Using Guest Accounts to Bypass the Teams Meeting Lobby

And Why You Might Need to Change Account to Attend a Teams Meeting

Earlier this week I discussed a change made in how Teams copies text from messages that reduces user irritation. Let me balance the books by explaining a different aspect of Teams that continues to vex me.

I’m waiting to be accepted into a Teams meeting and wondering why I’m forced to wait in the lobby. I know that the organization wants people to use their guest accounts when attending meetings because of concerns about data leakage, so it’s annoying to have to twiddle my thumbs in the virtual lobby as the minutes tick by. And then the answer strikes: I’m attempting to join the meeting using my account rather than a guest account. After exiting, I rejoin after selecting my guest identity and enter the meeting without pausing in the lobby.

The UI to Change User Accounts

All of this happens because of what seems to be a major (to me) UI flaw in Teams. Figure 1 is the screen that appears when attempting to join a Teams meeting in a host tenant. By default, the user account from the home tenant is selected. If other accounts are available, the Change option appears to allow the user to select a different account. Teams knows if you have a guest account for the host tenant because it is listed under Accounts and Orgs in Teams settings.

You can switch to the account by selecting it from the list (Figure 2).

Because the meeting is limited to tenant and guest accounts, a connection request using the guest account sails through without meeting any lobby restrictions.

I can appreciate what the Teams UI designers were trying to do when they placed the Change button on the dialog. It makes sense to offer users the choice to switch accounts. The problem is that the option is just a tad too subtle and that leads to it being overlooked. I know I am not the only one in this situation because it has happened to a bunch of people who might know better.

Managing Access to Confidential Calls

MVPs are members of the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional program. Part of the benefits of being an MVP are product briefings about new features or plans that Microsoft has to improve their software, including Teams. All such briefings are under a strict Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) and people are required to join meetings using the guest account created for them by Microsoft. The restriction is enforced by the lobby setting for meetings to allow tenant accounts and guests to bypass the lobby. It is a reasonable restriction because Microsoft needs to know who they’re talking to, and a guest account is a good indication that an external person has been vetted for access to a tenant.

I commonly attend several product briefings each week. And on a regular basis, I fail to switch to my guest account before attempting to join calls. The result is that I spend time waiting in the lobby thinking that it would be nice if someone started the call soon before I realize what’s going on or a presenter recognizes my name in the lobby and lets me in. I’ve been known to become distracted while waiting to be admitted from the lobby and miss the entire call.

Automatic Switching Would Help

Teams knows what the meeting setting is for lobby bypass. It knows if the person joining a call can bypass the lobby with one or more accounts. It would be terrific if Teams could apply some intelligence to the situation and prompt the user to change if their current account can’t bypass the lobby. I might make more calls then.

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