Research by Frost & Sullivan reports there is greater adoption of meeting insights and analytics tools to gain a better understanding of space utilization, performance, and engagement, with 76% of the decision-makers indicating this is a key capability. Companies are looking into implementing emerging technologies that provide insights on the workspace and meeting room utilization.

Today’s workforce has become accustomed to the Bring Your Own Meeting (BYOM) or Bring your own Device (BYOD) concept in meeting rooms. The Barco ClickShare solution enables users to host calls from their own laptop with their preferred videoconferencing platform, using the audio and video equipment in the meeting room. According to Barco, ClickShare has been leading the market with its wireless BYOM approach, as market research company Futuresource Consulting has previously estimated that ClickShare’s portfolio makes up over 50% of the global wireless conferencing market.

Clickshare & Microsoft Integration

With more than 240,000 ClickShare Conference devices in the field, ClickShare will be a significant data source for Microsoft Teams Rooms management capabilities and will feed into future initiatives. This first step provides valuable insights for IT decision makers without changing the user experience. When initiating a Teams call, the user’s Teams desktop client identifies the connected microphone, speaker, and camera via the ClickShare Base Unit and Button, passing the data into the Teams Pro Portal. Once multiple users have connected to the same ClickShare Base Unit, the information is populated for IT managers as a potential shared space within the Pro Management portal, enabling registration and management of the meeting space.

“ClickShare has always put the user at the heart of the experience, while guaranteeing IT managers have the necessary insights to equip meeting rooms in the most optimal way,” says Jan van Houtte, head of product at Barco. “Through this integration, Microsoft and Barco will work together to build easy management systems at scale for their customers. The joint forces in the Shared Spaces initiative are a first yet crucial step to explore market opportunities and establish a future portfolio.”

“Barco shares a clear focus with Microsoft on creating the best meeting experience. This focus drives our decision making, strategy, and partnerships, which has led us to take this step,” says Dan Root, head of global strategic alliances at Barco. “We are very pleased to be a part of the Microsoft Teams Devices ecosystem, and to bring Microsoft into our partnership program. Through this collaboration we will work together to build industry-leading solutions that take collaboration to the next level.”

Another version of this article originally appeared on our sister-site Commercial Integrator on February 22, 2024. It has since been updated for My TechDecisions’ audience.

The post Barco Streamlines IT Management with Microsoft Integration appeared first on My TechDecisions.

For systems utilizing certified Q-SYS audio, video and control processing in Teams Rooms environments, users can now experience spatial audio. Here, it allows the audio of the remote participants to come from the direction of where the specific person talking is located on the screen. As a result, it creates a more immersive and natural experience for in-room participants. Furthermore, the spatial-audio feature with Teams Rooms has support at the software level via Q-SYS Designer Software. This further eliminates the need for additional hardware.

Also Read: Q-SYS vCore Virtualized Control Processor Is Now Available

“Spatial audio support is yet another example of our growing partnership between Q-SYS and Microsoft to deliver features and solutions that elevate equitable collaboration experiences in high-impact spaces, including Signature Teams Rooms,” says Jason Moss, vice president of corporate development and alliances, Q-SYS. “Because of the software architecture of Q-SYS, we can quickly adapt the Platform to offer this new feature. Furthermore, with a large portfolio of certified Teams Rooms space configurations on the market, users can design with confidence, as an expression of the benefit the certification work Q-SYS does for them.”

“We are pleased to continue innovating with Q-SYS to offer optimized solutions, like spatial audio, that enhance collaboration within Teams Rooms environments,” says Albert Kooiman, senior director of Microsoft Teams Devices Partner Engineering and Certification at Microsoft. “We are always looking for solutions to bridge the gap between people working remotely and those in the office; and with spatial audio, users can enjoy a richer meeting experience that can help reduce meeting fatigue.”

Visitors can view demonstrations of the spatial audio in a Q-SYS certified Teams Rooms at ISE 2023 at the Q-SYS stand 2V400.

Another version of this article originally appeared on our sister-site Commercial Integrator on January 31, 2023. It has since been updated for MyTechDecisions’ audience.

The post Q-SYS to Support Spatial Audio for a More Immersive Microsoft Teams Rooms Experience appeared first on My TechDecisions.

The updates will be generally available by the end of the current quarter in Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows application version 4.16.

According to a Microsoft blog, consoles and front-of-room displays will feature a new ambient screen and refreshed calendar as well as more intuitive visual cues to make the user experience easier. Users can scroll down on the calendar to see the schedule for the entire day.

Updated console controls allow users to more easily access the most-used features, Microsoft says, including:

• Meet: Start a new meeting from the room
• Call: Make a call to a phone number or add a person from directory
• Share: Share local HDMI content
• Join via ID: Enables this Teams Room to join a Teams meeting using the meeting ID, with Direct Guest Join interoperability functionality coming later this year
• More: Opens the overflow menu (see details below)

Overflow Menu

The new overflow menu screen enables users to further interact with the room, and simplifies access extended features, like extensibility apps. According to Microsoft, some examples of features on the overflow menu include:

• Invite this room: Use the Room audio and video for a Teams meeting initiated on your companion device
• Accessibility: Enable accessibility features
• Report a problem: Report a problem to your IT admin
• Restart device: Restart the device functionality
• Settings: Access settings

Microsoft is also simplifying error messages to help allow for quicker resolution and is adding a wider range of ambient screen choices for organizations to choose from.

Aside from aesthetic changes, Microsoft is also giving end users more control of the front-of-room display during a meeting with an updated interface for the view switcher menu. Users can also customize the Front Row view, including visibility of the meeting chat and choosing which meeting component is displayed on the left and right panel.

For IT admins, they can configure the default number of panels and default components on panels, the company says.

