June 1, 2022

SuccessFactors Learning and Microsoft Teams VLS Integration: FAQs

The SuccessFactors Learning community was buzzing with chatter when Microsoft Teams joined our list of Virtual Learning Service vendors. The SuccessFactors Learning integration with Microsoft Teams will enable learning administrators to create and schedule training sessions to be delivered in virtual meeting rooms directly from the LMS. Microsoft Teams is now available to integrate with the Learning module joining the already supported and well-known virtual meeting platforms such as WebEx and Adobe Connect.

Here are a few commonly asked questions to help you make the transition:

Q1. Where can I download the MS Teams VLS configuration template?

A. The configuration template for the Teams VLS integration can be downloaded from the SAP Help Portal. Here’s a direct link to the help documentation where the template for Teams and all other supported virtual meeting platforms are available to download.

Q2. Where do I add the VLS configuration in the Learning Management System?

A. The admin needs to add and save the VLS configuration for Teams in System Administration > Configuration > VLS Configuration. Follow the steps outlined in our SuccessFactors-Teams integration blog to add your configuration here.

Q3. Will the SuccessFactors LMS send out notifications and meeting invites for the scheduled sessions? If yes, will the LMS notifications include a link to the meeting?

A. The LMS sends out confirmation notifications to all those defined at the class level (for example; users, managers, instructors, and/or contacts). Calendar invites are also sent based on the mail setting to ‘Send Vcalendar attachments as Calendar invite’ (System Administration > Configuration > Global Application Settings > Mail tab) and these are added to both the recipient’s Outlook as well as their Teams calendar.The URLs to the virtual meetings are included in the notifications/calendar invites sent out from the LMS. The instructor/user can click on these URLs to start/join the meetings.

Q4. If the class times are modified or cancelled, are users’ calendars automatically updated?

A. Any time slot changes or cancellations are sent out to the registered users who then update their Outlook and Teams calendars. This also applies to the class instructor. Please ensure the setting ‘Automatically send Class Enrollment Update Email Notification on Time Slot deletion’ is enabled in System Administration > Configuration > Global Application Settings > Mail tab.

Q5. Does the learning user need to have MS Teams installed or can it be launched through the browser? Does my email have to match the one in the LMS to receive credit for attendance?

A. The user can join the virtual session via the Teams app or the browser. However, the user must have a registered MS Teams account in order to log in and join the session. Generally, the user account email address is the Teams ID.

Q6. Are Instructors required to use the MS Teams integration?

A. Instructor resources are required to utilise the Teams VLS integration. They must also have an MS Teams account.

Q7. Is there a way to manage this process for external instructors?

A. For an external instructor who does not exist in your MS Teams, a possible workaround would be to set up the class using a valid internal instructor who would also launch the session and the external instructor joins as a guest but can be made a presenter and lead the session.

Q8. Is the ‘My Classes’ view required for instructors to access their classes?

A. The Instructor ‘My Classes’ functionality in LMS is not required but they must be set up as instructor resources in LMS. Instructors can always access and launch their virtual sessions via the URL in the registration notifications or calendar invites. They can also access their classes as an admin.

Q9. Is creating a new instructor outlook email ID required or can we update already existing instructors?

A. Existing instructor accounts can be updated with their appropriate Account IDs (email addresses) in the LMS in the VLS Settings tab on the instructor record.

Q10. Do users/instructors have to join/launch the meeting directly from the LMS?

A. Users and instructors could always join/launch the LMS virtual classroom via the URL in the registration notifications or calendar invites. It does not have to be via the LMS.

Q11. If the class can be started from the class record on the admin’s side can it be started by any admin?

A. Any admin with access to the class in the LMS could launch the virtual session but that admin will be logged into their Teams account. If the admin is not the primary instructor set for the class then Teams will recognise the instructor hasn’t joined the session.

Q12. Can you add both primary and secondary instructors to the Microsoft Teams meeting as is possible in the LMS class setup? If so, will both primary and secondary instructors receive the VLE instructor enrollment email to host the session?

A. It is possible to set up a class with primary/secondary instructors but the meeting URLs are set up and linked to the primary instructor only.

Q13. Is it possible to create break out rooms within the main session?

A. Yes, it is possible to create break out rooms as long as the feature is enabled in the Teams settings.

Q14. Can completions be automatically recorded in the LMS?

A. A class can be automatically recorded as complete in the LMS based on the VLS Settings defined on the class record.

Q15. Where do you configure the VLS attendance settings?

A. The VLS Settings are available on the Class Details page of each class record:

Enable ‘Automatically add to learning history as part of VLS Attendance Processing’
Select a ‘For Credit Completion Status’ and a ‘Not-for-Credit Completion Status’
Enter the ‘Minimum Percentage Attendance for Credit’

The ‘Process VLS Attendance’ APM (System Administration > Configuration > Automatic Processes) must also be scheduled to run to process the completions automatically.

Q16. Which API permissions are needed?

A. The following API permissions are required:

OnlineMeetings.ReadWrite.All
User.Read.All
Directory.Read.All

Q17. Why is the Directory.ReadWrite.All permission required? How is the SAP application using the Directory.ReadWrite.All permissions in our tenant?

A. The Directory.Read.All permission should be enough. In our testing, we only had success with the Directory.ReadWrite.All permission but the permissions may not have refreshed after updates were made which is why we have used the Directory.ReadWrite. All permission for our session.Please check with your Azure team.

Q18. Our Teams/IT teams have concerns over the securities that are granted with the API calls; is there any documentation on these permissions and why they are required?

A. SAP portal support channels would be the best place for the specific details on these permissions as we do not have all the information on what happens behind the scenes.

Q19. Does the application support certificate-based authentication?

A. No, there is no certificate-based authentication that can be configured in the VLS config settings. It follows a very specific format and all of those values must be provided for the authentication to work properly. As this is a popular request with customers, an influence request has been posted for this request. You can access the influence request at https://influence.sap.com/sap/ino/#/idea/280383/?section=sectionDetails

Q20. Can we implement two different instances of Teams (multiple MS servers)?

A. Yes, you can connect to multiple MS servers. Something to note is that the VLS config files in the SuccessFactors LMS would be available to all admins with access to that page so each config file should be named correctly to avoid confusion on which one belongs to which server.

Q21. Why is PowerShell needed?

A. In our testing and demonstration, PowerShell was used to create the ‘CsApplicationAccessPolicy’ which allows the application to access online meetings on behalf of a user (the instructors).

Q22. Does the ‘create new account’ option on Instructors in the LMS work for Teams?

A. No, the instructors should already exist in Teams. And the password field is irrelevant/not applicable.

Q23. What can be the issue when this error is displayed?

“The user account could not be created on MS Teams VLS Server. Please try again later or note the error and contact your VLS administrator. VLS Error: Exception while fetching user from Teams”

A. This error can come up in the following scenarios:

Your policy is not granted correctly so the user you have used does not have access.
You may not have given Directory.Read.All permission in which case SuccessFactors application cannot read the data from MS teams.
If the aforementioned tasks have been done correctly, it could be due to the data centre challenges discussed which may still exist.

Q24. Does the application support certificate-based authentication?

Q25. Do we need 2 separate configurations in Azure for TEST and PROD environments? Or we can use the same Azure details for both?

A. No separate configurations are needed, you can use the same details for both LMS environments.

Q26. Would instructors need to provide their individual login information for Microsoft Teams when their instructor account is set up?

A. No, just the Teams ID (email address) needs to be added to the instructor record. The password field is not required.

Q27. Does the ‘create new account’ option on Instructors in the LMS work for Teams?