Today, we announced that we are bringing Intelligent Communications in Microsoft Teams to life across an ecosystem of first- and third-party devices. Devices play a critical role in delivering a great experience for calls and meetings, and we are bringing the Teams experience to the spaces you need, catered to the way you work.
Along with new devices from our partners, we unveiled exciting new features in Teams targeted for later this year that will advance our vision for Intelligent Communications including:
- Proximity detection for Teams Meetings, making it easy for you to discover and add a nearby and available Skype Room System (SRS) to any meeting; and
- Cortana voice interactions for Teams-enabled devices, including IP phones and conference room devices, enabling you to easily make a call, join a meeting or add other people to a meeting in Teams using spoken natural language.
Room Systems
As the modern workplace is changing, we want to bring video to areas of all sizes and make any space a Teams meeting place. We are growing our portfolio of SRS devices and accessories with the recent availability of SRS devices from Crestron and Polycom, new SRS devices from HP and Lenovo, as well as device improvements and new intelligent video capabilities from Logitech.
- Logitech SmartDock has shown great momentum this past year with Fortune 500 companies deploying it across their conference rooms. Logitech SmartDock is also being continuously improved, with new streamlined cabling and an expansion kit called Logitech SmartDock Flex. Later this year, intelligent video capabilities will be coming to Logitech ConferenceCams that find full and partial figures within the camera’s field of view and then automatically frames the room to optimize viewing. This will make it easier for participants to focus on the speakers and see the context of the room. In the future, Teams will be able to utilize this speaker data so IT admins can understand room utilization.
- Crestron SR can tap into additional capabilities through Crestron Fusion that allows you to gather room usage data for meaningful insight and action such as predictive maintenance. Further, Crestron provides Remote Control to provide remote room control and administration eliminating the need to send individuals to the room. Crestron SR also features a broad set of expansion for room automation and control such as lighting, shades, and environmental controls that are directly controlled via Crestron SR. For rooms that are already outfitted by Crestron, these capabilities can be easily enabled with Crestron SR.
- Polycom MSR, newly available this quarter, delivers turnkey meeting room solutions with bundles that scale from the huddle room to larger conference rooms available with the VoxBox, Polycom Trio, and Medialign.
- Lenovo ThinkSmart Hub 500 is also now available as a follow-up to our announcement at Ignite, The ThinkSmart Hub 500 includes a 360-degree rotatable display with an antiglare, anti-smudge finish and a built-in audio and LED status indicator. A cable management door helps secure physical ports and prevents cables being accidentally disconnected. Designed with small to medium-sized conference rooms in mind, it's available in 180 countries.
- We are also pleased to announce the latest SRS, HP Elite Slice for Meeting Rooms G2 for Skype Room Systems, with a modular design, built-in audio, and a wireless display module. HP Noise Cancellation software will reduce background noise in meeting rooms for those calling in on the phone. The HP Elite Slice for Meeting Rooms G2 for Skype Room Systems will be coming next month.
Also as part of our meeting rooms portfolio, our first-party device, the Microsoft Surface Hub, combines software optimized for group experiences with purpose-built hardware to create an all-in-one solution for team collaboration in shared spaces. Teams will be supported natively on Surface Hub, extending the rich collaboration capabilities of Teams into huddle spaces and meeting rooms.
Teams support for SRS and Surface Hub is targeted by the end of the first half of 2018.
Room phones
Finding the right audio device which is fit for purpose in either meeting rooms or collaboration spaces is key to ensuring high quality meetings. With our introduction of Teams conferencing devices, we bring Intelligent Communications through the consistent Teams experience to any conference room, even those which are not yet ready for video.
- Crestron Mercury is an all-in-one tabletop solution which will feature the Teams phone application moving forward. It contains a built-in occupancy sensor for usage data and automation for insights in utilization, enabling people and teams to collaborate across sites.
- Polycom Trio offers HD voice performance and fits the small/medium rooms all the way up to larger conference rooms. Trio audio directly integrates with Skype for Business on-premises, online and, now, will also feature the Teams phone application.
- Yealink CP960 Teams edition conference phone combines Harmon’s cutting-edge acoustic engineering with Yealink’s own HD voice technology. Also featuring the Teams phone application, this phone is specifically designed for use in huddle rooms and mid- and large-sized meeting rooms.
Personal devices
For personal devices, users will be able to benefit from more consistent Teams experiences with Intelligent Communications from their mobile phone to their desk phone to their desktop. New personal devices for Teams will feature touch screens as well as purpose-built buttons to help users get the most from the Teams experience for calling and meetings. These personal devices make it easy to view your Teams meeting schedule and recent contacts.
- The Yealink T56A and T58A Teams edition desk phones are designed for executives and professionals in various vertical markets and will be delivering the same consistent user experience as the Teams desktop and mobile apps. The T56A desk phone is targeted for personal desks while the premium T58A model is targeted for C-level and executive rooms, and both have high-definition audio quality.
- AudioCodes C450HD Intelligent Communications IP Phone is the next evolution of the advanced, full touch 450HD phone. Leveraging the native Teams phone application, the C450HD is designed to support Intelligent Communications with a powerful and familiar interface.
- We are also introducing a new category of devices for the desk: mobile phone stations. Targeted for later this year, mobile phone stations will help mobile-first users more seamlessly transition between spaces and benefit from high-quality audio. The first product in this category will be from Plantronics, combining the Microsoft Teams experience with desk phone capabilities for the mobile user. For the latest information, follow #Plantronics on Twitter.
Teams for Intelligent Communications
Over the last year, Microsoft Teams has evolved to become the ultimate hub for teamwork. Built on the strength and scale of Office 365 with over 120 million users, Teams delivers chat-based collaboration, meetings, calling, and soon, full enterprise voice features. All of this is underpinned by the Microsoft Graph, allowing for rich AI capabilities. As part of Office 365, Microsoft Teams uniquely delivers these capabilities at scale, with enterprise-grade security and compliance standards to meet the needs of a global business. We’re excited to bring these Intelligent Communications through Teams across a range of devices to meet your needs in your office and on the go.
