3 ways to equip a Teams video conferencing rooms

A TEAMS videoconferencing room has the advantage of being able to use the Office 365 business solutions and therefore allows you to work with the entire Microsoft suite. TEAMS -the current Microsoft video conferencing solution- replaces the previous versions of Microsoft: Office 365, Skype for business. However, although the software leader, Microsoft is not a major player in video conferencing room systems. And moreover, Teams is a proprietary video conferencing system, which does not speak natively with other proprietary systems (Zoom, Webex, …), nor with standard H323/SIP solutions (Lifesize, Starleaf, Cisco, …). So how do you integrate Teams with your video conferencing equipment in your meeting room?

Teams video conferencing room: integrate microsoft’s collaborative tool into your meeting room

Microsoft’s TEAMS solution has 75 million users every day, with peaks of more than 200 million participants in virtual meetings in April 2020.

TEAMS is a collaborative tool that centralizes and facilitates work team exchanges: from the traditional e-mail to real-time conversations, like with WhatsApp or SLACK. It also offers other remote collaboration tools such as a whiteboard, content sharing, etc.

TEAMS is an integral part of the Office 365 business solutions and therefore allows you to work with the entire Microsoft suite. In addition, it is gradually replacing Skype Enterprise, Microsoft’s current video conferencing solution.

However, TEAMS may be an effective collaboration solution, but when it comes to integrating with a physical meeting room, it needs to be combined with other professional video conferencing room solutions, such as Polycom, Yealink, Starleaf, Lifesize, etc., or via a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) solution that allows you to use all the professional devices in a TEAMS video conferencing room with your own computer.

*An example of a double screen TEAMS room*

3 ways to set up a Teams video conference room

Until today, most video conferencing room system manufacturers offered full integration with Skype Enterprise. Now they have had to adapt and are developing solutions that integrate with Teams.

1. Integration of professional video conferencing system in Teams meeting room :

The idea here is to enhance the Teams experience with a professional video conferencing system. Indeed, most video conferencing solutions propose to install a plugin directly in the Teams interface. Once the plugin is integrated into Teams, you will be able to launch your videoconferences directly from the Teams conversations with your teams. Of course, you will need to have business accounts for both Microsoft 365 and the video conferencing client you want to use: Lifesize, Starleaf, Zoom, etc.

2. A bridge between your video conferencing room & Teams

As mentioned in the introduction, Teams is a “proprietary” solution, which means that it is incompatible with other solutions on the market. It is therefore necessary to use a gateway allowing communication between these “two worlds”. This gateway comes in the form of an annual subscription to be taken out directly via Office 365 and allows a person from the organization to participate in a meeting from a standard codec in your Teams meeting room. However, once the gateway is installed, the video conferencing room will become exclusively a Teams video conferencing room.

3. A Teams video conferencing room system : BYOD

Today, Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) systems are in high demand and in full development, being the most flexible.

They allow you to use the peripherals of the videoconference room: cameras, microphones, speakers, etc. and to use them with your own computer and therefore with your own videoconference system. Thus it is very easy to link conferences with different solutions: Teams, Zoom, Lifesize, Starleaf… if they are present on your computer and even on the Web.

These BYOD solutions are numerous and exist in both wired and wireless. Of course, in this third solution you will not benefit from the quality of a room system (codec).

The configuration of a TEAMS videoconference room is still evolving, the possibilities are miscellaneous and it is sometimes difficult to make a choice. However, manufacturers are obliged to adapt because it is no longer possible to ignore this tool which is now integrated into the daily life of many companies.

If you are interested in one of these solutions or if you want to know more, contact us!

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