check before: 2025-06-15
Product:
Microsoft 365 admin center, Teams
Platform:
Android, iOS, Mac, Online, US Instances, Web, Windows Desktop, World tenant
Status:
Feature Rollout Status Not Supported
Change type:
Admin impact, Feature update, Updated message, User impact
Links:
Details:
Summary:
Microsoft Teams will soon allow meeting organizers to send one-way messages to attendees in the meeting lobby using Lobby chat. This feature will be on by default and can be disabled by admins in the Teams admin center. Rollout begins mid-June 2025 and completes by mid-July 2025.
Details:
Updated June 12, 2025: We have updated the timeline below. Thank you for your patience.
Coming soon for Microsoft Teams: Meeting organizers will be able to send one-way messages to attendees in the meeting lobby using the Lobby chat. The Lobby chat is intended to optimize the lobby experience for all participants, ensuring that organizers are better equipped to run external meetings and external attendees are well informed about the meeting when it begins. This feature is on by default and admins can choose to disable it in the Teams admin center (TAC).
This message applies to Teams on Desktop, Mac, Web
iOS and Android will be released shortly
This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 480716.
[When this will happen:]
Targeted Release: We will begin rolling out mid-June 2025 and expect to complete by late June 2025.
General Availability (Worldwide, GCC, GCC High, DoD): We will begin rolling out late June 2025 and expect to complete by mid-July 2025.
Change Category:
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Scope:
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Release Phase:
Standard Release, Targeted Release
Created:
2025-05-08
updated:
2025-06-27
Task Type
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Docu to Check
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MS How does it affect me
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MS Preperations
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MS Urgency
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summary for non-techies**
Microsoft Teams is introducing a Lobby chat feature that allows meeting organizers to send one-way messages to attendees in the meeting lobby, with rollout starting mid-June 2025 and administrators having the option to disable it.
Direct effects for Operations**
User Confusion
Users may be confused about the new Lobby chat feature, leading to misunderstandings about its purpose and functionality, especially if they are not informed beforehand.
- roles: Meeting Organizers, Attendees
- references: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/roadmap?filters=&searchterms=480716
Increased Support Requests
The introduction of the Lobby chat feature without prior preparation may lead to an increase in support requests from users who are unfamiliar with the new functionality.
- roles: IT Support Staff, End Users
- references: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/roadmap?filters=&searchterms=480716
Meeting Disruptions
If users do not understand how to use the Lobby chat, it may lead to disruptions during meetings, as attendees may not be aware of important messages from organizers.
- roles: Meeting Organizers, Attendees
- references: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/roadmap?filters=&searchterms=480716
Policy Misalignment
Without proper communication, existing meeting policies may conflict with the new Lobby chat feature, causing confusion and potential policy violations.
- roles: IT Administrators, Compliance Officers
- references: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/roadmap?filters=&searchterms=480716
User Experience Degradation
The lack of preparation for the new feature may lead to a negative user experience, as users may feel overwhelmed by the additional communication channel without guidance.
- roles: End Users, Meeting Organizers
- references: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/roadmap?filters=&searchterms=480716
Configutation Options**
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Opportunities**
Enhanced Communication during Meetings
The introduction of Lobby chat allows meeting organizers to communicate essential information to attendees before the meeting starts, improving clarity and reducing confusion. This can enhance the overall user experience and make meetings more productive.
- next-steps: Train meeting organizers on how to effectively use Lobby chat to communicate key information and expectations to attendees. Create guidelines on the type of messages that should be sent in the lobby to ensure clarity and relevance.
- roles: Meeting Organizers, Project Managers, Team Leaders
- references: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/roadmap?filters=&searchterms=480716
Improved Meeting Control for Organizers
With the ability to send messages to attendees in the lobby, organizers can manage external participants more effectively, ensuring that they are informed about meeting protocols and start times, thus enhancing meeting control.
- next-steps: Develop a best practices document for meeting organizers to utilize Lobby chat effectively, including tips on managing external attendees and leveraging the chat feature to set the tone for the meeting.
- roles: Meeting Organizers, Administrative Staff, HR Managers
- references: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/roadmap?filters=&searchterms=480716
Reduced Pre-Meeting Queries
Lobby chat can significantly reduce the number of questions and clarifications needed from attendees before the meeting starts, as they will have access to key information directly from the organizer.
- next-steps: Monitor feedback from users regarding the effectiveness of Lobby chat in reducing pre-meeting queries and adjust communication strategies accordingly. Consider conducting surveys to assess user satisfaction with the feature.
