In it’s relatively short history, Microsoft Teams has quickly become one of the main focal points in Microsoft 365 deployments. By brining together functionality from across the platform into a single interface where users can collaborate on multiple levels, Teams benefits from the functionality built into SharePoint Online, Skype for Business, Exchange Online and more to provide a rich collaboration experience.

This time last year I wrote an exam study guide for the MS-500 (Microsoft 365 Security Administration) exam. The feedback on this exam guide was fantastic so it made sense to create another guide over the holiday period. Given the popularity of Teams and how it integrates with the entire platform, the Teams certification stood out to me as one of the most vital certifications for Microsoft 365 admins today.

Over the next few weeks, I will be posting a series of blog posts outlining what I believe you need to know to prepare for this exam in a similar style to my previous exam study guide. As before, I will be following the exam blueprint to ensure every aspect of the certification preparation is covered. This page will be updated daily with links to new posts so it can be used as a reference when following along or just jumping in to a particular topic.

Exam Blueprint

The exam blueprint for the MS-700 exam is available on the official certification page here and I will be using this as the outline for the guide (as of January 2022). As before, I have no insider information on the exam questions or structure so I will be interpreting the exam topics as I see them in the blueprint. There may be aspects of the exam which I don’t cover here so it’s important to get real experience with managing Teams also.

As before, I will be providing examples from my own lab environment so I encourage, where possible, to have an lab environment to test in.

Plan and configure a Microsoft Teams Environment (35-40%)

Plan and configure network settings for Microsoft Teams

• Calculate network bandwidth capacity for Microsoft Teams voice, video, meetings, and Live Events
• Analyze network usage by using Network Planner
• Specify requirements for outbound network ports and protocols for Microsoft Teams
• Determine WAN optimizer, proxy, and load balancer recommendations for Microsoft Teams
• Configure Tenant Data Upload in Microsoft Call Quality Dashboard
• Configure reporting labels for Microsoft Teams
• Assess network readiness by using Microsoft 365 network connectivity test and dashboard
• Configure QoS port range and DSCP markings

Identify licensing requirements for Microsoft Teams

• Identify required licensing for compliance features
• Identify appropriate licensing for advanced lifecycle management of teams
• Identify appropriate licensing for guest access
• Identify appropriate licensing for calling, Phone System, and resource accounts
• Identify appropriate licensing for Microsoft Teams Rooms and Common Area Phones
• Identify appropriate licensing for apps in Microsoft Teams

Plan and configure security and compliance settings for Microsoft Teams

• Plan alerts for Microsoft Teams
• Choose appropriate administration roles
• Plan threat policies
• Plan and configure retention policies
• Plan and configure sensitivity labels
• Plan Data Loss Prevention (DLP) policies
• Plan for conditional access and MFA for Microsoft Teams
• Plan information barrier policies

Plan and implement governance and lifecycle management for Microsoft Teams

• Plan and manage Microsoft Teams preview features with Microsoft Teams update policies
• Create and manage policy packages in Microsoft Teams
• Plan policy assignment for users and groups
• Set up policies for Microsoft 365 Groups creation
• Configure an expiration policy for Microsoft 365 groups
• Configure a naming policy for Microsoft 365 Groups
• Archive, delete, or unarchive one or more teams
• Restore or troubleshoot deletion of one or more Microsoft 365 Groups
• Manage Azure AD access review for members and guests
• Perform bulk user operations with PowerShell

Configure and manage external and guest users

• Configure SharePoint and OneDrive organizational level sharing settings
• Manage external file sharing setting for OneDrive users
• Manage external file sharing setting for SharePoint sites
• Manage external access-federated domains
• Manage guest users for Microsoft Teams from the Microsoft Teams Admin Center
• Configure guest access to Microsoft Teams from Azure AD admin center
• Allow or prevent owners from adding guests
• Configure guest access to a specific team
• Remove guests

Configure and manage Microsoft Teams devices

• Configure Microsoft Teams for VDI
• Manage configuration profiles for Teams devices
• Manage Microsoft Teams device tags
• Manage device settings and firmware
• Provision and configure remote sign-in for new devices

Manage chat, teams, channels, and apps (25-30%)

Create teams

• Manage privacy levels for a team
• Create a team from a default or custom template
• Create a team from existing resources
• Plan and manage org-wide teams
• Add and remove users in a team
• Assign and modify user roles in a team
• Configure dynamic membership

Plan and manage channels

• Plan for channel types
• Create channels
• Manage Microsoft Teams channel settings
• Create and manage Microsoft Teams policies for private channels
• Manage private channel membership
• Bonus Topic – Shared Channels

Manage chat and collaboration experiences

• Create and manage messaging policies
• Configure email integration from Microsoft Teams settings
• Manage cloud file storage options
• Choose an appropriate coexistence mode

Manage apps for Microsoft Teams

• Manage Org-wide app settings
• Create and manage app permission policies
• Create and manage app setup policies
• Add apps, connectors, tabs, and messaging extensions to a team
• Customize the app store
• Publish and configure a custom app to Microsoft Teams

Manage calling and meetings (15-20%)

Manage meeting experiences

• Configure meeting settings
• Create and manage meeting policies
• Create and manage conference bridges
• Configure live events settings
• Create and manage live events policies

Manage phone numbers

• Evaluate when to use Calling Plan versus Direct Routing
• Plan and configure emergency servicescalling policies
• Add, change, or remove an emergency address for your organization
• Provision and manage organizational phone numbers for users, services, and conferencing bridges
• Assign, change, or remove a phone number for a user
• Assign a phone number to a resource account

Manage Phone System for Microsoft Teams

• Create and manage call park policies
• Create and manage calling policies
• Create and manage caller ID policies
• Manage user voice settings
• Create and manage dial plans
• Interpret a dial plan
• Identify potential issues by using the Health Dashboard for Direct Routing
• Create and manage resource accounts
• Create and manage call queues
• Create and manage auto attendants

Monitor and troubleshoot a Microsoft Teams Environment (10-15%)

Monitor and report on a Microsoft Teams environment

• Monitor and report on voice and meeting quality
• Report on user adoption, including Productivity Score, team usage, app usage, active users, and per-meeting metrics
• Monitor and report on creation and deletion of teams
• Monitor and report on guest access
• Manage Notifications & alerts rules from the Microsoft Teams admin center

Troubleshoot audio, video, and client issues

• Troubleshoot chat and presence issues
• Identify, collect, and interpret client logs
• Troubleshoot issues by using Call Analytics
• Troubleshoot Microsoft Teams sign-in issues by using Azure AD sign in logs
• Identify potential issues by using Call Quality Dashboard