MS Teams - Chat with External Members or add Guests to a Team

Issue/Question

  • How do I chat with an external (non-OSU) person in Teams?
  • How do I add a guest to our team?

Environment

  • Oregon State University
  • Teams

Cause/Explanation

There are two ways to collaborate with non-OSU people in Teams:

  • External access - allows you to chat (one-on-one or group chat) with a Teams user at another organization.
  • Guest access - allows you to add a non-OSU person to a Team in Teams

Teams is primarily intended as a chat tool for internal OSU communications. However, there are many cases where chat with external parties can be useful, such as: interns, volunteers, community members, incoming students, alums, etc.

Resolution

Method 1 - Request Ability to Add Guests to a Team

Please use this form to request ability to add guests to a team: Microsoft Teams - Request the ability to add non-OSU people/accounts to a Team

 

Method 2 - Request Sponsored Account

You can request a sponsored ONID account for external people who need access to Teams and other IT services at OSU.

If you are a Community Network or Cosine customer and would like to request a sponsored account for an external person, please use this form: Request sponsored account

If you are not a Community Network customer, please contact your IT support team.

Assistance

For assistance, contact the Service Desk.