Secure Meetings by Design: Policies + Templates + Sensitivity Labels

 

Sensitive meetings are rarely secured by a single toggle. Microsoft recommends combining admin policies, sensitivity labels, and meeting templates to either enforce meeting options or remove options entirely. In this model, user-based policies control what features are available in general, while labels and templates apply controls at the meeting level.

How the control layers work (in plain language)

·       Admin policies: define whether a feature exists for a user at all and often define defaults.

·       Meeting templates: standardize meeting options for a scenario (cannot enforce everything).

·       Sensitivity labels: can enforce specific meeting protections (and override templates/organizer choices).

Configuration guide: build three tiers of protection

Microsoft describes configurations that step up from a baseline to more restrictive and sensitive meeting setups. A pragmatic approach is to define three tiers your business understands, then implement them with the right mix of policies, templates, and labels.

1. Tier 1 - Baseline: keep organizer flexibility; apply sensible defaults (lobby, presenters, recording/transcription rules).

2. Tier 2 - Sensitive: require stricter lobby/presenter controls; introduce a meeting template that standardizes options for the scenario.

3. Tier 3 - Highly sensitive: enforce protections with sensitivity labels (for example, watermarking and end-to-end encryption where appropriate).

4. Validate precedence: admin policies can block features; labels can enforce certain protections; templates fill the gaps.

Configuration guide: enable meeting watermarks (Teams Premium)

1. In Teams admin center, go to Meetings > Meeting policies.

2. Select an existing policy (or create a new one) for the organizers who should have watermark capability.

3. In Content Protection, set Watermark videos and/or Watermark shared content to On.

4. Optionally select Edit settings to configure pattern/transparency and preview.

5. Save and validate with a test meeting; then decide whether to enforce via template or sensitivity label.

Microsoft also provides PowerShell parameters for watermarking via Set-CsTeamsMeetingPolicy.

References

·       Use meeting templates, sensitivity labels, and policies together: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/meeting-templates-sensitivity-labels-policies

·       Configure meetings with three tiers of protection: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/configure-meetings-three-tiers-protection

·       Require a watermark for sensitive meetings: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/watermark-meeting-content-video