Last Updated on December 1, 2021 by GrahamWalsh
Another great session this month. Thanks for everyone joining and contribution.
Questions during Episode Twelve
Q. Is there a link to Jared’s hybrid workplace video?
A. View it here on YouTube.
Q. Are there any other sessions worth viewing?
A. Yes, Deliver Equitable, Enriching Experience across the hybrid workplace with Microsoft Teams Devices – see here.
Q. What “the layouts are web-services” mean? Is the whole picture rendered cloud-side or what?
A. Large Gallery modes are done in the cloud. Together mode is a single stream for all users, which is why it includes everyone.
Q. Anyone have good use cases for Together Mode?
A. Together mode and content camera are killers for Education!
Q. What about running a PowerPoint from the MTR in Teams mode… it was possible in Skype, when uploaded in skype server. How would it be possible with Teams default?
A. This is not possible today. What used to happen, the PPT was uploaded to the Office Online Server (OOS or previously known as the WAC server) and that rendered the PPT. Maybe we might see this feature in the future again. It does however work on the new Crestron Microsoft Teams phones, full control of the PPT.
Q. Anyone using the new Intelligent Speaker?
A. Some are testing, works very well and very quick at transcriptions. Also, it was announced at Ignite that the Surface Hub 2S will be certified as an intelligent speaker.
Q. Are these devices for transcription only, or can it be used as a command prompt?
A. The speakers are used for transcriptions and Cortana.
Q. Intune MDM security baselines – are they supported on MTRs? Windows MDM security baseline settings for Intune or Microsoft Defender for Endpoint baseline settings for Intune or Microsoft Edge baseline settings for Intune?
A. Security baselines are not supported for MTR as they can do things like enforce MTA on all accounts. Microsoft is working on better Intune guidance than what is currently out there, but it will take a few months to get published.
Q. How do the Intelligent Speakers connect to MTR, just via USB? Do these work alongside meeting room audio hardware, or do they become the MTR’s speakerphone as well?
A. You connect the Speaker to the MTR via USB. EPOS have their setup guide here. The Speakers also require local power.
Q. “Pair each panel with an existing MTR license” – what does this look like on back end?
A. Each scheduling panel signs in with the same credentials as the MTR.
Q. Do these panels provide the ability to touch into a meeting like room wizards? i.e. No one touches in and the room free’s up after x minutes?
A. This is planned for a future release when paired say with the Crestron POE Occupancy sensor.
Q. When will it be possible to view the conditions of the room via the Panel for ad hoc scenarios? Like what equipment is available in what room via the floor plan and what kind of setting classrooms, meeting rooms, training room etc.
A. Floor Plan data will be available in a future release of the Teams panel software. It relies on Bing search.
Q. What is the average cost of this device?
A. Yealink list price is 600 euro with the room sensor included (I guess that means the light bar?). Crestron has a promotional pricing here.
Q. If there are two devices inside meeting room MTR and Hub 2s do they work using one Meeting Room License? How will the panel sync to these two devices inside the room?
A. They will share the meeting room license.
Q. What are Web Hooks?
A1. Webhook enables you to send a direct message into a Teams channel, if webhooks are enabled in there
A2. We have webhooks firing an email alert instead of Teams alert
A3. I use it to let me know my current public IP 🙂
Q. Any idea how soon we’ll hear more details on the IP peripheral support (vs USB) slated for March release and how that’ll work?
A. No idea on this I’m afraid. It was scheduled for a March release, but I don’t think we’ll see that. Microsoft are due to update the public roadmap which is here.
Q. We are using Skype On-Prem Hybrid and Teams. Currently to support both meetings single click join on a device we deploy MTRoW devices (TAPs). Does/Will the MTRoA devices support Skype On-Prem single click join?
A. No, MTRoA will not be able to join SfB Server meetings and there are no plans to add support. This is due to the MTRoA using the Android Microsoft Teams App.
Q. Also, should all tenants now have functional auto-answer? (Haven’t gotten ours to work yet) And when working will it auto-join a scheduled meeting on its calendar? Or does it need to be actively ‘called’ for it to answer?
A1. Not sure if Auto Answer is coming to MTRoW. It has been mentioned for MTRoA dur to the nature that it can be used in Personal Mode.
A2. I think Auto Answer is now rolling out so you may not have it in your tenant yet. In my testing, it will only Auto Answer when called and not “Auto-Join” on it’s own. And right now, I also think it’s Android-only.
Q. Any clues, hints, rumours, teasers on the release of the Android update for HDMI ingest, etc? Lots of UK customers on tenterhooks for this!
A. No idea I’m afraid. It was meant to March according to the public roadmap, at a guess, April timeframe now.
Q. Quick question: what is the boot time of your MTR? Our is like 4 to 5 minutes. Do you consider it as standard?
A. Lenovo Hub 500: 1min 30 seconds | Crestron Flex: 2 min
A. GW – I tested this with my Crestron Flex Gen One (Intel Skull) and it was 1 minute 30 seconds (TAP Build). Crestron Flex Gen Two was 1 minute 10 seconds (GA Build)
Q. As Microsoft are providing all the resources to install the “MTR part” on a windows PC, are we supported if we install it on our master?
A1. Yes….ish. Yes, we (Microsoft) will take your call on MTR issues and help you. However, why are you doing this? The MTR image is a known-good, working, and secure image. We strongly discourage both adding additional software and building your own image. In our experiences, organizations that build their own images have more support issues than those that don’t. All that said, there is a Docs article discussing how to do this
A2. No, don’t do it. Just because you can, does it mean you should? Treat the MTR like an appliance. It’s not a desktop/laptop build. You don’t create your own iOS or Android builds for your devices with Microsoft Teams clients, don’t do it for the meeting room too. No need to.
A3. Did security send that message by Fax? 🙂
Q, Roadmap: “Microsoft Teams: IP Based audio/video support for Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows” …means WHAT?
A. This means devices will connect over IP to the MTRoW, so things like Dante Audio and some newer cameras are IP based.
Q. Would the teams panel be a good vehicle to auto join a MTR meeting, if the feature is added there? That way only scheduled meetings get joined not all…
A1. Quite possibly, I’ve heard this requested a few times before.
A2. True is would be better done on the back end/cloud. Only auto joining accepted meetings would be better accepted by IT vs all calls get auto answered
A3. You could also use Coordinated Meetings to auto dial out.
Q. Appreciate current catch upcoming but will MTRoA always lag behind MTRoW?
A. There will always be a slight difference in the release scheduled. The desktop app is like the MTRoW app, so that could get the features first. On the other hand, MTRoA will have unique features such as Personal Mode which will never come to MTRoW.
Q. Can someone paste the link to the new Teams room website please?
A. Here’s the new Microsoft Teams Devices site.
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