"When the meeting starts, we’ll let people know" Bug

Copper Contributor

While I know this has been reported previously, it seems to still be occurring. I see it happen regularly when using the MS Teams Windows application. The steps to produce the behavior are:

1. Org 1: Be logged in to an MS teams organization account (e.g., your company or university)

2. Org 2: Receive meeting invite to a meeting hosted by another MS teams organization (e.g., a government entity, for example)

3. Meeting organizer in Org 2 starts the meeting

4. Org 1 member clicks calendar link to join meeting, and allow MS Teams to open the app and enter the meeting

5. Click to join the meeting in the MS Teams app

 

Bug (Actual Behavior)

6. Rather than saying the meeting is running and you are in the lobby, instead it says the meeting has not started

7. Organizer of the meeting is not notified that you are in the lobby, lobby is empty. Wonders why you aren't coming to the meeting!

 

Workaround:

6B. Open the meeting in a browser Teams web page, rather than the MS Teams app. You will see a normal message that you are in the lobby.

7. Organizer sees you in the lobby and allows you to enter.

 

Expected Behavior:

- Organizer should be notified that you are in the lobby and able to let you join when you connect via MS Teams Windows app.

- Logged in users from Org 1 should not have fewer permissions to enter a meeting than anonymous users.

 

Unpredictability (Cherry on Top)

Perhaps most maddeningly, this can happen even with the same device and the same meeting organizer. I had one today where yesterday with the exact same setup and organizer, we did a tech check. Changing *nothing* about the machine, I try to attend the main meeting and I'm not showing up in their lobby. This unpredictability is particularly problematic.

 

As a result, I normally advise people *never* use the MS Teams Windows app, but exclusively use the browser. It is vastly more reliable. However, some features *only* exist on the Windows App, such as properly sharing sound when you share screen. This had led to some really terrible user experiences for demos where you need to run them on the browser, like holding up a mobile app you're screen sharing so the phone speaker is going into your microphone, or demoing a web app you made by cracking up the volume so that your microphone catches it so other people can hear sound.

 

Is this ever going to be fixed (e.g., is there a timetable)? We're nearly 2 years into a big pandemic telework shift, it would be great if the future of work involved advanced AI technology for... detecting and displaying people who should be in a lobby waiting room. This would certainly be more effective than any Superbowl ad for saying who should use MS Teams vs. not.

 

Alternatively, if this is for some reason just totally intractable, I'd recommend just upgrading the browser based version to be feature-equivalent, as it's already the one that is reliable (MS Teams Windows app also likes to crash and then ask you to "retry").

4 Replies
Hi, long post with a short answer :) I know it's cumbersome when you use many accounts while signed in "all over" (I have a lot of tenants in my tenant list) and the hassle it can cause when clicking on a link. But, today there really isn't any other way than to make sure you're signed out properly (manual sign out) and then using the primary account which is also your Outlook signed in account. Other than that, separate browser profiles are the best approach in my opinion.

I do know though that there is continuous work in progress when it comes to the "meeting join experience" so I hope that will sort this out.

@ChristianJBergstrom 

I am not sure I track this chain of events. To clarify:

* I am accessing the link via webmail (Exchange 2016). This webmail is not the same one as my Teams org account. There is no Outlook installed on this computer, so there is no way to match up the accounts.

* If I sign out of MS Teams as an app, I will be totally signed out. There is no "other profile" that matches the email invitation.

 

Does this clarify things a bit?

 

On the browser (even when signed in to the same Org account!), I reach the meeting waiting room as expected. However, the Teams Windows app simply refuses to admit that a meeting even exists. It also does not inform anyone that I am in the waiting room. From my experience, I have not yet found a workaround. Also from my experience, this behavior is not fully stable (e.g., sometimes you can connect to a meeting properly, sometimes it puts you in this nether-world).

 

Are you saying there *is* a workaround to get the Teams app to work consistently? (again, there is no Outlook installed on this machine, and the email which recieves the meeting invite is *not* the one associated with the Teams org, so I will always be a guest).

 

Maybe put another way, is there any way that the Teams app will just let a guest account connect to a meeting? (no login) Which I assume is why the browser works (both in a regular window and in incognito mode).

It sounds odd with the no existing meeting part. You should at least end up in the lobby. I would probably reach out to the official support, if they cannot see anything backed perhaps send them some logs for analysis. They will provide guidance for that and if you're not an administrator reach out to that person for assistance with a support ticket creation.
Yes this has to be fixed, I have tried every hack recommended (clearing app cache, restarting, reinstalling, etc. etc. etc.) and nothing works.