Teams Rooms Asia Monthly | November 2023 Issue
Welcome to the November 2023 edition of the Teams Rooms Asia Monthly newsletter! Last month I had the chance to get away for a week with the family and on my return were a bunch of new Teams Rooms blog posts on some very hot topics. Plus there's a new Sales Bootcamp coming soon! Oh and PLENTY of new certification announcements. Hopefully I can cover them all for you here. Here we go!
Top of Mind
When discussing #MicrosoftTeamsRooms, we tend to talk about the largest or most complex deployments. An array of microphones, speakers, multiple cameras, huge displays and even the latest furniture to give attendees the very best experience. Even in small rooms, these solutions can be cost prohibitive and out of reach for many customers.
The reality is that there's only X budget and we need to fit out Y rooms so whatever just works for the budget. The result? The same old frustrating experience for in-person attendees and less inclusive meetings for those joining remote.
We get it - whether it's no-tech huddle spaces in the largest enterprises or the single office meeting room for SMB customers - there's low cost #CertifiedforMicrosoftTeams solutions available now.
For an all in one solution, our Certified for Microsoft Teams manufacturers are producing some amazing quality solutions at a low cost. Look at Yealink 's #MeetingBarA10 or the ?? 罗技 #RallyBarHuddle, the latter of which I had the chance to play with last month. These are high quality solutions that are low cost and easy to deploy while still delivering a native Microsoft Teams Rooms experience.
For customers that may already have a USB camera / speaker / microphone setup in their meeting space, there's now a great solution to upgrade that room to a native Microsoft Teams Room on Windows. The MAXHUB #XCoreKit was announced as the first BYOD-upgrade solution starting at $799 USD. I've seen a live demo of this in a particularly challenging situation and it's very impressive.
The takeaway here is that customers now have a way to ensure all meeting spaces can be equipped to deliver more inclusive, easier to use & deploy hybrid meetings at a fraction of the cost.
Lastly, with so much discussion happening around the differences between Microsoft Teams Rooms on Android and Windows (including my Top of Mind last month!), Matt Taylor published a blog post last month to help cut through some of the noise and help partners and customers choose the right platform for any given meeting space. It's well worth a read and it's particularly topical given how many conversations I've had on this very subject over the last few months.
What's New in Microsoft Teams
October was a big month for new features and certifications. While I can't cover everything that was announced, I do want to mention that the ?? #MicrosoftTeams app was announced as generally available for Windows and Mac. The team committed to delivering a faster and lighter Teams client and they've absolutely delivered. Make sure to check it out.
Below are all the newly certified devices for Microsoft Teams Rooms since the last newsletter. It's getting hard to keep up these days with our certified partners delivering so many new solutions and experiences!
- Crestron Automate VX Plus certified as Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows Peripheral. This is Crestron Electronics long awaited multi-camera solution with automatic speaker tracking. I'm not going to do it justice, see a brief demo of the speaker switching here.
- QSC Q-SYS solution has received a new certification for spatial audio! This enables spatial audio when using the #FrontRow layout in Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows. Last week Peter Garner had the chance to catch up with the QSC team at #InfocommIndia in Mumbai. Check out the video here.
- Speaking of new certifications for intelligent features, the Jabra Panacast 50 received certification as an #IntelligentSpeaker. This enables recognition of up 10 speakers and brings to life features like Intelligent Recap in #TeamsPremium to ensure AI generated notes and actions are attributed to attendees, not just to the room. Amazing!
- Nureva HDL310 audio system is now certified as a Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows peripheral. Only this morning I experienced a demo of the HDL310. Very impressive. This is definitely a hear it to believe it solution.
- The aforementioned MAXHUB XCore Kit is a Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows solution that can upgrade an existing USB meeting room into a native Microsoft Teams Room at a very affordable price.
- Last but definitely not least, æ€ç§‘ 's Microsoft Teams Rooms portfolio is now complete with the certification of the Cisco Room Bar Pro + Room Navigator. The Room Bar Pro is a flexible video bar appliance for high-quality video conferencing and content sharing in small rooms and huddle spaces, offering advanced meeting room AI, camera intelligence, spatial sound, and rich content sharing.
For the full list of updates see the latest What's New in Microsoft Teams.
?? FY24 Microsoft Teams Rooms Partner Sales Bootcamp
Your favourite Teams Rooms experts are back to deliver an updated Sales bootcamp live on 6th December. Partner individuals attending this event will have the opportunity to interact with Microsoft subject matter experts through a moderated live Q&A chat.
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This 4-hour sales bootcamp will cover (but not limited to) key themes of Teams Rooms:
- Smart meetings in the age of flexible work.? Learn about the growing demand for a smarter collaboration experience.
- Microsoft Teams Rooms Learn how Teams Rooms features remove the barriers between spaces, places, and people.
- Room consideration and design best practices. Understand room and space design and considerations to scale.?
- Selling best practices.? Explore sales best practices, tips, tools, and customer targeting to land and expand Teams Rooms opportunities.
- Partner go-to-market resources. Find out about marketing resources to drive demand, usage, and adoption, including being a Microsoft partner and co-selling opportunities.
While you wait for the bootcamp make sure to #gogetyourbadges! The Sales and Technical badges are a great way to skill up on Microsoft Teams Rooms AND have something to show for it after.
Microsoft Teams Rooms - Signature Rooms
For those that don't know, Signature Teams Rooms are not meant to be a replacement for all other meeting spaces inside your organization, but rather to act as a supplement to existing meeting spaces that utilize Microsoft Teams. They should be deployed strategically within your organization to the spaces and locations where face-to-face interactions with remote meeting participants will be most valued.
Our Microsoft Teams Rooms partners recognise how important it is to be able to effectively demo these experiences to customers and are investing in Signature Rooms across the Asia region. So good to see and is a great way to show off the power of an inclusive hybrid meeting.
Last month the team at Cyviz in New Delhi, India inaugurated their very impressive Signature Teams Room. See the post from Cyviz here for all the photos and info. It's also worth noting that Microsoft is working with Cyviz to bring this experience to our #MicrosoftTechnologyCenters (MTCs) around the world.
Each month I'll share a new Signature Teams Room customer experience centre in Asia from our partner community. It's so cool to see how partners leverage the space they have to build a room that shows off every feature of a signature room and the innovative technology that our #CertifiedforMicrosoftTeams partners have on offer. Watch this space!
Microsoft Ignite 2023
Discover the best of what's next in technology, problem-solve with experts, and make global connections to empower yourself to lead your organization at Microsoft Ignite 2023.
With the in-person event sold out, the online dates for Asia are 16th & 17th of November 2023 (15th-16th PST). Make sure to register and lock in your sessions!
Important Dates
15th Nov - Teams Sales Foundation Training | Register Here
16-17th Nov - Microsoft Ignite | Register Here
29th Nov - Teams Sales Foundation Training | Register Here
30th Nov - Melbourne Teams User Group | 3:30-4:30pm AEDT
6th Dec - Teams Rooms Sales Bootcamp | 2pm-6pm AEDT
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!
Lee Edgerton