- roles: IT Support Staff, Meeting Organizers, Customer Service Representatives
- references: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/roadmap?filters=&searchterms=480716
Potentional Risks**
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IT Security**
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explanation for non-techies**
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change history
| Date | Property | old | new |
| 2025-06-27 | MC Feature Ring | Targeted Release | Standard Release, Targeted Release |
| 2025-06-25 | MC Feature Ring | Targeted Release | |
| 2025-06-13 | MC Messages | Updated May 30, 2025: We have updated the timeline below. Thank you for your patience.
Coming soon for Microsoft Teams: Meeting organizers will be able to send one-way messages to attendees in the meeting lobby using the Lobby chat. The Lobby chat is intended to optimize the lobby experience for all participants, ensuring that organizers are better equipped to run external meetings and external attendees are well informed about the meeting when it begins. This feature is on by default and admins can choose to disable it in the Teams admin center (TAC). This message applies to Teams on Windows desktop, Teams on Mac desktop, and Teams for iOS/Android. This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 480716. [When this will happen:] Targeted Release: We will begin rolling out mid-June 2025 and expect to complete by late June 2025. General Availability (Worldwide, GCC, GCC High, DoD): We will begin rolling out late June 2025 and expect to complete by mid-July 2025. | Updated June 12, 2025: We have updated the timeline below. Thank you for your patience.
Coming soon for Microsoft Teams: Meeting organizers will be able to send one-way messages to attendees in the meeting lobby using the Lobby chat. The Lobby chat is intended to optimize the lobby experience for all participants, ensuring that organizers are better equipped to run external meetings and external attendees are well informed about the meeting when it begins. This feature is on by default and admins can choose to disable it in the Teams admin center (TAC). This message applies to Teams on Desktop, Mac, Web iOS and Android will be released shortly This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 480716. [When this will happen:] Targeted Release: We will begin rolling out mid-June 2025 and expect to complete by late June 2025. General Availability (Worldwide, GCC, GCC High, DoD): We will begin rolling out late June 2025 and expect to complete by mid-July 2025. |
| 2025-06-13 | MC How Affect | Admin controls: After this rollout, the policy for Lobby chat will be on by default in the TAC. Admins can enable or disable Lobby chat with a meeting policy in the TAC. Under Meeting policies > Global (Org-wide default) > Meeting engagement, admins will find a new toggle option for Organizers can chat with lobby participant. When the option is enabled, participants who can't bypass the lobby due to meeting policy will be able to view messages sent by the organizer in a Lobby chat. To enable this policy, Meeting chat in the TAC must be set to On for everyone or On for everyone but anonymous users.
Meeting organizer experience: When someone joins the lobby, the meeting organizer will see a new Lobby tab in their Chat experience (meeting chat, one-on-one chat, or group chats). The meeting organizer will be able to send one-way messages to attendees in the lobby in the Lobby tab: Lobby attendee experience: When the meeting organizer sends a message to the lobby, a new Lobby chat panel will open in the right panel of the pre-join screen and display the message. Lobby attendees cannot reply to these messages | Admin controls: After this rollout, the policy for Lobby chat will be on by default in the TAC. Admins can enable or disable Lobby chat with a meeting policy in the TAC. Under Meeting policies > Global (Org-wide default) > Meeting engagement, admins will find a new toggle option for Organizers can chat with lobby participant. When the option is enabled, participants who can't bypass the lobby due to meeting policy will be able to view messages sent by the organizer in a Lobby chat. To enable this policy, Meeting chat in the TAC must be set to On for everyone or On for everyone but anonymous users.
