Microsoft Teams Rooms and Meetings unveil a number of updates at InfoComm 2023

Microsoft Teams continues to innovate and enhance the collaboration experience, catering to the evolving needs of flexible work environments. In a constant effort to bring people together, Teams introduces a range of new features and improvements for Teams Rooms and Teams Meetings at InfoComm 2023. These updates aim to create more inclusive, natural-feeling meeting experiences and simplify device management.

Here are the major updates unveiled for Microsoft Teams Rooms and Teams Meetings.

Enhanced inclusivity with camera and live captions capabilities

Improving inclusivity in meetings has been a significant focus for Microsoft. Building upon announcements made at Ignite last October, several updates are now available for customer preview or general availability.

Cloud IntelliFrame for Teams Rooms on Windows, an AI-powered camera technology, will be accessible to Teams Rooms Pro license holders next quarter. This feature breaks down the single video feed of the room into focused and framed video tiles, displaying in-room attendees more prominently for remote participants. Cloud IntelliFrame enhances the video gallery experience for non-intelligent cameras using Microsoft Cloud AI, processing the room’s single video stream.

Moreover, intelligent cameras will soon offer multiple video streams and AI-powered active speaker tracking. Early adopters have already begun deploying the Yealink SmartVision 60 and updated Jabra PanaCast 50, both featuring intelligent speaker recognition and participant labeling in meeting transcripts.

Teams Rooms on Android now support content cameras that can capture physical whiteboards, providing a detailed zoomed-in view to remote attendees.

Streamlined meeting controls and captioning experience

Teams Rooms Pro on Android introduces smart camera controls, enabling users to adjust the framing of in-room cameras directly from the console. These controls offer zooming options, cropping empty space, and creating composite views for a more personalized meeting experience.

The profanity filtering toggle, now available for online meetings, allows users to enable or disable profanity filtering for live captions. Furthermore, the captions experience is enhanced with the display of full speaker names, increased lines of captions, and customizable settings for font color, size, and panel position.

AI-driven features and collaboration tools

Front Row, an AI-driven feature, replaces individual backgrounds with shared backgrounds for remote participants. Spatial audio is introduced to help in-room attendees naturally track speakers’ locations in the video gallery, creating a more authentic meeting experience.

Teams Rooms on Windows now offer Together Mode controls, allowing meeting participants in the room to select a layout and apply Together Mode to their own screens or the front-of-room display.

Breakout Rooms support allows people physically present in a Teams Room to join breakout sessions, facilitating coordination and seamless transitions.

Teams Rooms on Windows enable one-to-one calling between Teams Rooms devices and SIP or H.323-based Video Teleconferencing (VTC) devices, offering ad-hoc video calls with audio, video, and content sharing.

Teams Rooms on Windows feature a refreshed calendar with improved visual cues, intuitive meeting details, and a scrollable list for efficient scheduling.

Optimized online meeting experiences

Intelligent Recap leverages AI to generate comprehensive overviews of online meetings, providing meeting notes, recommended tasks, and personalized highlights. This feature, available to Teams Premium users, saves time and enables quick follow-up.

Meeting recap experiences are improved for all Teams users, offering direct access to meeting transcripts, recordings, and notes within the Teams app.

Collaborative notes allow real-time co-creation and collaboration on meeting agendas, notes, and follow-up tasks across various Microsoft platforms, fostering seamless teamwork.

Simplified deployment, enhanced insights, and stronger security

Teams Rooms Pro Management service introduces easier deployment with reduced touches needed by IT and fast-tracking meeting room setup.

Device health alerts on Windows devices provide insights into OS and Teams Rooms app versions, USB power settings, Bluetooth disablement, and Windows update blocks.

IT admins gain improved control over resource accounts, mailbox settings, and configurations through the Teams Rooms Pro Management portal.

The Insights Report offers valuable information on issues, remediation steps, productivity impact, and cost savings provided by the Pro Management service.

Teams Rooms Pro customers receive enhanced security through upgrades to Microsoft Intune Plan 2 and Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Plan 2, offering additional management, configuration, and protection capabilities.

Users can now configure meeting IDs and passcodes for added security in Teams Rooms on Windows.

Teams Rooms on Android and Teams admin center now support GCC-H customers, extending compatibility and support to all platforms.

Windows 11 support comes to Teams Rooms on Windows

Windows 11 support arrives for eligible Teams Rooms on Windows devices, providing the latest operating system capabilities. For devices that aren’t compatible, Windows 10 support will continue as per the hardware support policy.

Microsoft continues to enhance Teams Rooms and Meetings, empowering organizations to collaborate seamlessly and securely in diverse work environments. These updates reaffirm Microsoft’s commitment to delivering innovative solutions and meeting the evolving needs of customers and partners.