common questions ⌄

I can't find the Copilot or Facilitator button.

These features require a Microsoft 365 Copilot license and may be turned off for the meeting in Options > Copilot and other AI. Facilitator can only be turned on from the desktop or web app, and only in scheduled meetings.

There is no AI summary on the Recap tab.

AI summaries need the meeting to be transcribed and last at least five minutes, and you need a Microsoft 365 Copilot or Teams Premium license to see them. It can take some time after the meeting for the summary to appear.

I can't download a transcript or recording.

By default, only the organizer and co-organizers can download or delete recordings and transcripts. Ask the meeting organizer.

A recording I need has expired.

Recordings expire based on university settings. The owner receives an email when a recording expires and can recover it from the OneDrive recycle bin for a limited time. Contact the Help Desk if you need help.

Someone wants to use their own AI notetaker in my meeting.

Third-party AI notetakers are not approved for university meetings. As the organizer, you can decline to admit the bot from the lobby. If an outside group hosts the meeting, their tools are governed by their organization, so be mindful of what you share.

Teams is slow, crashing, or will not sign in.

Quit Teams completely and reopen it, make sure the app is up to date, or try the web version at teams.microsoft.com. If the problem continues, contact the Help Desk.

Additional Resources

Need Help?

Contact the IT Help Desk at (936) 468-4357 (HELP) or submit a ticket at help.sfasu.edu.
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