Meeting organizer experience: When someone joins the lobby, the meeting organizer will see a new Lobby tab in their Chat experience. The meeting organizer will be able to send one-way messages to attendees in the lobby in the Lobby tab: Lobby attendee experience: When the meeting organizer sends a message to the lobby, a new Lobby chat panel will open in the right panel of the pre-join screen and display the message. Lobby attendees cannot reply to these messages |
| 2025-06-13 | MC Last Updated | 05/30/2025 17:24:19 | 2025-06-12T16:10:06Z |
| 2025-06-13 | MC Summary | Microsoft Teams will soon allow meeting organizers to send one-way messages to attendees in the meeting lobby via Lobby chat. This feature, rolling out mid-June to mid-July 2025, is on by default but can be disabled by admins. It applies to Teams on Windows, Mac, and iOS/Android. | Microsoft Teams will soon allow meeting organizers to send one-way messages to attendees in the meeting lobby using Lobby chat. This feature will be on by default and can be disabled by admins in the Teams admin center. Rollout begins mid-June 2025 and completes by mid-July 2025. |
| 2025-05-31 | MC MessageTagNames | Feature update, User impact, Admin impact | Updated message, Feature update, User impact, Admin impact |
| 2025-05-31 | MC Summary | Microsoft Teams will introduce Lobby chat, allowing meeting organizers and co-organizers to send one-way messages to attendees in the meeting lobby. This feature will be on by default and can be managed in the Teams admin center. Rollout begins mid-June 2025 for targeted release and late June 2025 for general availability. | Microsoft Teams will soon allow meeting organizers to send one-way messages to attendees in the meeting lobby via Lobby chat. This feature, rolling out mid-June to mid-July 2025, is on by default but can be disabled by admins. It applies to Teams on Windows, Mac, and iOS/Android. |
| 2025-05-31 | MC Last Updated | 05/08/2025 01:43:13 | 2025-05-30T17:24:19Z |
| 2025-05-31 | MC Messages | Coming soon for Microsoft Teams: Meeting organizers and co-organizers will be able to send one-way messages to attendees in the meeting lobby using the Lobby chat. The Lobby chat is intended to optimize the lobby experience for all participants, ensuring that organizers are better equipped to run external meetings and external attendees are well informed about the meeting when it begins. This feature is on by default and admins can choose to disable it in the Teams admin center (TAC).
This message applies to Teams on Windows desktop, Teams on Mac desktop, and Teams for iOS/Android. This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 480716. [When this will happen:] Targeted Release: We will begin rolling out mid-June 2025 and expect to complete by late June 2025. General Availability (Worldwide, GCC, GCC High, DoD): We will begin rolling out late June 2025 and expect to complete by mid-July 2025. | Updated May 30, 2025: We have updated the timeline below. Thank you for your patience.
Coming soon for Microsoft Teams: Meeting organizers will be able to send one-way messages to attendees in the meeting lobby using the Lobby chat. The Lobby chat is intended to optimize the lobby experience for all participants, ensuring that organizers are better equipped to run external meetings and external attendees are well informed about the meeting when it begins. This feature is on by default and admins can choose to disable it in the Teams admin center (TAC). This message applies to Teams on Windows desktop, Teams on Mac desktop, and Teams for iOS/Android. This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 480716. [When this will happen:] Targeted Release: We will begin rolling out mid-June 2025 and expect to complete by late June 2025. General Availability (Worldwide, GCC, GCC High, DoD): We will begin rolling out late June 2025 and expect to complete by mid-July 2025. |
| 2025-05-31 | MC Title | Microsoft Teams: Send messages to attendees in the meeting lobby with Lobby chat | (Updated) Microsoft Teams: Send messages to attendees in the meeting lobby with Lobby chat |
| 2025-05-31 | MC How Affect | Admin controls: After this rollout, the policy for Lobby chat will be on by default in the TAC. Admins can enable or disable Lobby chat with a meeting policy in the TAC. Under Meeting policies > Global (Org-wide default) > Meeting engagement, admins will find a new toggle option for Organizers can chat with lobby participant. When the option is enabled, participants who can't bypass the lobby due to meeting policy will be able to view messages sent by the organizer in a Lobby chat. To enable this policy, Meeting chat in the TAC must be set to On for everyone or On for everyone but anonymous users.
Meeting organizer/co-organizer experience: When someone joins the lobby, the meeting organizer/co-organizer will see a new Lobby tab in their Chat experience (meeting chat, one-on-one chat, or group chats). The meeting organizer/co-organizer will be able to send one-way messages to attendees in the lobby in the Lobby tab: Lobby attendee experience: When the meeting organizer/co-organizer sends a message to the lobby, a new Lobby chat panel will open in the right panel of the pre-join screen and display the message. Lobby attendees cannot reply to these messages | Admin controls: After this rollout, the policy for Lobby chat will be on by default in the TAC. Admins can enable or disable Lobby chat with a meeting policy in the TAC. Under Meeting policies > Global (Org-wide default) > Meeting engagement, admins will find a new toggle option for Organizers can chat with lobby participant. When the option is enabled, participants who can't bypass the lobby due to meeting policy will be able to view messages sent by the organizer in a Lobby chat. To enable this policy, Meeting chat in the TAC must be set to On for everyone or On for everyone but anonymous users.
Meeting organizer experience: When someone joins the lobby, the meeting organizer will see a new Lobby tab in their Chat experience (meeting chat, one-on-one chat, or group chats). The meeting organizer will be able to send one-way messages to attendees in the lobby in the Lobby tab: Lobby attendee experience: When the meeting organizer sends a message to the lobby, a new Lobby chat panel will open in the right panel of the pre-join screen and display the message. Lobby attendees cannot reply to these messages |
Last updated 2 weeks ago
