How to Use TableTop Sim in Teams, Zoom, or Google Meet

How to use TableTop Sim with Teams, Zoom, or Google Meet is straightforward: use the meeting platform for conversation and TableTop Sim as the exercise control room and participant incident bridge. The facilitator controls the scenario, clock, injects, responses, and notes in TableTop Sim while participants discuss decisions over the call and submit role-specific responses through their browsers.

What you need before the exercise

Set up one video meeting for the customer or internal team, then prepare the exercise in TableTop Sim. Participants need the meeting link and a TableTop Sim joining code, but they do not need TableTop Sim accounts or software installations.

A typical exercise lasts 60–120 minutes. Allow enough calendar time for the briefing, staged incident play, and an immediate hot wash rather than using the entire session for scenario activity.

Before sending invitations, confirm:

• Meeting platform: Microsoft Teams, Zoom, or Google Meet.
• Facilitator: The person controlling injects, timing, and discussion pressure.
• Participants: Decision-makers representing relevant roles.
• Observers: People attending without owning decisions.
• Scenario scope: One clear decision boundary, such as ransomware escalation or executive communications.
• Joining details: The meeting link and instructions for entering the TableTop Sim code.
• Technical setup: Browser access, working audio, and any screen-sharing restrictions.

TableTop Sim includes 12+ ready scenarios. Review the scenario library and choose one that tests the intended decision boundary rather than trying to examine every part of incident response in one session.

How to prepare the exercise in TableTop Sim

Choose one outcome

Define what the room must practise. Examples include deciding when to activate crisis leadership, determining who can approve disruptive containment, or coordinating legal and communications decisions.

A narrow outcome makes facilitation more useful. It also produces clearer lessons and action owners in the after-action report.

Select and tailor the scenario

Choose a scenario that creates the required decisions, then tailor it to the organisation. Relevant details may include the technology stack, workforce model, sector, response roles, and internal terminology.

AI environment tailoring can rewrite injects to match the client environment, depending on the plan. Review every tailored inject before the live session to ensure that names, systems, assumptions, and escalation routes support the exercise objective.

For a broader preparation sequence, use the tabletop exercise walkthrough.

Assign seats and roles

Decide who will join as CEO, CISO, General Counsel, Communications Director, IT lead, or observer. Role-based participant views help each person focus on information and decisions relevant to their position.

For customer exercises, agree roles with the customer sponsor before the session. For internal exercises, check that each decision area has an owner and avoid filling the room with observers who could dilute the discussion.

Prepare the meeting invitation

The calendar invitation should explain that the exercise is a discussion, not a technical test. Include the Teams, Zoom, or Google Meet link, expected duration, browser requirements, and the exercise objective.

You can provide the TableTop Sim joining code at the start of the call. This avoids participants entering too early and allows the facilitator to explain how the meeting platform and incident bridge work together.

How to run TableTop Sim during the call

Open both platforms

The facilitator should open the video meeting and the TableTop Sim control room. Participants should keep the meeting open for audio and discussion while opening TableTop Sim in a separate browser window or tab.

A second screen is useful for the facilitator but is not required. Keep the meeting controls visible enough to manage microphones and screen sharing while monitoring the inject timeline, response feed, countdown, and private notes.

Brief the room

Start by explaining the objective, scope, roles, and ground rules. Tell participants that they should make decisions with the information available rather than solving every technical detail.

Give them the joining code and allow time to enter the role-specific incident bridge. Because no participant accounts are required, they can join directly without installations or account setup.

Clarify the split between tools:

• Teams, Zoom, or Google Meet: Spoken discussion and facilitator questions.
• TableTop Sim participant bridge: Scenario information and role-specific responses.
• TableTop Sim control room: Timeline, countdown, response monitoring, notes, pauses, and inject delivery.

Release staged injects

Start the live clock and release the opening inject. Give participants time to read it, then ask the relevant role what they know, what they need, and what decision they will make.

Do not read the whole exercise as a slide deck. Apply pressure by testing assumptions, asking who has authority, and requesting a specific decision before moving forward.

Use the control room to:

• Release injects according to the scenario timeline.
• Monitor submitted responses.
• Control or pause the countdown.
• Capture private facilitator notes.
• Track decisions and unresolved questions.
• Adjust pacing when discussion needs more or less time.

AI-improvised injects can follow the direction of the room, subject to plan limits. Use them when participant decisions create a useful consequence, not merely to add noise.

Manage the conversation in the meeting

The meeting platform remains the verbal bridge. Keep one conversation at a time and call on role owners when a decision stalls.

If people speak in generalities, ask concrete questions:

• Who owns this action?
• What must be approved now?
• Which system or service is affected?
• Who must be informed before the next step?
• What happens if the organisation waits 30 minutes?
• What will the team tell customers or staff?

For remote customer sessions, watch for participants becoming passive or working in parallel chats. Bring the discussion back to the shared decision and use the countdown to make time pressure visible.

Use screen sharing selectively

Participants should usually view their own role-specific bridge rather than rely entirely on a shared facilitator screen. This preserves the role-based experience and encourages direct participation.

Screen sharing can still help during the opening orientation or if someone has difficulty navigating. Avoid sharing private facilitator notes or information intended for a later inject.

How to close the exercise

Stop scenario play with enough time for a hot wash. Ask each role what worked, where the team hesitated, what information was missing, and which process needs an owner.

Distinguish observations from actions. A useful action records the issue, recommended alternative, named owner, and due date rather than stating that communication or documentation should improve.

TableTop Sim produces a web and PDF after-action report on the day of the exercise. Review the captured decisions, lessons learned, recommended alternatives, owners, and due dates before distributing it to the agreed audience.

The report can support readiness work and evidence that an exercise occurred, but TableTop Sim does not deliver regulatory compliance on its own. Exercise findings still need governance, ownership, and follow-through.

Explore the live control room, participant views, tailoring, and reporting on the features page.

Practical tips for customer and internal sessions

For customer exercises

Confirm the sponsor, objective, attendees, terminology, and report recipients in advance. Keep the scope tied to a decision the customer can realistically test within 60–120 minutes.

Explain which details will appear in the final report and who can receive it. The facilitator should remain neutral while challenging weak assumptions and unclear ownership.

For internal exercises

Use the organisation's real escalation paths and role titles where appropriate. Invite the people who would make or advise on the tested decisions, including executive and technical roles when the scenario crosses both areas.

Run exercises regularly enough to revisit previous actions. The next tabletop can test whether updated procedures and ownership work under pressure.

Frequently asked questions

Do participants need TableTop Sim accounts?

No. Participants join with a code and do not need accounts or installations. They can keep the incident bridge open alongside Teams, Zoom, or Google Meet.

Should I share my TableTop Sim facilitator screen?

Share it only when useful for orientation or troubleshooting. Participants should normally use their role-specific views, and private notes or unreleased injects should remain hidden.

Can I use the same process for customers and internal teams?

Yes. The live structure is the same, but customer sessions require early agreement on scope, terminology, attendees, and report distribution. Internal teams can use their established roles and escalation paths directly.

How long should the meeting be?

Exercises typically run for 60–120 minutes. Reserve part of that time for the opening brief and immediate hot wash instead of using all available time for injects.

What happens after the meeting?

TableTop Sim generates a web and PDF after-action report on the day. Finalise decisions, lessons, recommended alternatives, action owners, and due dates, then distribute the report to the agreed recipients.

Run your first exercise

Choose a scenario, schedule a Teams, Zoom, or Google Meet call, and use TableTop Sim to control the live exercise and capture outcomes. Start a free trial to prepare your session.