Optimised Microsoft Teams Meeting Rooms

Hybrid working practices have become the norm and employees can now work effectively at pretty much any location, but with more people heading back into the office, we’ve taken a look at the best ways to optimise your Teams platform for the way you work and collaborate across the organisation.

Substantial Microsoft investment over recent years has boosted the Teams platform, and the setting up of Teams specific meeting rooms is becoming increasingly popular as organisations blend office and remote working for greater employee productivity and engagement.

When flexible employees go into the office nowadays, they want experiences that differ from the home, and office-based staff now expect more innovation in their working environment.

New conference room layouts and functionality now make the meeting experience so much better in the office, as they’re specifically designed to support delegates attending in the room and remotely. It’s a combination of technology and ergonomics that creates the best environment to fully engage everyone.

Traditional meeting room layouts don’t really work anymore, because when people face each other around a table, remote attendees feel a little excluded. Microsoft’s new Teams meeting rooms change all that, as rooms that previously had centre facing tables are fitted with guitar pick (or plectrum) shaped tables that focus attention on the screen at the front of the room, delegates face a large screen where the remote attendees are displayed, whilst still being able to easily engage with room colleagues.

Should room capacity be a problem due to the new table shape, a second elevated table can be installed at the rear, with cameras easily capturing both levels of seating, enabling remote attendees to clearly see everyone.

Advanced design benefits mean presentations and content appear on the screen without blanking out remote attendees, and a Microsoft Surface Hub in the room provides additional functionality, and allows the facility to be used for smaller groups without a formal meeting.

Further enhancements remove irritating headaches like finding the right cables, connecting with other room locations, and driving the video kit from inbuilt and incomprehensible user interfaces. Instead, the same process for joining a Microsoft Teams call initiates the room kit, and attendees can use their own devices to interact with all the room’s features.

Traditional conference rooms are becoming dated and meeting space is better utilised when part of a hybrid solution. Meeting room real estate is expensive, and creating impactful functionality with minimal effort is very appealing. Extending Office 365 and Teams to conference rooms adds huge value to workstyle transformation programmes, and Sure’s team of experts can help you design and fully integrate your meeting rooms into the Teams environment.