Meeting Invite not sent for Teams Meeting in Channel?

[ChadKealey]

When one is using an O365 Group through Outlook (OWA) and schedules an event on the Group Calendar, there is a checkbox to "Send a meeting invitation to group members". As one would expect, this sends each member an invitation so they can add it to their own Calendar (by accepting the invite). There is also an option in this interface to "Add Skype meeting"; but we are in the process of transitioning folks from Skype for Business to Teams, so we really don't want to suggest that option. 

When using Teams and creating a meeting in a channel, there is no such checkbox. There is an "Invite people" box, which accepts only individual users, but not O365 Groups. One might assume (as I did) that the default behavior is to send an invite to all of the Team members; this is not the case. One might theorize that it may be tied to the "subscribe" or "follow" action in the Group (e.g.: if I'm subscribed such that I choose to get calendar invites, I'll get an invite for a new Teams meeting), but one would be wrong (at least in my testing). 

Finally, when using Outlook (desktop, 2016, for Windows), there is a "Teams Add-in" that lets you add a Teams meeting to any meeting, but this doesn't let you specify the Team/Channel in which the meeting should be created. Also, with Teams (created via Teams) now hidden from the GAL, to invite the Team, you need to root around to get the email address for it. 

Now, some would argue that if you're using Teams, then members of a Team would notice that there's a meeting scheduled in their Team and not need that calendar invite. The reality is that long-time users of Outlook have an expectation that they will get calendar invites for meetings. Therefore, the fact that there does not seem to be an integrated/coordinated way of sending an Invite for a Teams meeting presents a real problem for many users and organizations. 

So, is there some way to do this that I'm overlooking? Is there an improved "group calendar integration" coming to Teams (I really hope so, because having only a day-at-a-time view really stinks)? Or, when our global admins flip the switch in our tenant from Skype to Teams, will the "Add Skype Meeting" link in OWA change to "Add Teams Meeting" (and will it allow adding that meeting to a specific Team/Channel)? Or, will the Teams Add-in in OL for Windows support creating meetings in a specific Team/Channel at some point?

The bottom line is that for a LOT of people in our organization, Teams is a fantastic collaboration hub. However, little things like this pose a very real threat to widespread adoption. The minute you start having to provide convoluted workarounds to what should be a simple process, you lose people.

[#2]

Hello,

I totally agree with you on when you use Teams and creating a meeting in a channel, there is no "include group "checkbox . But if you are scheduling a meeting using team as I did below 

and the screen you see below "Select a channel to meet in" this would act as a group and automatically send the invite to the group of people in the channel. The invite people option is an addition if you want to invite additional people who are not part of the channel.

in the above example Teams meeting is scheduled including group members who are part of the "Teams for Ignite" are invites.

Hope this helps 

[#3]

Sorry, but I don't think this is correct - the only person who receives an email is the meeting organizer, not the other members of the team. At least this is how it works for us.
/Goran

[#4]

This appears to be happening now, but was not in the past (early December). I scheduled a meeting in a Channel a couple days ago and most of the members of the Team have reported that it is showing up on their Calendar as an invite. Actually, everyone who has replied has reported that, but a lot of members have not replied (it's a public group with several dozen members).

FWIW, I created the meeting by clicking the "Meet now" icon below the new message field in the Channel, then clicking "Schedule meeting". Since that produced the desired result, I recommended it to others who reported similar success in the meeting invite being sent.

-Chad

[#5]

As stated the group member have to be subscribing to calendar events of the group in order to receive a mail about a channel meeting!

Adam

[#6]

@adam deltinger how should they subscribe to this from within Teams? 

I have a feeling this functionality has changed recently, because I have created several Channel Meetings in the past, and every time, EVERY team member got a meeting invite through mail.

But now, nobody is getting the invite, so they need to add the invite manually. This is a step backwards in functionality.

[#7 · Accepted solution]

We have found the setting that will send meeting requests again:

- Go to outlook online

- add a group as favorite

- go to group settings

- choose "receive only replies to you and group events"

This option should be available through Teams App. There is no way we can send this procedure to an end-user.

