What versions of MS Teams allows for external collaborators?

Hi Rod-F,

the ability to have external collaborators in Microsoft Teams is available in all Microsoft 365 for Business plans, enabling you to invite individuals outside your organization to participate in Teams calls, chats, and rooms.

The specific features accessible to external collaborators may vary based on the plan. For instance, only selected plans permit external collaborators to engage in Teams chats and rooms discussions.

External collaboration options in Microsoft 365:

1. Document, site, and team sharing with guest accounts:

   • Enables sharing of files, folders, teams, and sites with people outside your organization.
   • Requires creating a guest account for each external collaborator.
   • Allows external collaborators to contribute to Teams chats and rooms discussions depending on the plan.

2. Shared channels:

   • A type of Teams channel that allows sharing with individuals outside your organization, including those in other Microsoft 365 organizations.
   • Requires configuration of an organizational relationship in Microsoft Entra B2B Direct Connect.
   • Enables external collaborators to participate in shared channels without switching organizations or logging into your organization.

3. External chat and meetings:

   • Allows users in your organization to chat, add external users to meetings, and use audio or video conferencing in Teams with users in external Microsoft 365 organizations.
   • Requires configuration of external access settings in Microsoft Teams.
   • Enables external collaborators to communicate directly with people in your organization without having access to your teams or channels.

4. Anonymous meeting join:

   • Allows people from outside your organization to join Teams meetings without authentication.
   • Requires enabling the anonymous join setting for your organization.
   • Limits external collaborators' ability to participate in meetings compared to authenticated access methods.

5. Unauthenticated file and folder access:

   • Permits sharing of files and folders in Teams, SharePoint, and OneDrive using unauthenticated links.
   • Grants access to the shared item to anyone with the link, regardless of authentication.
   • Allows anyone with the link to share the file or folder with others, potentially widening access beyond intended recipients.

You can use this links as a reference:

1. Overview of external collaboration options in Microsoft 365 (IT admins): https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/enterprise/external-guest-access?view=o365-worldwide

2. Plan external collaboration with channel conversations, file collaboration, and shared apps: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/solutions/plan-external-collaboration?view=o365-worldwide

3. Enable external collaboration: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/communicate-with-users-from-other-organizations