Teams Room EMEA Monthly | July 2024 Issue

We begin Summer with a new Microsoft’s fiscal year (FY25) and reflect on the amazing journey we had in the last 12 months. Microsoft Teams Rooms is growing and becoming more powerful every moment!

??????? ?? 320M+ Teams MAU

??????? ?? Nearly 100M Teams Meeting MAU

??????? ?? 1 Million+ Teams Rooms activated

??????? ?? 20 Million+ Teams Phone users - Up nearly 30% year-over-year

??????? ?? Launched new version of Teams: 2x faster while using 50% less memory.

??????? ?? More than 10,000 paid customers now use Teams Premium.

??????? ?? More than 2,000 apps in Teams store with apps from Adobe, Atlassian, and Workday each exceeding 1 million monthly active users.

??????? ?? Nearly 50% increase in Copilot-assisted interactions per user in Microsoft Teams

??????? ?? Nearly 60% of the Fortune 500 now use Copilot

Top of Mind

Some great events have taken place in the past 3 weeks to close FY24, such as Infocomm, Teams Partner Bootcamp and Commsverse the Teams Conference. These have all been informative and have made me very hopeful for the next 12 months!

It is clear to me that Copilot & Teams really are the growth engine and no. 1 convergence point for AI and work productivity. Copilot really accelerates your output across the Team platform, and with the expansion of speaker recognition and transcript attribution via intelligent speakers and existing speakers will continue to grow, extending to BYOD spaces and Teams Rooms.

Making this experience seamless is essential and by adding Speaker Recognition on existing devices to existing Microsoft Teams Rooms devices means this will be a reality soon, plus sprinkle in the newly announced Team Copilot and automatic camera switching with #Intelliframe and it going to feel like we are in the futuristic meeting rooms we’ve all be promised!

The Work trend Index

If you’ve not already checked out the work trend Index you should!

The data is in: 2024 is the year AI at work gets real.?Use of generative AI has nearly doubled in the last six months,1?with?75%?of global knowledge workers using it. And employees, struggling under the pace and volume of work, are bringing their own AI to work. While leaders agree AI is a business imperative, many believe their organization lacks a plan and vision to go from individual impact to applying AI to drive the bottom line. The pressure to show immediate ROI is making leaders inert, even in the face of AI inevitability.

We’ve come to the hard part of any tech disruption: moving past experimentation to business transformation. Just as we saw with the advent of the internet or the PC, business transformation comes with broad adoption. Organizations that apply AI to drive growth, manage costs, and deliver greater value to customers will pull ahead.

At the same time, the labour market is set to shift again—with AI playing a major role. Despite fears of job loss, leaders report a talent shortage for key roles. And as more employees eye a career move, managers say AI aptitude could rival experience. For many employees, AI will raise the bar but break the career ceiling.

To help leaders and organizations overcome AI inertia, Microsoft and LinkedIn looked at how AI will reshape work and the labour market broadly, surveying 31,000 people across 31 countries, identifying labour and hiring trends from LinkedIn, and analysing trillions of Microsoft 365 productivity signals as well as research with Fortune 500 customers. The data points to insights every leader and professional needs to know—and actions they can take—when it comes to AI’s implications for work.

What's New in Microsoft Teams

June was a big month for #MicrosoftTeams updates but only a handful of new certifications. You can read all about them in the latest What's New in Microsoft Teams blog.

Classic Teams reaches the end of support today! (July 1st)

Users still running classic Teams will experience in-app messages informing them that the client is no longer supported. ?

Check the usage report in Teams Admin Center to ensure all your users are running the new client: TAC > Analytics & Reports?> Usage Reports > Teams desktop client usage report. ??

Starting October 23, 2024, users (excluding VDI and government cloud) will no longer be able to access the classic Teams desktop app.

Starting mid-July to late July 2024, Microsoft is removing the NEW label "new" Teams.

Multi-panel check-in on Teams panels In a conference room with multiple panels, check-in and room release are synchronized across all panels for accurate reflection of the room's status and availability.

