Overview
- Microsoft began rolling out a Teams Admin Center policy in June that lets admins assign 'Manage external bots and their access to meetings' to users or groups to control external bots.
- When the policy is enabled, Teams uses behavioral and infrastructure signals to mark likely bots, place them in the meeting lobby, and require an organizer to approve entry.
- Admins can choose the default setting that requires approval before bots join or disable detection entirely, and organizers now see visual flags and extra prompts when admitting flagged participants.
- Microsoft is previewing a Teams Bot Identification Program with a small set of independent software vendors so providers can register and include a self‑identification marker to be recognized as known agents.
- Microsoft says the change responds to privacy and security risks from unwanted or persistent bots and that further admin tools are planned, including allow lists, org‑wide block policies, reports, and audit logs.