Microsoft introduced Webinars for Teams in May 2021–. Adding this to the meetings and live events features. It can be accessed from the dropdown menu in Teams Calendar.
When would you use a Webinar in Teams?
What distinguishes a Webinar from a meeting is the ability to create an integrated registration page. This can be used to promote or share an event and allow people to book a place. It also allows you to track registration for your event. For example, an online event could be a large lecture, conference, open day or award ceremony.
A Webinar allows presenters to share ideas with an audience and manage audience participation. Both Teams meetings and Webinars have the option of breakout rooms – information on using breakout rooms is available here (Microsoft support web page). Up to 1000 people can interact in a webinar by raising their hand to speak or use the chat; and up to 10,000 people can view a Webinar live without interaction. You can also use real-time polls during a webinar.
Creating a Webinar in Microsoft Teams is as simple as booking a Teams meeting. A Webinar is a Teams Meeting with extra capability. However, it is important to organise a webinar weeks in advance, if possible. This gives time to circulate the registration form, invite any additional presenters and for those interested to respond.
During a Webinar, when attendees click the Join link, they will wait in the lobby until the organiser or a presenter lets them into the webinar. Attendee audio and video is turned off by default. The presenter controls audience participation.
After the webinar, the organiser can download an attendance report.
How does this compare to Live Events in Teams?
A Live Event is intended for broadcasting with the minimum of audience interaction.
These are good for delivering a presentation to a large group using only Q&A.
More information about Teams Live Events is available here.
Microsoft tutorials on Teams Webinars
Getting started with Teams webinars (Microsoft support web page)
Schedule a webinar (Microsoft support web page).