The Metterverse - Volume 8

Welcome Back to the 8th Edition of the Metteverse!

As November rolls in and the festive season begins to sparkle, we’re here with your monthly roundup of all things new in the Microsoft Teams Rooms ecosystem. Packed with tips and insights, this edition is designed to help you elevate your MSP offering with Maverick. Let’s unwrap the latest updates together!

MeetUp 2 for Teams Rooms on Windows (with Lenovo Core)

Say hello to the Logitech MeetUp 2, now certified for Teams! Designed for huddle and small rooms, this all-in-one USB conference camera simplifies setup with AI-enabled audio and video features, flexible mounting options, and easy management. Whether you're using an in-room compute or connecting via BYOD mode, MeetUp 2 is built for seamless collaboration.

Learn More 

The Topic of the month: What’s Right for Your Conference Room When Joining Teams Meetings?

When it comes to joining Microsoft Teams meetings, the native Teams Rooms experience is often the gold standard. It provides seamless collaboration with rich audio, video, and content-sharing capabilities. But what happens when your organization is in a transitional phase or needs to collaborate with partners using platforms like Zoom or Webex?

That’s where interop solutions step in. These solutions act as a bridge, enabling Teams Rooms to connect to other platforms without compromising the user experience. Let’s break it down.

Your Interop Options

Direct Guest Join (DGJ)

DGJ is a simple and cost-effective way to connect Teams Rooms to Zoom or Webex meetings—and vice versa. It uses a room-optimized, web-based browser interface that’s easy for IT to enable.

Key Features of DGJ:

• One-touch join: Effortlessly connect Teams Rooms to non-native meetings.
• Cost-effective: Requires no additional licenses or complicated setups.
• Easy deployment: Minimal IT overhead for implementation.

DGJ is an excellent short-term solution or a complementary tool for organizations needing quick and reliable cross-platform connectivity.

Cloud Video Interop (CVI)

CVI is a more robust option, designed for organizations in the middle of a migration to Teams Rooms or those with SIP/H.323 devices. Offered by Microsoft-approved partners like Pexip and Cisco, CVI delivers a full Teams meeting experience in non-native meeting rooms.

Key Features of CVI:

• Supports legacy SIP and H.323 devices.
• Enables smoother transitions to native Teams Rooms solutions.
• Available as a licensed add-on.

While CVI offers more advanced functionality, it comes with associated costs and potential differences depending on the vendor you choose

Weighing the Trade-Offs

While interop solutions are invaluable for bridging the gap, they do come with some compromises. Here’s what to keep in mind:

• Engagement Features - Interop solutions lack native features like chat, live reactions, raised hand indicators, and lobby controls.
• Collaboration Tools - Expect limitations on tools such as Microsoft Whiteboard, intelligent content capture, and file collaboration.
• Audio & Video Intelligence - Advanced capabilities like multiple video streams, AI noise suppression, and dynamic bandwidth optimization may not be supported.
• Presentation & Content Sharing - Features like dual display options, PowerPoint Live, and wireless casting are often unavailable.
• Device Management - IT teams may face challenges with remote device management, real-time analytics, and automatic software updates.
• Meeting Joining Options - Proximity-based joining and "Meet Now" functionality are absent in most interop setups.
• Calling Capabilities - Rooms equipped with interop solutions can’t make or receive peer-to-peer or group calls, nor do they integrate with the Microsoft 365 Phone System.

What’s the Right Choice for You?

The best solution depends on your organization’s needs and long-term goals. If you’re looking for a cost-effective, short-term fix, DGJ might be your best bet. For organizations in transition or managing legacy devices, CVI offers a more comprehensive option.

Whatever you choose, understanding the trade-offs and benefits will help ensure your team has the tools they need to collaborate effectively.

Seamless Collaboration with Teams Rooms SIP Join  

Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows now takes cross-platform meetings to the next level with SIP join  functionality. Connect effortlessly to meetings on Google Meet, Zoom, Cisco Webex, Amazon Chime, RingCentral, and more—directly from your Teams Rooms setup.  

