Introduction
OVERVIEW
Target audience: Entire McGill community.
You can create a direct link (deep link) to a Microsoft Teams chat with targeted participants. This article explains how to generate a deep link that you can place in various locations (e.g., website, email, etc.).
Intended use and limitations
Deep links can be used the same way as any other kind of link (e.g., embedded in text, buttons, etc.). They can be added to a webpage to serve as an open chatline during set hours, or as a way to contact you directly on Teams, via your email signature for example.
- Intended for McGill audiences (ex: services for students). Only users with a McGill account will have access to the chat via the link.
- Limitations:
- No sophisticated contact center features like queuing or routing/assignment.
- Best suited for individual chat (low volumes).
Setting up a deep link to a chat
NOTE:
Before setting up a deep link to a Teams chat, you must ensure that recipient(s) are eligible to use Microsoft Teams. At McGill, all active students, staff, faculty, lecturers, consultants, service providers, and affiliates with McGill email accounts have access to Microsoft Teams.
Use this format to generate a deep link to a chat: https://teams.microsoft.com/l/chat/0/0?users=<user1>,<user2>,...&topicName=<chat name>&message=<default message text>
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- userX: The comma-separated list of McGill email address(es) representing the chat recipients. The user performing the action is always included as a participant.
- topicName: An optional field for chat's display name, in the case of a chat with 3 or more users. If this field is not specified, the chat's display name will be based on the names of the participants.
- message: An optional field for the message text that you want to insert into the current user's compose box while the chat is in a draft state.
How chat links work
User experience
Teams web app or desktop app
Depending on the user's computer configuration, when they click on the chat link:
- The desktop Teams app will open and bring the user directly to the chat,
OR - A web page will open, prompting the user to choose the Teams web app or desktop app (see screenshot below).
Mobile devices
- The Teams app is required.
Recipient experience
The chat accessed from a deep link appears to all users as any other Teams chat, with the same features and settings. The link can be found in the user's chat tab. If required, the chat link recipient can add additional users (e.g., subject matter experts) into the conversation.
Persistence
Every unique combination of users generates a new chat instance with its own history that will only be shared if you add someone directly to the chat.
If a recipient is removed from the chat, they will still have access to the chat history, up to the point that they were removed. However, they will no longer be able to send or receive messages or files in the chat. See Add or remove chat participants, below.
Add or remove chat participants
To add additional people to a chat, select the participants icon in the top right corner of Teams. Then, type the names of people you would like to add. One you have selected a new participant, you will be prompted to choose how much of the chat history you would like to include, then select Add.
NOTE: You will only be prompted to add the chat history in a group chat, not a one-on-one chat.
You can also remove participants from a conversation through the participants icon at the top right corner of Teams. Hover your mouse over the participant you want to remove, then click the X to remove them.
Confirm if you want to remove the participant from the chat. When you remove the participant, they will still have access to the chat history up to the point that they were removed.
