If you’ve been tasked to look into solutions for Microsoft Teams Rooms, but don’t know where to start…you are not alone.
Fortunately, we've compiled the ultimate guide to help you make an informed decision and assess the best meeting space solutions for your business needs.
In this guide, we'll look at ways you can create Microsoft Teams Rooms to leave a lasting impression on your users and visitors.
Choosing the right hardware for the meeting space is often a complex task, even for the most seasoned IT professionals.
There are hundreds of options on the market, each designed for varying use cases or room sizes.
Get it right, and you experience high quality, productive collaboration. Get it wrong, and it could soon become an expensive exercise!
A Microsoft Teams Room is a dedicated space for team collaboration which is equipped with both hardware and software to support productive meetings.
Ultimately, the goal of a well-designed Microsoft Teams Room is to make it easy for people to meet and collaborate, regardless of location.
Equipment in a Microsoft Teams Room can vary depending on the size and purpose of the space, but typically includes a display screen, speakers, a camera, and a microphone.
Not sure whether to go for a native Microsoft Teams Room or a BYOM solution for your meeting spaces? Here's a quick rundown of the options to help you make a decision.
Native room systems are a great option if you’re a dedicated Microsoft Teams house. Meeting participants simply turn up to the room, and can start the meeting in a single tap through a room panel to activate the in-room peripherals (camera, microphones, speakers etc).
Most native MTR systems now also come with a BYOD/BYOM add-on, such as the Logitech Swytch, Yealink BYOD Extender, and the Poly BYOD kit (3rd party kit) to allow participants to drive meetings directly from their laptops.
Although BYOD solutions compliment the meeting space, they are not Certified for Microsoft Teams. Microsoft always recommend utilising 'Guest Join' features from within the soft client to access other providers meetings.
On the other hand, if you need to take an agnostic approach (you don't want to be tied to a specific conferencing platform), a BYOM approach allows you to bring your laptop to a meeting, launch your platform of choice and still have access to the same high-quality in-room peripherals.
There’s no right or wrong configuration, it simply comes down to how your users want to meet. However, to ensure you maintain the highest levels of performance and quality in your video meetings, Microsoft recommend taking a native room approach where possible.
With any Microsoft Teams Room, a licence is required to ensure full functionality of the spaces.
As of September 2022, there are two types of licences available for Microsoft Teams Rooms: Basic, and Pro.
Microsoft Teams Rooms Pro is ideal for SME’s with large room numbers or for larger organisations that require advanced functionality such as intelligent audio and video, front row and large galleries, and dual screen support. The Teams Rooms Pro licence also comes with enhanced management features, such as remote device management, conditional access policies, and detailed device analytics.
Microsoft Teams Rooms Basic licencing includes functionality such as scheduling and joining meetings, sharing and viewing of all teams content types (excluding whiteboard with content camera), as well as security and management capabilities out-of-the-box.
You can assign up to 25 Microsoft Teams Rooms Basic licences per Tenant. However, if you need to licence more than 25 devices, those additional licences must be purchased as Teams Rooms Pro licences.
To find out more about which licence is right for your Teams Rooms, a full breakdown can be found on the Microsoft website, or you can contact our sales specialists for more information on which licence is right for your organisation.
Our advice: Although the basic licence is a good option to get started out the box, the fully-featured Pro licence opens up full Microsoft Teams functionality in your spaces.
To guarantee that your room systems offer the best possible performance, quality, and security, it's extremely important to choose Certified for Microsoft Teams hardware in any Teams Room.
These devices are designed with one thing in mind...providing users with a truly native Microsoft Teams experience.
From intelligent audio to AI-driven cameras, all Certified for Microsoft Teams devices also come with the functionality to deploy firmware updates from a single management platform - ensuring optimal performance, even as new software features are rolled out.
As one of the UK's leading audio visual integrators, we work closely with top-tier technology manufacturers to ensure you get the right technology you need for reliable, high-quality video meetings. Talk to our experts today and we can help you choose the right equipment.
Video conferencing systems play an important part in meeting and collaborating with remote colleagues. The practice of video conferencing and collaboration has become increasingly popular in recent years, and for good reason. Not only is it a great way to stay connected with colleagues, but it can also be used for business presentations, training, and even customer interactions.
There are a number of different types of video conferencing systems that can be used in rooms, such as modular-based systems (separate camera, microphone, and speakers) or an all-in-one solution.
Furthermore, you can extend the experience by integrating technology such as room booking panels, collaboration displays, and even acoustic panels – delivering a collaboration space that your users can thrive in.