This feature mirrors the native Teams experience, delivering a consistent and intuitive interface with powerful capabilities sch as:  

• 1080p video quality for crisp, clear visuals.  
• Dual screen support to maximize productivity.  
• Dynamic layout options for an engaging meeting experience.  
• HDMI input  and other advanced features, based on the third-party platform’s in-meeting controls.  

What You Need:

• Teams Rooms Pro license 
• SIP plan from a CVI partner  (currently supported by Pexip)  

With SIP join, Teams Rooms enables effortless multi-platform collaboration, making hybrid meetings smoother and more productive than ever.  

 Learn More About Third-Party Interoperability in Teams Rooms 

Transform Meetings with Live Transcription on Teams Rooms for Windows

Take your meetings to the next level with live transcription now available on Teams Rooms for Windows. Gain complete control over transcription during your meetings—start, stop, or restart it directly from your device.

With real-time transcripts that include speaker names and timestamps, your meetings become more accessible and actionable. Plus, you can tailor the experience by:

• Selecting the spoken language and the translated language.
• Displaying the original and translated transcript side by side for seamless understanding.

This powerful feature is exclusive to Teams Rooms Pro, delivering greater clarity, inclusivity, and efficiency to every conversation.

Missed Microsoft Ignite 2024? We’ve Got You Covered!

Whether you couldn’t make it or just need a quick recap, our exclusive webinar has everything you need. Join us as special guest Michel Bouman shares the latest updates on transforming meetings to be seamless, smarter, simpler, and more secure.

This is your chance to gain valuable insights straight from the experts—don’t miss out!

Sign up now to secure your spot!

Windows

5.2.115.0 (9/26/2024)

 Note

The following two features were added to the 5.2.115.0 release with a service side change on October 31, 2024.

• Digital signage  : Inform, connect, and engage your employees with digital signage. Users can view dynamic content and relevant information on front-of-room displays when devices aren't in use. Admins can configure tenant-wide and room-specific settings from the Teams Rooms Pro Management portal. Native integrations with selected third-party digital signage providers (Appspace, XOGO) are available, along with the use of web URLs as signage sources. Learn more.
• Enhanced cross-platform meetings using SIP join : Collaboration is seamless and intuitive across all meeting platforms, providing a native Teams Room experience when joining SIP-based conferencing services like Google Meet, Zoom, Cisco Webex, Amazon Chime, RingCentral, and others. Users enjoy the familiar Teams Rooms interface with access to certain third-party in-meeting controls, depending on the platform. Features include up to 1080p video quality, dual screen support, various meeting layouts, and HDMI ingest. This capability requires a SIP calling plan from a Cloud Video Interop (CVI) partner, currently available through Pexip. Learn more.

Introduced in this update:

• Proximity based join experience improvements: Proximity based join experience is updated to disable auto accepting all nudges from external or federated tenants. In addition, Teams Rooms on Windows with compatible consoles supports proximity join using ultrasound, providing an alternative to Bluetooth. Learn more.
• Dynamic video tile resizing based on people count  : The room video tile on Teams desktop client dynamically adjusts size based on the number of people in the room. When one person is in the room, the tile matches the remote participant's size. With two or more people, the room tile expands to be four times larger. Room admins can enable or disable the people count. Learn more.
• Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows room preview shows Cloud IntelliFrame  : The Preview video of room shows IntelliFrame when Cloud IntelliFrame is enabled for the room, to let in room participants be aware of how they appear to those online. Learn more.
• Roster grouping for in-room participants through proximity join: When joining a meeting in a Microsoft Teams Room with a companion device, in-room participants are grouped under the room node. Participants must join through Proximity Join with Microsoft Teams Rooms. Learn more.
• Native controls for Group Framing, Active Speaker and Edge-composed IntelliFrame: Allow users to natively toggle certain camera features provided by OEMs, including group framing, active speaker framing, and edge-composed IntelliFrame. Learn more.