?Bookable desks Teams lets users automatically reserve desks on the spot when they connect to the monitor or other equipment at a desk and share their location to collaborate better with others in the office. This feature enhances hot desking or hoteling office experiences. For IT teams, this also means they can track desk peripherals in the Inventory provided in the Microsoft Teams Rooms Pro Management portal.1 IT admins can take advantage of automatic device discovery in the Teams desktop or use the free?PowerShell Script?to collect and import device data when setting up desks. Get started with bookable desks at?aka.ms/desksetup.

Poly Studio Base Kit G9 Plus Newly certified for Teams, the Poly Studio Base Kit G9 Plus for Microsoft Teams Rooms is a reliable, high-performance video conferencing solution for your meeting spaces. Purpose-built for collaboration, the HP Mini IP Conferencing PC with 13th Gen Intel? Core? i7 processor with extra layer of security by HP SureStart pairs with Poly TC10 IP touch controllers over Ethernet, up to 4 controllers, and enables flexible room deployment from small to large spaces, ready to be paired with certified USB audio and video devices. The included Poly Lens Room lets you easily add rooms for management and monitoring.?Learn more here.

AVer CAM520 Pro3 Newly certified for Teams, the AVer CAM520 Pro3 is a versatile Full HD PTZ video conference camera with a 36X total zoom, upgraded AVer SmartFrame, Preset Framing, Smart Composition, and a Sony WDR Sensor. It also provides three output options, including HDMI, for versatile streaming. What sets the CAM520 Pro3 apart is Smart Composition, an embedded AI feature that instantly captures meeting participants' images to enhance video conferencing for meeting equity in medium to large meeting rooms.?Learn more here.

Sennheiser TeamConnect Bars Newly certified for Teams, Sennheiser TeamConnect Bars (TC Bars) enable Microsoft Teams users to experience hybrid meetings that combine high-quality Sennheiser audio with 4K Ultra HD video. Teams Connect Bars are plug-and-play devices for a quick start via USB. Beamforming technology, like in TeamConnect Ceiling solutions, allows movement and seamless presenter transitions. The AI camera features auto-framing and person tiling, and full-range stereo speakers ensure natural speech and intelligibility. Learn more about?TeamConnect Bar Solutions (sennheiser.com).

?Q-SYS VisionSuite Newly certified for Teams, the Q-SYS VisionSuite enhances the visibility of participants in the room, providing a more natural viewing experience for remote attendees and enabling teams to feel connected and engaged, regardless of their location. Designed for high-impact spaces, it features best-in-class presenter tracking (driven by this newly certified AI-based accelerator appliance), intelligent audio-based automatic camera switching, flexible camera options, and vision-driven room automation.?Learn more here.

Lenovo Wireless VoIP Headset Newly certified for Teams, the?Lenovo Wireless VoIP Headset?is designed for modern, open hybrid workspaces. Its ergonomic design makes it easy to wear for extended periods, and you can enjoy 31 hours of talk time between charges.

?Logi Zone 305 Headset Newly certified for Teams, the?Logitech Zone 305 headset?is a lightweight headset ideal for mass deployment to everyone who needs great audio and a reliable connection for call or video meetings. With 20 hours of battery life, its lightweight design provides long-lasting comfort.

?For the full list of currently certified devices click here.

Partner of the Year Awards!

Massive Congratulations to Symity for being awarded Microsoft 365 Partner of the Year for Converged Communications globally!

Important Dates

Microsoft Inspire: the next chapter

We are evolving the event previously known as Microsoft Inspire. In July, we will kick off our fiscal year with partners in tandem with our Microsoft sellers by providing a digital engagement to share strategic priorities, investments and key program changes. Online?|?July 2024

With this change, we will also welcome partners to join us at Microsoft Ignite for an in-person experience in November to see the latest Microsoft innovations, network and celebrate the Partner of the Year Award winners.

17th July - MCAPS Start for Partners

I often update this list after publishing the newsletter as dates are announced / changed. Always check back for the latest!

As always if you find this newsletter valuable, make sure to share with your network. Until next time!

Tom Halards

#MicrosoftEmployee #MicrosoftAdvocate