For small and medium sized meeting spaces, our top recommendation to ensure high-quality audio and video would be an all-in-one video conferencing bar.
All-in-one video systems are easy to use by nature and when you choose a Microsoft Certified videobar, you get an all-round secure, robust conferencing experience. No more delays or technical issues - just straight forward meetings.
What’s great about the all-in-one solutions is that many of the leading video conferencing bar’s can be extended with ceiling or table microphones, and can even run a choice of Windows or Android.
When choosing a Windows-based system, an external compute (such as an Intel NUC, Lenovo ThinkSmart or HP Slice) is required. However, Android-based video systems use CollabOS, meaning you can run the 'Microsoft Teams Rooms on Android' App directly from the video bar.
Example Microsoft Teams Room bundles for small to medium meeting rooms spaces include:
Key: MTRoA = Microsoft Teams Rooms on Android, MTRoW = Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows.
When looking for a video conferencing ecosystem in a large space (whether that be a boardroom, training area, or learning space), there is often much more to consider than just the technology.
You must also consider the size of the room and number of participants to ensure everyone can be seen and heard easily.
In these cases, a modular-based approach is something that we would often recommend to our clients.
Consisting of either single or dual-displays (dependant on the room size, shape, and required Teams Licences), along with separate camera, ceiling speakers, and ceiling microphones, this type of space provides a more flexible approach with technology placement.
Audio balancing is achieved through a discreet DSP (digital signal processor) to ensure the best audio possible, both in the room, and on the video call itself.
Example Microsoft Teams Room systems for large meeting spaces include:
Meeting rooms are one of the most-used spaces in any organisation. Without the right space for meetings, it can be difficult to get the team together and work together.
Meeting room booking systems can be a huge help when it comes to keeping your meeting rooms flowing with people.
Booking systems allow users to book and manage meeting rooms quickly and easily, making sure that all the necessary information is available at all times. No more double-booking!
Microsoft Certified Room booking systems include Logitech, Crestron, Yealink among many more.
It started with the Microsoft Surface Hub collaboration display. Now, the number of options on the market has increased considerably.
Gone are the days where organisations are locked into a particular manufacturer. You now have a choice in how you experience high quality collaboration.
Some of our favourite Teams Certified collaboration displays currently on the market are from manufacturers such as Microsoft, Neat, Yealink, Avocor, and DTEN.
Did you know: The Microsoft Surface Hub comes with Windows 10 Teams edition to provide enriched support for enterprise management and security. It also includes features such as whiteboard annotation and direct access to a number of Windows apps.
Sharing content from a whiteboard into video meetings has been a huge pain point for many organisations. Until now.
With a number of specially designed whiteboarding cameras from Huddly, Logitech and Yealink, these AI-driven devices take content from your physical whiteboard and generates high-quality visuals that can be shared to both in-room and external meeting participants and is a great choice for people who need to collaborate effectively across different locations.
Important: To enable whiteboarding within a Microsoft Teams Room, a Pro licence must be purchased.
Most meeting rooms have a lot of hard surfaces (tables, chairs, empty walls, high ceilings etc), leading to higher levels of reverberation that always seem heightened on video calls.
For rooms with a lot of echo, acoustic panels have become a lifesaver in recent years. Not only does this help on the video call itself, but as in-person meeting rooms have begun to adopt a more open and collaborative space, these panels can also create a more comfortable and inviting environment.
Available in solid colours, printed graphical form, and also a number of shapes and sizes, acoustic panels are a cost effective way to keep noise reverberation to a minimum in any meeting space.
The latest developments in soft-client features, such as Microsoft Front Row, have led to the implementation of Microsoft Signature Teams Rooms; a space that Microsoft predicts will be a popular option for collaboration in the future.
By offering a more dynamic and immersive experience than ever before, meetings and collaboration sessions will now be a place where every attendee feels part of the meeting and can achieve maximum efficiency, whether in the room or joining remotely.
While not every meeting space is designed to be a Signature Teams Room, they can be very beneficial if you need to deliver an elevated hybrid meeting experience.
For more information about these spaces, Microsoft have a great article about Signature Teams Rooms.
As with any audio visual solution, the number of options and elements to consider in any Microsoft Teams Room project is considerable. Whether you have large, medium, or small meeting rooms, or whether you prefer a Windows-based or Android-based system, we would always recommend leveraging the advice of a specialist, such as ourselves, to ensure you get the best equipment for your use-case.
Why not speak to our team today to see how we can help transform your spaces into high-quality Microsoft Teams Rooms? Alternatively, for more information about our Microsoft Teams Rooms solutions, you can view our case studies, or visit our Microsoft Teams Rooms page.