Forum Discussion
Skype Room Systems v2 - first impressions
So we just installed a Skype Room Systems v2 (Logitech Group) in our largest conference room. Here are our first impressions when it comes to the software. We have Exchange 2016 on-premise and SfB Online in O365.
- There's one issue with dialing a number when you don't have PSTN Calling in your region. Maybe this is by design or maybe I just got it wrong (here's my discussion on that)
- You should disable the Surface Pro 4 built-in front and rear camera because otherwise when you choose to start the video, you have three cameras to choose from. It's not mentioned in the Deployment Guide but we figured it out they are in the Device Manager -> System Devices.
- Speaking of this, you shouldn't need to choose a camera at all if there's only one (1) camera - just default to that camera.
- We have a huge 100"+ projector screen in this conference room and when a single attendent call in with video, that person gets a full screen with their huge face. I don't know how we would technically solve this (I guess 2 * 55" is a better setup) but it feels like Big Brother ;).
- If a presenter in the room connects their laptop via HDMI and start something with a video (like Youtube) the sound outputs into the conference room and the sound is only catched up by the rooms speaker's which gives quite bad results. It should be able to get the sound from the HDMI input but then again, the deployment guide clearly states that "Audio playback over HDMI can only be heard locally" so maybe it's some technical reason why this is not possible.
- The DIY setup might be a little bit overly complicated selecting the correct inputs/outputs etc. Since the SRS application only works on "certified" versions, it should be possible for Microsoft to automate this and verify the settings remain the same after updates etc. But they have mentioned automated deployment scripts are coming.
- The dock (Surface Pro 4) screen is quite sensitive to fat fingerprints so after a while you need to clean it but maybe someone has some magical solution for that :)
- I hope the OMS management/monitoring solution will be available soon so we effectively can monitor the SRS so we can be proactive because users in general don't create a support ticket for conference room systems, they just give up :)
Then there are some minor Logitech hardware first impressions but that's not related to Microsoft.
David Tse (SKYPE)Microsoft
Thanks for the feedback! All very good points. We are working on an update coming soon that will address some of the issues you point out:
- Removing Surface Pro 4 Front/Rear cameras (after this change, most deployments will only have 1 camera so device selection will not be necessary)
- The settings page will allow admins to configure (1) Speaker and Mic for Conferencing and (2) Speaker for HDMI ingest
- Regularly logging Skype health data (ie. app is running, signed in, front of room screen plugged in, etc) to an Event Log for OMS (or any other service) to pickup and raise alerts
Dave [MSFT]
Hello David!
I can see that SRS already got updated to version 3.0.6.0 and we still do not have installation package even for v3.0.0.0.
It is hard to implement this solution in Enterprise. We are going to deploy the solution in 600 rooms. We would not like to have Windows Store enabled for updates.
Also, when I try to create a reference Image I can see that SRS disappears after generalizing Image.
Could you please set some expectations regarding installation package readiness and how to plan supportability in enterprise without Windows Store enabled?
Thank you!
- https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/mt790558.aspx is now updated with SRSDeploymentKit-3.0.6.0.msi :)
Good to know, Dave. I was going to toss together a PS script to do our 'tweaks', but that takes some work off my plate. Any rough schedule on updates, and do those just push as part of Windows Updates, or will we need to do anything by hand to update the app?
Also, is there anything in the works for the additional gallery view options I mentioned above?
- David Tse (SKYPE)
You should have the Update 1 sometime in March. If you are enrolled in the preview program, you will get a build in Feb. Updates should install automatically overnight (assuming your environment does not disable automatic Windows Store Updates).
I will pass on feedback re Big Brotherness of gallery, but at this point, our gallery improvements are focused on supporting 2 Front of Room screens.
Jonas;
We ran into a lot of the same issues; since the client is so bare-bones, there's no means to pick in/out devices, and we'd have issues where the SRS decided to randomly re-default to another device for audio/video, so we wound up disabling all speaker/video devices in Device Manager except our Logitech PTZ for video and Trio USB for audio. So far, so good.
I've had a few requests from users for a bottom-based gallery view as well, instead of just on the side; getting that extra horizontal resolution matters when sharing spreadsheets.
All in all, extremely happy with SRSv2, and the users seem to love it so far, just some light bugs that could easily be worked out in an app update.
- Justin Kingston. Great feedback too. Have you considered 2 presentation screena? At least Logitech Groud (Extender Box) has two HDMI Out and according to Logitech (as long as the "Skype client" supports it) that would result in one screen dedicated for screen sharing and the other one for all the video streams.
JonasBack I've tossed it around, but most of our rooms are already set up with a large single screen, or a projector, so it wouldn't be feasible yet. Rumblings I've seen didn't have those 2nd HDMI outs enabled until updates around 2Q; I'm hoping to get a spare internally for testing/demo to get people excited about that setup, it's a hard sell to management when I'm just waving my hands around a room trying to explain how it'd work.
- Jonas, what are you using to get audio / video between your SRS and your room a/v equipment? We have been considering a Vaddio a/v bridge solution.
- We have a pretty basic setup where the Logitech Extender Box is connected directly via HDMI to our large screen in front of the conference room. Speaker wise, we use the one built-in into Logitech. Are you looking into a more complex setup?
I am. I see these being used in any size space, from a huddle room to an auditorium. Right now we have PCs with the full Skype client installed connected to existing room a/v via Vaddio bridge and it works great. I don't see why we can't do the same with this new technology. Just wondering if anyone else has tried it yet.
Hello,
This is my first impressions about the SRS2. Maybe some points have already been answered in previous topics, sorry for that.
I'm testing a Smart Dock Logitech coupled to a Surface 4 with a Conference Cam and a Logitech Group and i have a couple of questions about my experience to share with other users. I would appreciate if any of you have experienced same issues.
- The video output is not detected if the SRS2 is not powered on the AC. I had some time before understanding this point.
- The SRS under circustances can be very hot.
- After each reboot of the device, the WIFI connexion is lost and i need to switch back to ADMIN to recover my internet connexion, then launch back Skype APP
- The APP lacks of visibility over the future meetings and i cant add contacts from my entreprise phonebook or access to a recent list of calls
- With double outputs HDMI the SRS is displaying a screen which is not optimized and just a clone of the primary screen. I guess the double screen is planned for a future roadmap.
- What time is configured before the sleep time ?
- The sound input is not switched automatically when i plugged a camera on the SRS2. I have to set by default the camera sound input before being able to use it.
christophe limet wrote
3. After each reboot of the device, the WIFI connexion is lost and i need to switch back to ADMIN to recover my internet connexion, then launch back Skype APPFrom what I remember, Wifi is not supported - you must use cable to connect to the LAN. Makes sense if you ask me to minimize the risk of bad user experience/lag.
Hello Jonas,
I have the same issue with LAN ethernet connexion, i get disconnected every night, we use an entreprise connexion with proxy pac file and i suspect the connexion to be reset every 24hours. I can check the system logs to be more precise.
I have to ask since i cant find any info anywhere, where are you guys getting the hardware? All my distributors tell me i cant get my hands on one till april when they start shipping.
It won't help you, but the Logitech Smartdock is in Germany available since a few weeks.
Andrew_Allston wrote:I have to ask since i cant find any info anywhere, where are you guys getting the hardware? All my distributors tell me i cant get my hands on one till april when they start shipping.
That seems to be true here as well but we are a Microsoft partner and our Distributor allowed us to buy some systems that we "build" ourselves (mount the Surface in the Dock etc). Seems like there is some licensing issue discussed (for example, who should give support, Microsoft? Logitech?) and all of us agree that this should probably have been discussed a long time ago :)
