Microsoft To Release New Teams Rooms Experience This Quarter

Microsoft is releasing a new UI for Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows consoles and front-of-room displays to make Teams Rooms more intuitive.

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Microsoft is releasing a new user interface for Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows consoles and front-of-room displays designed to make Teams Rooms easier to use and align the interface across the Windows and Android ecosystems.

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.

Another version of this article originally appeared on our sister-site My TechDecisions on February 1, 2023. It has since been updated for Commercial Integrator’s audience.

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