New capabilities to help scale up modern meeting spaces for users and IT

Modernizing the office to new ways of working is a big priority for organizations this year as they continue to optimize their workspaces post Covid. According to market research firm Frost & Sullivan, 46 percent of ITDMs are kicking off office modernization projects and creating tech-enabled spaces to improve employee experience.¹ Meeting rooms are an important component in the mix.

Teams Rooms is here for you, bringing intelligence to meeting rooms and workspaces that boost productivity and coordination while continuing to deliver great meeting experiences and solutions that make the modernization of meeting spaces easier and faster for IT.

Read on to learn about a new installation option for Teams Rooms, new capabilities for Surface Hub and touch boards running Teams Rooms on Windows, and some other recent new features that help make Teams Rooms even better.

Introducing Express Install for Microsoft Teams Rooms

Long a source of meeting room innovation in their own right, the Microsoft Digital team builds, manages, and innovates Microsoft’s own meeting rooms. Post-Covid, in response to a need for more hybrid-friendly meeting rooms, they partnered with the Teams Rooms product group to bring Signature Teams Rooms to market.

This time they’ve focused on easing the burden for the IT admin, the A/V tech, or the jack-of-all-trades who deploys and supports meeting rooms as just one of their many responsibilities. The Teams Rooms product team and hardware partners have also been part of this journey, working together to make this new deployment option possible.

Express Install for Microsoft Teams Rooms is a streamlined, quick and easy installation option that delivers a full Teams Rooms experience in focus and small meeting rooms. With no custom room modifications required, Express Install is less complex, resulting in a lower total cost of ownership that enables you to get new Teams Rooms up and running quickly and at scale.

Meeting attendees get the same experience they would have in any other Teams Room because the same Teams Rooms application and the same hardware certified for Teams is used with an Express Install. An Express Install is a great option to increase your number of meeting rooms with Teams Rooms systems, including upgrading your current bring your own device (BYOD) rooms. You can quickly offer end users a better meeting experience while delivering the same management and IT admin benefits as the rest of your Teams Rooms portfolio.

The key to Express Install is in the hardware that can be installed without lengthy and complex room modifications. No need to bring in a technical expert to snake cables through the walls, ceilings or floors – instead, cables between devices may be visible or hidden in the display stand. No need for a contractor or engineer to mount multiple displays or cameras on the walls – instead, the room display, video bar, and CPU are housed together with a compact wall mount system or tabletop stand.

The standards that make up Express Install include:

• Quick installation – In a small space like a focus room, installation is possible by one person in as little as one hour, with minimal labor and no need for specialists.
• No custom room modifications necessary – A tabletop stand or wall mount system houses and supports your display, video bar, and CPU, while your console is connected via USB or POE. A single power plug via a power strip and a network cable are all you need.
• Suitable devices certified for Teams are already in the device ecosystem – Devices that don’t need complex mounting and can be deployed simply are great candidates for an Express Install. Tabletop stands have the flexibility to support displays up to 65 inches, and video bars with integrated mics are ideal. Devices designed for entry-level Teams Rooms are another great option.
• Full Teams Rooms experience – The inclusive and collaborative experiences users love about Teams Rooms are fully present with Express Install. You may notice an aesthetic difference between fully integrated Teams Rooms and an Express Install, but the same functionality remains.  
• Scale up meeting rooms fast at lower cost – The total cost for Express Install can come in less than other room installations that require custom modifications. The lower total cost of ownership means Express Install is a great option for adding Teams Rooms at scale, making office modernization and better workplace experiences easier and faster to achieve.

As partners begin to recommend hardware and develop mounts and stands that make great contenders for Express Install, we’ll be able to showcase them. In the meantime, you can shop devices certified for Teams here.

Expanding capabilities on Windows-based touch boards

Edge Browser Support for Teams Rooms on Windows-based touch boards, including Surface Hub 3

Coming soon to Surface Hub 3 and Teams Rooms on Windows-based touch board form factors is private browsing mode with Microsoft Edge. This functionality allows users to access websites and line-of-business web applications on touch boards at any time, both during and outside of meetings. With Edge kiosk mode, once a user ends their browsing session, the browsing data is wiped out. IT administrators can manage browsing policies to ensure a secure and safe browsing experience.

​Miracast coming to Teams Rooms on Windows, including Surface Hub

Miracast will be coming to Teams Rooms on Windows, including Surface Hub and touch boards, making it possible to wirelessly project and share content from individuals’ PCs to the Teams Room. This expands on the current set of flexible options for sharing and collaborating content – Teams cast and HDMI ingest – with or without an active Teams meeting. Anticipated release timing to be shared soon.

Better viewing experiences on more platforms for remote attendees

Multiple camera view generally available

Remote meeting participants have greater autonomy over what camera feed they can follow during a meeting in a Teams Room on Windows. They are able to manually switch between up to four different camera feeds, ensuring they have the best angle at any time.

Cloud IntelliFrame video feeds on Teams Rooms on Android and mobile devices: Generally available now

You can now experience Cloud IntelliFrame, the video framing capability that enhances the visibility of people in the room for online meeting attendees, on Teams Rooms on Android and Teams Mobile (iOS and Android) devices when joining a meeting that has participants in a Teams Rooms on Windows. Learn more about Cloud IntelliFrame.

More new features coming to Teams Rooms

Start or stop recording in a Teams Room on Windows

We now consider meeting transcripts, intelligent recap, and the ability to query a meeting with Copilot as essential. Recording a meeting is what unlocks this powerful productivity, but until now you needed to start the recording from your companion device when meeting in a Teams Room. Starting this month, you can start or stop recording on the room console in Teams Rooms on Windows without your companion device.

In conclusion

With scale-friendly Express Install for Teams Rooms, the upcoming updates to touch boards running Windows, and a steady stream of enhancements that improve remote experiences, collaboration, and productivity, we continue to reaffirm our commitment to delivering top-tier technology solutions for modern workplaces. We can’t wait to see how modernization materializes for our customers.

Learn more about Teams Rooms.

¹ “Investment Priorities for the Workplace and Video Conferencing”, Frost & Sullivan, October 2024