 Note - The camera's OEM firmware is required.

• Breakout rooms support: With breakout room support, Teams Rooms on Windows can be added to a breakout room as an attendee and moved in and out of the main room making it easy for breakout session coordination. Learn more.

Resolved issues:

• Fixed a known issue where content and gallery were swapped, after reconnecting a screen on dual display will set up.
• Fixed a known issue where the chat panel is empty after a reboot.
• Fixed an issue where sometimes, the on-screen keyboard failed to appear on the console.
• Fixed an issue where the app would restart after the device wakes up or while using meet now.

Android

1449/1.0.96.2024101004 (October 2024)

Resolved issues:

• Resolved a bug to ensure smooth migration to AOSP Device Management in a future release.
• Improved diagnosability for proximity-based meeting join.
• Fixed app crashes and performance issues.
• Join Zoom meetings with an ID and passcode. Users can now join Zoom meetings with an ID and a passcode on Teams Rooms on Android. Rooms must be configured to enable Direct Guest Join meetings. Learn more.

Resolved issues:

• Joining meetings on Cisco devices results in meeting drops and returning to the home screen.
• Built-in Teams backgrounds are not downloading successfully.
• Tapping Meet now on Logitech TAP devices shows a notification that the app does not support launching on secondary displays.
• When joining Direct Guest Join meetings while the HDMI ingest cable is connected, the HDMI ingest feed is shown as the room video instead of the local room camera feed.
• Volume is increased and decreased by increments of 30 instead of 10 on Logitech devices.
• Participant video gets re-framed from fit-to-frame to fill-frame intermittently on Cisco devices.
• Various meeting and call reliability issues.

1Neat devices are excluded from this rollout of custom backgrounds due to an issue that is unique to Neat devices. Once the issue is resolved, custom backgrounds will be enabled for Neat devices in a later release.

Android:

1449/1.0.96.2024110701 (November 2024)

Introduced in this update:

·        Dual display mode and swap screens admin controls1 . IT admins can deliberately configure Teams Rooms on Android devices to run in dual display mode. Admins can also switch the screens of dual display rooms using the swap screens setting, easily correcting front-of-room displays that were set up invertedly. Both controls are accessible from the device settings and the Teams admin center. This feature requires a Teams Rooms Pro license.

·        3x3 video gallery on dual displays2 . Dual display rooms can now show up to 18 participant videos (3x3 on each screen) when no content is being shared during meetings.

·        Cloud Intelliframe . Cloud IntelliFrame enhances non-AI cameras, showing in-room participants in individual frames like remote attendees for a more natural, engaging experience. Now, Teams Rooms on Android receive Cloud IntelliFrame video feeds, bringing uniformity across Windows and Android devices. Roadmap ID: 415250. Learn more.

·        Whiteboard enhancements. When using the whiteboard outside of meetings, your content is retained even when a meeting begins. The whiteboard's contents are preserved and shared with remote participants instantly. You can also use the ‘Follow me’ function to guide participants as you navigate, and collaborative cursors let you see everyone working in real-time.

·        Net Promoter Score (NPS) survey. Users can rate how likely they are to recommend Microsoft Teams Rooms from 1 to 5 and provide additional comments on NPS surveys delivered on Teams Rooms on Android devices. NPS surveys will show up periodically after meetings end. IT admins can manage policies and allow or prevent room accounts from getting NPS surveys using PowerShell. Learn more.

·        Admin email support for Report a problem. IT admins can designate an email address for receiving ‘Report a problem’ submissions from Teams Rooms on Android devices. The email address can be set from the device settings and the Teams admin center.

1The swap screens setting will only be available on devices with the proper firmware support. If you don’t see the setting on your device, contact the device manufacturer for firmware support timelines.

2Due to device capability requirements and performance implications, 3x3 video gallery support for dual displays will only be available on the following Teams Rooms on Android devices: Yealink MeetingBar A40, Poly Studio X52, and Poly Studio G62.