Microsoft Teams

If you have a calendar or email invite to a Teams Meeting you will have the option to accept or reject the invite. A third option is available which is "Tentative" - this is simply you saying that you might be at the meeting. Only use the Tentative option if the meeting is for a group and there is a good chance that you will attend. If the meeting is just for two or three people, then it would be better to confirm your plans with either Accept or Decline so that others are not setting aside time for a meeting that might not take place:

In the main text area, of the invite, you should see a link to join the meeting:

If this link is not obviously visible or still says Skype, you can click on the Join Teams Meeting button in the top menu bar of the invite:

When you click to join the meeting you will be diverted to a page that looks something like the image shown below (if you have previously declared a preference to use the desktop version of Teams, then you will bypass this screen and Teams will open the meeting:

From this screen, you will be able to select either to download the full desktop application of Teams (this is FREE for all students and staff) OR you can simply use Teams on the web (Continue on this browser).

The desktop version of Teams will take a few minutes to download and install, so if you are due to join a Call or Meeting now, we recommend that you use Teams on the web for this call. You can then return to this page and follow the "How do I install Microsoft Teams on my home computer?" instructions below.

The web version of Microsoft Teams works in almost the same way as the full desktop application with only one major exception:

If you close your web browser, then the web version will close. If you close the desktop application window, it will continue to run in the background so that calls and chats can still get through to you.

To access Teams on the web, simply go to: https://teams.microsoft.com/ and login using your University of Cumbria email address and password. This will link you directly to the university address book and your university Outlook, allowing you to communicate with other members of the university and schedule meetings.

Go to Teams on the web

Apple Mac users: If you are using the Safari web browser on an Apple Mac, in a small number of cases you may not see the link to join the meeting on the web. Please see "I am using an Apple Mac, do I need to do anything different?" (below) for more information and a quick fix.

Microsoft Teams is available in three variations, the desktop application, the web version and mobile app.

We recommend that you install the desktop application version because it has more advanced features, however if you would prefer not to install the software or you would like try the web application version first, then you can. 

Download Microsoft Teams for desktop

This will automatically start the installation and, depending on your web browser, a popup will appear at either the top or bottom of your screen.

Once the download has completed , you can click to Open the file. This will install the full version of Microsoft Teams.

When the installation is completed, Microsoft Teams will open. Login using your University of Cumbria email address and password.

Mobile App

To download the Teams mobile app, you can visit our Mobile Apps page for direct links or visit the App Store for your device and search for Teams. Only install a Teams App provided by Microsoft Corporation.

When you have added Teams to your phone or tablet - open it and login using your University of Cumbria email address and password.

Why should I get the full desktop version of Microsoft Teams?

You will get a better experience if using the full Microsoft Teams desktop application, but most things work the same in the full Teams application, a mobile app or Teams for the web.

The full version allows you to easily continue working on other things whilst it runs in the background (notifying you of new chats, calls and meetings). The full version also gives you some additional personalisation features such as background blurring and some other ways to schedule meetings easily if you are also using the Outlook desktop application too.

We have had a small number of reports of Mac users not being able to join a Teams Meeting online because of a compatibility problem with the Safari web browser. This does not seem to affect everyone, but can be solved by either of the two following methods:

1. Go to https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/microsoft-365/microsoft-teams/download-app and download the full version of teams (it is also available from the App Store). Login using your full University of Cumbria email address and network password. You can now go back to the meeting invite and click on Join Meeting.
2. OR
3. Download and install the Google Chrome web browser (available here: https://www.google.com/chrome/ and in the App Store). Copy the Teams Meeting link into Chrome and login to the meeting using your University of Cumbria email address and network password.

If you still cannot access Teams, please contact the IT Service Desk for more advice.

Teams Quick Start Guide

There are a number of instructional videos for using Teams available on Stream.

These include walkthrough instructions for:

• Screen sharing
• File sharing
• Starting a chat
• Using @mentions
• Raising your hand during a group meeting
• And more...