Something's changed with the UI for MeetingSignIn SignInMode on IP Phones

[davereichert]

If I take a Poly CCX phone out of the box, and register it to Teams with a user account that has a TeamsIPPhonePolicy which uses SignInMode of MeetingSignIn, I see what I believe should be "normal".  This is CCX firmware v7.1.3, and it works this way at v7.1.4 as well.

However, once the phone is upgraded to v7.2.3 and above (v7.3.2 is current), I get this experience, which seems more akin to an MTR type interface, and is totally out of line with the UserSignIn and CommonAreaPhoneSignIn modes.  This is not expected behavior on this type of device.

I've been able to re-create this with a Yealink T55A on the latest firmware as well, logged in as the same user, so this isn't specifically related to the device.  There must  be something in the latest Teams app that is causing this.

Anyone else seeing this?

[#2]

@davereichert The MeetingSignIn mode is specifically intended for meeting/conference room devices, so it makes perfect sense to me that you would see this kind of interface when this mode is selected. I don't think it is a bug.

[#3]

@Ryan Steele while I see your point - This is a device that is *in* a small meeting room.  It's not considered a "Shared Area" and the Common Area Phone UI does not make sense in this situation.  Not all meeting rooms warrant spending $1000 on a Trio C60 or similar device.

The main issue I have with this is that it used to work (and still does) on previous firmware versions, and nowhere within any documentation/release notes/announcements can I find anything that states that this behavior was being intentionally changed.

If Microsoft wants to restrict this SignInMode experience to specific devices, that's fine, but they should be transparent about it, and let us know what devices we can expect it to work/not work on.

I have support tickets open with both Poly and Microsoft, and they're just pointing fingers at each other with no real explanation as to why this would be happening now.  If an engineer were to just say "Yeah, we changed that, it only works on x device(s) now as of software version x" then I suppose I would give up.

[#4]

@davereichert Sorry, I didn't realize the new UI was accompanied by a loss in functionality. I would be interested to know what specifically is no longer working.

I too have encountered challenges with Poly and Microsoft's support organizations blaming each other for Teams Phone issues. I have chosen to place the onus on Microsoft for the following reasons:

• Microsoft is entirely responsible for developing the Teams Phone app that runs on the devices
• Microsoft sets the criteria for certifying Teams Phone devices 
• Microsoft chooses when new firmware is ready to be deployed

I recommend tagging @Kruthika Ponnusamy if your Microsoft support rep refuses to take responsibility for any Teams Phone issues. She is the Product Owner for Teams Phones and has been very helpful with these situations.

For what it is worth, though, I will share that our organization has given up on Teams Phone devices due to the ongoing issues with the product and are moving forward with deploying devices that are compatible with the Teams SIP Gateway.

[#5]

@Ryan Steele  - I wouldn't say that there's been a loss of functionality, I am saying that there's a degradation/regression of the consistency of user experience.  I don't really consider what I'm seeing a "new" interface, because it doesn't match with what is expected as per Microsoft's own guidance regarding the SignInMode options.

Microsoft's own documentation, does not show the UX I'm seeing as even an option. (Last Updated 09/06/2022)

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/devices/teams-android-devices-user-interface

There's no mention of the UX types being restricted to specific devices or device types.  And you should be able to use any of the UX types if the user is licensed for E3/E5.

"The license assigned to the user account must have at least the same license entitlements as the desired user interface. The Common Area Phone license only allows the Common Area phone user interface. The meeting room license allows meeting room and common area phone user interfaces. An E3 or E5 license supports all sign-in modes."

The article above is hard enough to find, by the way.

In what world is there an interface to Teams that is Green and Gray?  I could understand if it was one that's Purple and Gray, with a different look and feel, but I don't understand where this is coming from.  Again, there's no Microsoft documentation that shows a screenshot of a similar UX to what is presented when MeetingSignIn is selected under the latest Firmware/App.