The post New Microsoft Teams Rooms Experience Coming This Quarter appeared first on My TechDecisions.

Per a statement, the Poly Studio Room Kits for Microsoft Teams Rooms can now be paired with the Microsoft Teams-certified HP Mini Conferencing PC with Microsoft Teams Rooms to deliver a complete Microsoft Teams Room solution experience for meeting rooms of any size. Powered by Windows IoT and 12th Gen Intel Core i7 processor, the HP Mini Conferencing PC with Microsoft Teams Rooms is a high-performance processing powerhouse that provides users with a rich, collaborative videoconferencing experience.

Moreover, it gives IT peace of mind with HP Wolf Security for Business and integrated management. This combined solution reflects the innovation driven by the power of Poly’s audio and video collaboration with HP’s legacy in personal computing, a statement notes.

Also Read: Poly Unveils Poly Studio Systems for Zoom Rooms, Powered by HP

Portfolio of Microsoft Teams-certified Devices

Poly also has a broad portfolio of devices certified for Microsoft Teams; and two new Poly products now join this growing list as the latest devices certified or pending certification for Microsoft Teams:

• Poly CCX350 phone: A Microsoft Teams-certified desk phone with a physical dial pad ideal for multiple users in high-traffic common areas as well as retail, manufacturing or lab environments.
• Poly Voyager Free 60 Series wireless earbuds: Pro-grade wireless earbuds, built for work, but designed for everyday life featuring adaptive ANC and WindSmart technology. The Voyager Free 60 UC variants come in a standard model with a charging case, or the Voyager Free 60+ UC with a smart charge OLED case. Both the standard and the 60+ UC will also be available in a version certified for Microsoft Teams. The Voyager Free 60 series will be available worldwide in CYQ2.
• My First Room 2.0: A promotion that includes the new HP Mini Conferencing PC-based Microsoft Teams Rooms solution and Android-based Teams Rooms. It offers one-time discounts on first-time Microsoft Teams Rooms purchases.
• My First Room Program: Allows users to choose from any part of the refreshed Microsoft Teams Room portfolio on Windows or Android, including My First Room 2.0, and offers a discount on a user’s first Microsoft Teams Room purchase.

Poly | HP will be showcasing the latest Microsoft Teams solutions at ISE Barcelona at booth #2Q250.

Another version of this article originally appeared on our sister-site Commercial Integrator on January 31, 2023. It has since been updated for My TechDecisions’ audience.

The post HP & Poly Release New Portfolio of Microsoft Teams-Certified Devices appeared first on My TechDecisions.

Xyte says it now enables AV and UC professionals to offer remote managed services to their customers’ MTRs. In-house IT departments can also register their Teams Rooms to the Xyte platform. They can also monitor all their workplace technologies via a single pane of glass and deliver an exceptional employee experience.

Furthermore, Xyte’s support for Microsoft Teams Rooms is hardware-agnostic, according to a statement. It enables management and monitoring of the MTRs as well as peripheral devices (USB cameras, speakers, and microphones), regardless of the hardware vendor.

Also Read: SolarWinds Launches Hybrid Cloud Observability Solution

Andrew Gross, VP of Sales at Xyte, explains the need for Teams Rooms support. He remarks, “Adding support for Microsoft Teams Rooms has always been a top priority for us. Xyte is now the first cloud solution to support MTRs and Zoom Rooms as well as all SDVoE systems and Crestron, QSC, Avocor and many other devices.”

According to Gross, Xyte will offer IT departments and AV/UC professionals a single platform to manage their complete digital ecosystems. Moreover, it facilitates this from one easy-to-use dashboard. He also reveals that the open API delivers several possibilities and gives integrators the flexibility to add any device or equipment to the platform to suit end users’ business needs.

“We are inviting early adopters to register now to be amongst the first to receive this enhanced management and support capability for their Microsoft Teams Rooms,” Gross concludes.

This article originally appeared on MyTechDecisions’ sister-site Commercial Integrator.com.

The post Xyte To Offer Microsoft Teams Rooms Solution Via Cloud Platform appeared first on My TechDecisions.

The company’s announcement of these new products and features come simultaneously to Microsoft’s release of its second annual Work Trends Index report, “Great Expectations: Making Hybrid Work Work.”

That unveils a disconnect between employees and leadership, including when it comes to returning to the office, with just 28% of leaders creating team agreements to define hybrid work norms despite 38% of employees citing knowing when and why to come into the office as their biggest challenge.

According to Microsoft, Shared Channels for Teams connect, designed for secure and easy-to-use collaboration across organizational boundaries, will become available in public preview at the end of the month. The company bills the feature as a way to enable collaboration with people both inside and outside of the organization from a shared workspace without having to leave their own Teams environment.

Microsoft is also releasing its Microsoft Surface Hub 2 Smart Camera that uses automatic framing technology to adjust Teams video feeds to provide remote team members with a dynamic view of in-room interactions. The company says the camera will reframe the room when someone leaves, when more people come in or when a person interacts with on-display content.

In addition, Microsoft is making it easier for users to brainstorm and make decisions without having to switch apps, with Loop components in Outlook mail and RSVPing for a meeting in Outlook.

The company also announced new touch-enabled solutions for Teams Rooms from Neat and Yealink are in the process of being certified for Teams Rooms on Android, helping to combine audio, video and touch display and compute in a single unit.

Designed to bridge the gap between digital and physical workspaces, Microsoft is releasing front row, a new meeting layout for hybrid Teams Rooms meetings that brings the video gallery to the eye level at the bottom of the screen so people in the meeting room can see remote colleagues in a more natural face-to-face interaction.

For more information, read the company’s blog and announcement.

The post New Teams Rooms Devices, Features For Hybrid Work On The Way appeared first on My TechDecisions.