As of March, employees within the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) or those who have an @dot.gov email address can now chat and participate in online meetings without being a ’guest’ using Microsoft Teams. Employees can now do this in one of two ways:

1. Simply type the person’s FAA/DOT email address into a new MS Teams chat box and you will be connected.


2. During MS Teams meetings, when DOT personnel join FAA meetings, or when FAA personnel join DOT meetings, they will no longer appear as ’guests’. Instead, their names will appear like other FAA/DOT personnel.

When sharing communications between these modal operations, please be aware of these limitations:

• If you initiate a chat with one DOT person (or vice-versa), you cannot share a file with that person via the chat, nor schedule a new meeting from the chat, nor add an app to the chat (such as Whiteboard)


• When you are in a chat with multiple DOT/FAA people, you cannot initiate an audio or video call, nor share files with all participants from the chat.

When using MS Teams to meet with DOT personnel, there are some other limitations to be aware of:

• When using the Scheduling Assistant in Teams or Outlook to schedule a new Teams meeting, you cannot see the availability (Free/Busy Lookup) of DOT personnel (and vice versa)


• When joining an FAA meeting, DOT personnel must wait in the lobby until FAA personnel allow them to enter (and vice versa).


• During a Teams meeting, DOT personnel cannot share files or interact with apps such as OneNote or Whiteboard.

Understanding FAA Governance and Teams Channels

• DOT personnel cannot join FAA Teams and Channels, and FAA personnel cannot join DOT Teams


• FAA policy and rules governing the use of Teams still apply and can be found on the Microsoft Teams webpage.

Such efforts allow all federal government employees to work smarter and faster, increasing operational efficiencies. Making new communication channels available helps to optimize engagement and increase collaboration across all transportation modes.