The following is a quick setup guide for creating a web conference session with Skype for Business.  This guide assumes the creator/owners of the meeting has already installed the Skype for Business desktop application and has logged into Skype for Business.  If you have not, please read the Skype for Business – Getting Started before moving forward.

This guide will discuss two methods of creating Skype Meetings: (1) including Canvas and (2) not including Canvas.

See attached resource below:

Download Tutorial

Skype Meeting Including Canvas

  1. Open Office365 through office.com
  2. Click on Calendar
  3. Click on New to create a new meeting
  4. Click on Skype Meeting
  5. Select Add Skype meeting from the menu that appears
  6. Complete the event form (for your purposes only, to add the meeting to your calendar)
  7. Click Save
  8. Open the event on the calendar
  9. Copy the “Join online meeting” link from the meeting event description with the following:
    • Chrome – right click on the meeting link and select Copy Link Address
    • Firefox – right click on the meeting link and select Copy Link Location
    • Safari – Control + Click on the meeting link and select Copy Link
    • Microsoft Edge – CTRL + Click on the meeting link and copy the link from the new window/tab that appears
    • Internet Explorer – DO NOT USE. Please choose from one the web browsers above
  10. Go to and login to Canvas
  11. Click on Calendar (in the global navigation column)
  12. Click The + sign (“Create New Event”)
  13. Click on More Options
  14. Paste the link in the text box
  15. Add an Event Title
  16. Set Date/Time for the event
  17. Click Create Event

Student will see the link to the Skype meeting when they click on the event in their Canvas Calendar.  They can open the link through the Skype application installed on their computer, the Skype web app, or the Skype mobile app.

Skype Meeting w/out Canvas

  1. Open Office365 through office.com
  2. Click on Calendar
  3. Click on New to create a new meeting
  4. Click on Skype Meeting
  5. Select Add Skype meeting from the menu that appears
  6. Complete the event form
  7. Type the names of, and add, all attendees to invite in the textbox below People
  8. Click Send

Students will receive an email to accept/reject the meeting.  When they except, the event is added to their Outlook/0365 Calendar with the meeting link.  They can open the link through the Skype application installed on their computer, the Skype web app, or the Skype mobile app.

O365 Teams

Adding/inviting each student to a meeting can become tedious.  O365 allows you to create Teams, which act similar to email lists.  Instructors may add each student to a team one time in O365 and then add the whole team to the event when the meeting is created.

NOTE: only works for Skype Meeting w/out Canvas.

To create a Team:

  1. Open Office365 through office.com
  2. Click on Teams
  3. Click on the Create Team button
  4. Select Classes
  5. Complete the Class form and click Next
  6. Search for and add students to the class
  7. Click Close when finished

Teams may be deleted by an instructor at any time, or an instructor can adjust team rosters each semester.  It is best practice to name the team after the course/section associated with the team.

To add the entire team to a meeting, type the name of the team in the text box beneath People when creating the meeting through Calendar.

NOTE: the Teams app contains a function called “Meet Now”.  This is a scaled down version of Skype for Business Meetings, and does not include all tools/features of the platform.  It is better to use Skype for Business to conduct your synchronous sessions, not Teams.