Can same-tenant Teams meeting bots also be subject to lobby approval via RequireApprovalWhenDetected?

Dear Harald,

Thank you very much for taking the time to share your feedback and detailed use case.

I completely understand your concerns and can definitely see the value of this capability for secure recording scenarios where organizers should have explicit control before an internal bot is admitted and starts capturing audio. Currently, this control is only available for external bots.

• Although I am unable to escalate feature requests directly due to policy restrictions, I have submitted this suggestion through Microsoft's feedback channels to help ensure the product team is aware of this requirement: Allow approval for same-tenant (internal) meeting bots before they join · Community. I would greatly appreciate it if you could also upvote and continue sharing your excellent idea.
• I have also shared your Tech Community post here to help increase its visibility: Can same-tenant meeting bots be routed through lobby approval like external bots? | Microsoft Commu…

If you found this answer helpful, please consider marking it as an answer. This will make it easier for other community members to find and will also help increase the visibility of these feedback requests. The more upvotes and shared experiences they receive, the better the product team can understand the demand and impact of this feature.

Thank you once again for your precious time and engagement. I truly appreciate your collaboration throughout this discussion, and I hope this suggestion will be considered for future enhancement.

Good day Harald, and I appreciate the clear explanation of your concern.  

Based on Microsoft documentation, the setting RequireApprovalWhenDetected applies only to external or third-party bots. Bots that are registered and running within the same tenant as the meeting organizer are treated as trusted participants. Because of this, they are allowed to bypass the lobby by design. 

Currently, there is no built-in setting to require approval for internal bots in the same way as external bots. However, I definitely see how important it is for your workflow to have tighter control over when a bot joins a meeting, so I came up with a workaround you might consider trying: 

Note: I haven’t been able to test this in a similar environment yet, but it might be helpful to try this approach and see how it behaves on your side. 

• Restrict who can bypass the lobby 

You can adjust the general lobby settings in Teams to enforce stricter entry controls. However, this approach isn't specific to bots and may also affect other participants. 

This setting can be configured in the Teams admin center as follows: 

Go to Teams admin center > Navigate to Meetings > Select Meeting policies. 

Open the Global or custom policy. 

Under Meeting join and lobby, change Who can bypass the lobby to one of the following options: 

• Only organizers and co-organizers: All other participants will wait in the lobby until admitted. 
• People who were invited: Only explicitly invited users can bypass the lobby, others will wait. 

I completely understand how these limitations in Teams can feel disruptive. It’s not just about aesthetics; these differences can genuinely affect how smoothly you work and navigate your day. 

I’m really sorry, I know this isn’t the outcome you were hoping for. As a forum moderator, I hope you understand that I don’t have the ability to modify or escalate product issues directly. However, I strongly recommend submitting your feedback through the Microsoft Teams · Community. This is the most effective way to ensure your voice reaches the product team and can be considered for future improvements.  

Once you've submitted your feedback, feel free to share the link here in the comments. I’ll be happy to upvote it to help bring more visibility. If you prefer, I can also submit this great idea on your behalf. Just let me know, and I’ll post it for you and share the link once it’s published. I’m here to help ensure your feedback gets the attention it deserves. 

Additionally, as other users have raised similar concerns and may not be aware of where to share their feedback, I hope this response helps clarify the situation and suggests a potential next step. Highlighting this information can make it more visible to others in the community who may be facing the same issue, making it easier for them to find guidance and contribute their feedback as well. 

Thank you again for your time and for raising this important usability concern. 

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