This article contains additional notes and things users (both Admins and Instructors) should know about the Microsoft (MS) Teams integration with Echo360.

Private Channels vs. Public Channels

Using the Echo360 app in a tab in a channel allows you to link into an Echo360 course section. Whether that is an existing section that you select from a list OR one that is auto-created for you depends on the institution setup and whether Simplified Provisioning is turned on for your institution.

If you link one of your Teams channels into an Echo360 section, then create another Public channel in the Team, when you add the Echo360 tab into the new channel, you are given the options to link again into the same section, link into a class in the linked section, or link into a different section/create a new section (for labs or fieldwork for example).

If you create a Private channel in that team, the ONLY option is to have a new course and section created (for simplified provisioning) or link/re-link into an Echo360 section. Private channels in MS Teams are designed to be fully self-enclosed, and this includes not providing Echo360 with information regarding any other channels in this particular Team.

If you create a SECOND Echo360 tab within the same Private channel, you WILL have the option to link into a class, into a different section, or create a new section within the same Echo360 course (for simplified provisioning).

Just keep this in mind when creating additional channels in your Teams, if you plan to link those channels into Echo360.

Using your Echo360 Library

If the MS Teams administrator has Pinned it for you, you may have an Echo360 app already resident in your left navigation. You can also click Apps there and add it if you want. This Echo360 app links you into your Echo360 media library.

The Library is where you can access all of your media, and all of your Echo360 recordings (if you have any). It allows you to review the media, or edit it, or transform your videos into Interactive Media.

If your Teams recordings live in One Drive, you can also transfer those into your Echo360 Library for use and re-use. Click the Create button and select Upload Media. From there, you can select One Drive and find the recordings you want.

See Your Media Library as well as Embedded Polling and Interactive Media Overview, Working with Slides and Presentations, and Uploading Media into Echo360 to get a feel for the kinds of things you can do.

Using the MS Teams Desktop App

Generally speaking, viewing Echo360 sections and classes through the MS Teams Desktop App works as expected. However, when viewing a class that contains Interactive Media, you may encounter a few issues with the buttons and links located below the main player area.

Specifically, the Expand and Discussions links do not appear to work. Both of these are designed to open the player in a new tab, expanding it so that you can see the player in full width, or see the player along with the Discussions panel. However, when viewing through the MS Teams app, there is no "new browser tab" to open, and the link/button does nothing.

The Download button (if present) should function to download the original video from which the interactive media was created. The Details button will open a new browser window, but forces to user to the Echo360 login page. This is because the user session from the App is not shared with the browser, so the browser requests that the user log in. Refer to Viewing Content in the New Player for more information about the tools available.

Unlinking MS Teams from Echo360 Sections

If you have used the Echo360 tab app to link your MS Teams channel into an existing Echo360 course section (not using simplified provisioning), you may notice two buttons at the top of the section class list: Reset LMS Link and Unlink LMS Course.

These can be used to remove the linkage between the Channel and the Echo360 course. But we want to make it clear that this occurs only on a "per-channel" basis - if you have multiple channels in your team linked into an Echo360 course and/or its classes, you must un-link those channels separately. There is no method to unlink the Team as a whole from the Echo360 section(s) you may be linked into.