Online Meetings & Events

Planning

The following criteria, and the detailed chart below, will help you identify whether you should use Zoom or Microsoft Teams for your online event.

Step #1 - Define your audience.

• Size (2-10,000)
• Scope (internal MSU community or external audience - e.g. parents)

Step #2 - Define your participant requirements.

• Interaction
  • Q&A: attendees submit questions that are answered in written response or verbally
  • Chat: written discussion with the entire group or individuals
  • Polling: opinion polls created prior to meeting or live during the event
• Captions (live captions in English or multiple languages)
• Registration

	Zoom Meeting	Zoom Webinar	Teams Meeting	Teams Live Event
Size	2-300 (up to 1,000 seat licenses are available for temporary use by request through the MSU IT Service Desk)	2-1,00 (up to 3,000 seat licenses are available for temporary use by request through the MSU IT Service Desk)	2-300	2-10,000
Scope	Internal & external	Internal & external	Internal	Internal & external
Interaction	Video, audio, chat, share, breakout rooms	Q&A, polls, chat	Video, audio, chat, share, breakout rooms	Q&A
Captions	Automatic live captions (English)	Automatic live captions (English)	Automatic live captions (English)	Automatic live captions (up to 6 languages)
Registration	Available	Available	Not available (use Eventbrite or Qualtrics)	Not available (use Eventbrite or Qualtrics)
Attendance	Computer, mobile device, dial-in phone	Computer, mobile device, dial-in phone	Computer, mobile device	Computer, mobile device

 

Next Steps

Based on your event audience and requirements as determined from above, you should know whether or not you need to use Zoom or Teams. Reference the platform-specific information below to continue. 

Step #3 - Read the desired platform event reference guide for more details, technical information, and best practices.

• Zoom Event Reference Guide
• Teams Event Reference Guide

Step #4 - For more detailed training in both synchronous and asynchronous formats, please visit our Course Listing page.

Best Practices

No matter what platform you use for your online meeting or event, be aware of these online event best practices.