If the Fellow Note Taker isn't appearing in the waiting room or is unable to join your Teams meeting, it's likely due to your organization's Microsoft Teams settings.
The Note Taker joins meetings as an anonymous user, so two settings in particular can block it: the anonymous join toggle and the lobby bypass setting. Individual meeting policies assigned to specific users can also interfere.
Note: These steps require admin access to the Microsoft Teams Admin Center.
Step 1: Enable anonymous users to join meetings
This is the org-wide setting that allows anonymous users - including the Note Taker - to access meeting links.
Go to the Microsoft Teams Admin Center and sign in with your admin credentials.
In the left-hand menu, select Meetings > Meeting settings.
Scroll down to the Participants section.
Find Anonymous users can join a meeting and toggle it to On.
Save your changes. It may take a few minutes for the setting to take effect.
Step 2: Check the lobby bypass setting
Even if anonymous join is enabled, the Note Taker may still get stuck in the lobby if your lobby bypass setting is too restrictive.
In the Teams Admin Center, go to Meetings > Meeting settings.
In the Participants section, find Who can bypass the lobby.
Ensure this is set to at least People in my organization and guests - or more permissive - so the Note Taker isn't left waiting indefinitely.
Step 3: Check individual meeting policies
Microsoft Teams has two levels of control: org-wide settings (covered above) and meeting policies, which can be assigned to specific users or groups. If a user has a restrictive meeting policy applied to their account, it can override the org-wide settings and still block the Note Taker - even after the above changes are made.
To check:
In the Teams Admin Center, go to Meetings > Meeting policies.
Review any custom policies assigned to affected users.
Ensure the relevant policies allow anonymous users to join and don't enforce a more restrictive lobby setting.
Still having trouble? Contact the Fellow support team at [email protected] or use the chat bubble in the bottom corner of the screen.