In Microsoft Teams, you can host and attend meetings, webinars, and live events. Each of these three features have different capabilities, and this article compares the services and provides guidance on when to use each one.
When should you use a Webinar?
What differentiates a Webinar from a normal meeting is the added functionality, such as the registration page. The integrated registration page lets you create a page, much like Eventbrite, from within the platform. Webinars should be used instead of normal Teams meetings when you want to require registration to an event.
Creating a Webinar in Microsoft Teams is just as easy as booking a normal Teams meeting, and the process is exactly the same. Webinars are Teams Meetings with extra functionality. If you are booking a Teams Meeting normally, you can turn on the registration requirement to turn it into a webinar.
When should you use a Live Event instead?
A Live Event is for broadcast purposes with no audience interaction capabilities. Unlike Teams Meetings, Live Events do not provide the same level of interaction between presenters and audience members. Live Events are great for delivering a presentation to a large audience that you do not need to interact with. Below is a comparison of the three types of meetings.
Comparison of Meeting, Webinars, and Live Events
| Teams Meetings | Webinars | Live Events | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registration feature | Not available | Included - Can be customized | Not available |
| Attendee count | 250 | Fully interactive audience (can talk, answer polls, etc) - up to 1000 users View only mode - up to 20,000 users | 20,000 users in view only mode, with capabilities for a Q&A |
| Attendee microphone | Cannot be disabled | Microphone can be disabled (which prevents attendees from enabling their microphone) | Disabled for attendees |
| Attendee camera | Cannot be disabled | All cameras can be disabled, or individual cameras can be enabled/disabled | Disabled for attendees |
| Audience participation | Interaction cannot be avoided | Interaction level can be customized by the organizer | Limited interaction |
| Join by phone | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Breakout rooms | Yes | Yes | Not available |
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