[#8]

@Stefaan De Vreese 

We had issues with this at first as well.   What we found is this:  

Creating a team direct from Microsoft Teams creates the underlining O365 group.  In order for the team members to get the calendar invites (and other group emails), they must be subscribed as mentioned above.   You can set this for the entire group if you are an Office admin.

Using Office Admin center - Navigate to Groups.  Search for your group (team name).  Select the team and then select 'Edit' to the right of the name.

Enable the option that says 'Send copies of group conversations and events to group members’ inboxes.'   This will then be enabled for all members.  Now when you schedule a meeting in a channel, all team members will get an invite to their inbox.

[#9]

@Doug Bartley 

I'm pretty sure that "Subscribe Members" is the same as the checkbox that Owners have when they create a group in Outlook, which only applies to members added after it's checked. In other words, if you create the Team, add the members, then go to the Group settings and check that box, it will not go back and subscribe existing members. The checkbox sets the default for new members that are added, it doesn't affect those already in the group.

[#10]

This is correct! Same goes for the powershell commands! Only to new members, and they might override the setting as well

[#11]

You are correct with the option in Outlook that it only applies for members who are added after you check the box. However, I can 100% confirm that using the Admin center option I mentioned will work for even users who are already members of the team. I've tested this to verify.

[#12]

@Doug Bartley For us the Exchange Admin Center Option only has an effect for users added after Enabling this option. Furthermore if you lateron disable this option, then the forwarding will be still enabled for users added in the timeframe where the option was enabled. So the only way to use this settting seems to enable it from the very beginning and never touch it again, which is not possible to change for us at this point in time.

As we had the option only enabled for a short time our strategy is now as follows:

If you plan a meeting via Teams in a channel you have to invite all desired members manually. Advantage is, that this way you can use Channel Meetings with smaller groups of a Team, however it is still possible for other team members to join if they wish to.

[#13]

yeah, that's also how we advice to use meetings in channels now.
It's just difficult sometimes when you show some functionality to the customer, and after some weeks it's changed without warning. Then it looks like I don't know the product...

[#14]

@BernhardScheuringer We are not setting this option in the Exchange Admin Center.  There is an option within the Microsoft Admin Center when you search for your Office 365 Group ("Send copies of group conversations and events to group members’ inboxes.").  This option appears to not be affected by the 'Subscribe New Members' check box in the Exchange Admin center.

I tested again this morning with a Team that had this option off (which is the default).  I added a new member, and scheduled a meeting in a channel (didn't select to invite anyone).   No users got an invite.   I then went to the Microsoft Admin center, Groups, Selected group, then clicked on 'Edit' and enabled the "Send copies of group conversations and events to group members’ inboxes."  I waited a few minutes and scheduled a new Teams Meeting in a channel (again not adding anyone to the 'Invite' section).   All users of the team got an email invite for the meeting. 

Let me know if I can provide more information.  

[#15]

@ChadKealey Any updates to this issue?

I found that guests to the team in which you schedule a channel meeting will receive an e-mail invite, however, members of the team (fom within your org) will not. 

This is highly confusing for end-users and I receive quite a few questions on this matter.

[#16]

Glad I'm not the only one confused at this approach. It makes no sense for users to go outside Teams to do this. Let them follow/unfollow a channel if they want/don't want receive meeting requests for a channel.

[#17]

Thank you so much, it worked! All meetings put in channel without mentioning anyone specifically is sent to members' inboxes and added to their Teams calendars.

[#18]

@Stefaan De Vreese I am confused about what should be done if not all team members receive a meeting notification. When I schedule a meeting in teams, only some team members join because not all of them are notified. Then, I have to send an invitation to the rest during the meeting but this is exhausting and not practical. Any simple, direct to the point solution for that?

[#19]

I am trying to go into the admin section and it is only showing a blank screen on my end. So I cannot change any settings. I would like to do a Teams meeting through a channel that will send invites to each member of that channel. Or is there a way to add a group invite to a channel from my contacts and not have to add them individually so they will receive a email notification? 

[#20]

@Doug Bartley 

Hi this helps, but how you can configure for all groups  inside teams (1500) and how  can you make by default this option for new groups, the groups are created by users using the app, you can´t know  when a new group has been created, only when the users came to you, hey   the people is not receiving the invitations 

Regards