HELP: Issue with external presenter in Town hall

Hi @Anonymous, 

Nice day! Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Q&A forum and for describing the situation with your Town Hall meeting in Microsoft Teams.  

Based on the behavior you've observed, the issue likely stems from how Town Hall meetings are structured and how Teams handles presenter access. 

Below is a more detailed breakdown along with clear steps you can follow to address the issue and help ensure future Town Hall meetings run smoothly.

Town Hall meetings in Teams include a special backstage area called the green room, which is automatically enabled for organizers, co-organizers, and presenters. This space is used for preparation before going live. Attendees never enter the green room. 

Even if the waiting room is disabled, Teams still checks who is allowed to enter the green room. If someone joins and Teams doesn’t recognize them as a presenter, they may be blocked or placed in a pre-event page. 

This can happen for a few reasons: 

1. Presenter Identity Doesn’t Match 
   • External presenters must join using the exact email address that was used to invite them. 
   • If they click the meeting link while signed into Teams with a different account (such as a personal or other work account), Teams may not recognize them as a presenter. 
2. Join Order Affects Access 

• If internal presenters join first, Teams may lock in the session roles and not recognize the external presenter correctly. 
  • If the external presenter joins first and their identity matches, they are usually placed in the green room without issue. 

3. Meeting Settings and Policies 
   • Even with the waiting room disabled, access depends on your organization’s meeting policies. 
   • If the setting “Who can bypass the lobby?” is set to “People in my organization and guests,” and the external presenter isn’t listed as a guest or joins with the wrong identity, they may be blocked. 

To ensure smooth access for external presenters in future Town Halls, please follow these steps: 

1. Please check Meeting Options 
   • Set “Who can bypass the lobby?” to Everyone. 
   • Confirm the external presenter is listed as a Presenter in the meeting setup. 
2. You can try to coordinate Join Order 
   • Ask the external presenter to join before internal moderators or presenters. 
   • This helps Teams recognize their role correctly. 
3. Try to use the Correct Account 
   • Ask the external presenter to join using the same email address they were invited with. 
   • If possible, have them join using a private/incognito browser window and sign in with the correct account. 
4. You can have a Backup Plan 
   • If the presenter is blocked, an organizer can manually promote them during the meeting. 
   • Keep the Teams desktop app ready in case the browser session uses the wrong account. 

Please understand that our initial response may not always resolve the issue immediately. However, with your help and more detailed information, we can work together to find a solution.  

Please let me know if there’s anything else I can assist you with. I’m here to support you every step of the way.

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