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Could teams be used for Video calling between staff and Joe Public using a kiosk style device?

Bronze Contributor

We have a need for customers to have video calls with some of our staff.  As in, random Joes and Janes walking in off the street.  In this scenario, the customer would arrive in person at our site and be directed to a private space for the video call.  We would provide the equipment, either in the form of something stationary in the room or a tablet we hand the customer.  

 

Since we already have Teams and use it for video calling/meetings, it was the first thing that comes to mind.  However, we need it to be as simple as possible on the customer side.  No sign in required, no access to anything but Teams, and ideally the ability to join a meeting/call with one click.  

 

Is there any combination of device & configuration which could make teams fit our needs for this scenario?

12 Replies
I mean you could setup that space with a meeting room device or stand alone phone with the web cam and on it.

You can also have a tablet not signed in and the teams app on it and join meetings via join links.

@Chris Webb 

 

Can you elaborate a bit further on these options?  When you say a meeting room device, are you talking about a Teams room system? 

 

For the stand alone phone and webcam, you mean just any ol' speakerphone, separate from the webcam, or are there stand alone phones that are capable of connecting to a webcam and making video calls?

 

Tablets joining to meetings are an option we're considering, but how to present the meeting links to the tablet is a question.  It may come down to just signing the tablet into a meeting and leaving it going all day long.  

 

I hate to sound like I'm asking someone to provide me all the answers, I am definitely trying to research this on my own.  It just came up out of nowhere, thrown in my lap along with instructions to drop everything else and make this my top priority.  

 

 

To be honest, I would use a different system than Teams, like Zoom. This way, you would be up and running, users would just click on the link, and able to start asking away. How big is your organization? Why a small room to put them in?
And why can't you do this in Teams? It literally works the same way? :p

@Jenny8675 My first thought was Teams strictly because it's what we already have and use.  However, 90% of our staff use it primarily for chat, and for some files.  Use of teams for calling isn't widespread at this point, but it seemed like it would be simple to add. 

 

I've joined Zoom meetings myself, but have no experience with the hosting side of it.  When I've joined, it was done by clicking a URL that someone had emailed me or shared through another channel, effectively the same way that I would get access to a Teams meeting.  Is there something about zoom that would make joining a call/meeting easier than Teams? 

 

Our org has fewer than 500 employees, spread across about 8 or 9 locations.  As for the rooms, it's not a matter of room size, just a private space.  We want to enable a 1 to 1 private conversation between the customer and our employee.  

best response confirmed by Steve Whitcher (Bronze Contributor)
Solution
No Problem Steve, I've seen the phone device at Ignite here: https://products.office.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/across-devices/devices/product?deviceid=215

It is a stand alone device that you could setup, and has video / screen viewing etc. You would just have your users call this phone to participate is how I would do it.

If you went the tablet route, you could just have an existing meeting that you always join for that room, but Chat would have to be not used since that would be persistent with the meeting.
I dunno, I'm just thinking security. *shrugs* With Teams, you would have to enable guest access or put them on the same domain. With Zoom, you can add the link to your website and they can talk 1 on 1 with an employee from the comfort of their private home. Or they could still come into the facility and the device could be on a separate domain.
I can start a meeting, get the Join meeting link and post it to a website for anonymous join as well technically if I wanted too :).

@Chris WebbI had looked at a few other phones, but saw no mention of video, so I was thinking that Teams desk phones didn't do video calling.  At a glance, this phone seems like it might be ideal for our scenario.  Do you happen to know if any other teams phones support video, either built in or with an external web cam attached?  (As of right now, I'm considering all options regardless of price, but when I present initial options to management I'll get a better idea of what they're willing to spend.)

 

I assume this would need some level of phone system license, maybe as a common area phone?  Would it need a calling plan, if it were only to be used for internal calling?

 

 

 

That unfortunately I do not know for sure since I don't have those actual devices to test it out. But if a phone doesn't need to make actual calls, or receive a transferred external call, just a regular user with a minimal Teams licenses you would think would work. Worse case a Phone System License would def. work.

That's the only phone I've seen like this that is released. I'm sure more are coming but haven't seen them yet. When I saw your scenario this is the first thing that came to mind since it includes everything in a phone "private like" format.
saw That. Speakerphone only thou and not quite out yet.
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best response confirmed by Steve Whitcher (Bronze Contributor)
Solution
No Problem Steve, I've seen the phone device at Ignite here: https://products.office.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/across-devices/devices/product?deviceid=215

It is a stand alone device that you could setup, and has video / screen viewing etc. You would just have your users call this phone to participate is how I would do it.

If you went the tablet route, you could just have an existing meeting that you always join for that room, but Chat would have to be not used since that would be persistent with the meeting.

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