11 Exciting Features in Virtual Breakout Rooms to Inspire

Microsoft added Microsoft Teams Virtual Breakout Rooms.  This feature allows meeting organizers to assign meeting attendees to a virtual room and call them back to the inclusive group when desired.

This blog post provides information on how to setup breakout rooms, and a list of features for organizers and participants.  As well as 9 commonly asked questions and answers.

Virtual Breakout Rooms Setup

First requirement, turn on the “new Teams meeting experience”.  This can be done with the following steps:

1. Click on your profile image within Teams
2. Select Settings
3. Under General -> Application make sure “Turn on new meeting experience” option is checked
4. Restart your Teams client
5. You can double check the feature by starting a meeting.  Once the meeting starts, verify the symbol below shows up in the meeting window next to the raise your hand feature.

Second requirement for a great virtual breakout room experience, make sure all participants as well as the organizer use the latest version of Teams.  If joining from Android or iOS mobile or tablet, make sure participants go to their App Store and download the latest update.

Last requirement as the meeting organizer, join your a scheduled or meet now meeting.  You must be the meeting organizer to see this feature.  Meeting attendees and presenters will not see the breakout rooms option.

Organizer Features

The following features exist for organizers creating virtual breakout rooms:

• Breakout rooms can be setup from a Teams desktop client
• Create breakout rooms in scheduled private meetings (including recurring) or private meet now meetings
• Meeting organizers can manage rooms and hop between rooms at any time
• Breakout rooms can be setup during an active meeting
• 50 breakout rooms can be created in a single meeting
• Add, remove, delete breakout rooms
• Rename room titles 
• Reassign participants from one room to another before or while room is open
• Room transition: during each meeting setup, organizer can decide if participants will be added automatically, or, if manually with a click to confirm the move
• Send announcements to meeting rooms as a chat message
• Chats, files, and recordings: organizer will always be able to access meeting room artifacts

Participant Features

Participants can do the following:

• Join breakout rooms from any device and using any OS such as iOS, Android or Windows
  • Note:  Organizers cannot move participants who joined with a Desk phone or Teams device – they will stay in the main meeting area as their breakout room
• Participants join as a room presenter, so they can use the whiteboard and other apps
• Chat during the breakout session
• Chats, files, and recordings:  Participants can access artifacts, but only organizers can access links unless shared with participants

Questions and Answers

• When can you set up breakout rooms as the organizer?
  • Answer:  After you join the meeting
• Can bulk rooms be created?
  • Yes at the start of the meeting or manually add or remove rooms later
• Can you set up breakout rooms from the desktop client?
  • Yes – only from desktop client
• Can you set up breakout rooms from mobile or the web?
  • No – only from desktop client
• Can I set up breakout rooms before a meeting starts?
  • No – not at this time, however this will be added in the future
• When can participants be added to the rooms?
  • At any time after the room is setup or while the room is open
• How do participants get assigned to rooms?
  • Either automatically in the beginning or manually at any time
• Can participants hop between rooms
  • No – only the organizer controls who goes to what room
• As a participant and I join a breakout room from multiple devices?
  • No – only 1 device at a time

Summary

Any learning or consulting event can utilized Virtual Breakout Rooms for a more enhanced meeting experience.  This feature allows for small groups to collaborate and brainstorm.  Then come back to the main meeting and share with the greater group.

Check out our other blog on Microsoft Teams how to reduce video fatigue.  Virtual Breakout Rooms provide another way to engage attendees and reduce the video fatigue.

If you are looking for more step by step breakout rooms for class meetings, check out this link.