Skype Room Systems v2 - first impressions

Steel Contributor

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 ;).
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  • 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.

76 Replies

@David Phillips wrote:

"Windows 10 Enterprise Creators Update (build 1703) is not supported for Skype Room Systems v2 image creation."


Hope that changes soon...


Yes. In the meanwhile - turn OFF automatic updates or your on-screen-keyboard will stop working.

The on-screen keyboard stopped working when Windows 10 got updated from 1607 to 1703.

When looking trough the settings I found that one registry key got reset:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\TabletTip\1.7\EnableDesktopModeAutoInvoke

When resetting this to the same value as configured in the scripts in the Skype Room System Deployment Kit and then restarting the device the touch screen keyboard started to work again.

Set-ItemProperty -Path HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\TabletTip\1.7 -Name EnableDesktopModeAutoInvoke -Value 1 -Type DWord

Hope this might help anyone who got the same issue as me.

Just wanted to share the issues we faced in our organisation as this could be useful for others:

1. It is not possible to capture the image with SRS application. We need that in order to deploy the image via SCCM. If you follow the instructions in this KB - https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/mt790558.aspx you will be able to install Win 10 and SRS application, but you won't be able to capture that image - resulting image will not have SRS application. We have support ticket opened for that since the end of June and no progress so far

2. The only option to get SRS application updates is Windows Store. There is no standalone msi package. The package in this KB - https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/mt790558.aspx is not a SRS application - it is a set of files for image deployment actually. Again if you want to deploy new SRS application via SCCM you can't do that.

3. Microsoft Premier Support has no idea what is Skype Room System. Every time you open a ticket you will have to explain that this is Surface Pro device and that Microsoft develops SRS software for it. Then you ticket will go back and forth between different Microsoft team as (again!) they have no idea what SRS is.

4. Microsoft just announced that Surface Pro 4 is not available, while Surface Pro 5 will become available in the end of September only. If you want to purchase SRS now you can't do that!

 

Hello Pavel,

We face a annoying issue with windows creator udpate with 2 screens, second screen sharing is zoomed in and show part of the source HDMI and half of the secondary view screen, it's really weird and looks related to the improvement made for this creator version. Any idea about this bug fix lilke the virtual keyboard reg fix ?

It's bit stressful to not apply the windows updates as we don't the impact on the SRS application...

Hi Christophe,

we have not faced that issue as we didn't apply Creator's update. I suggest that you turn off automatic updates and deploy security updates only to SRS.

Hi Pavel,

 

 

What happens when you try to install the Skype Room System app using ConfigMgr?

 

The installation file is located in the folder \$oem$\$1\Rigel\x64\Ship\AppPackages\SkypeRoomSystem after you have extracted the MSI from https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=851168

 

Then you should be able to do something like Exercise 1 in this guide, https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/keithmayer/2013/02/25/step-by-step-deploying-windows-8-apps-with...

 

Any luck with that?

 

Hi Erik,

The install from that folder \$oem$\$1\Rigel\x64\Ship\AppPackages\SkypeRoomSystem didn't work. Did you try to install it? Was it successful?

I am also wondering if anyone else tried to capture SRS image for further distribution within a large enterprise?

Hello Roman,

I fully agreed about the need to have a package and a more integrated entreprise solution. I would like the Windows updates without having impact on the SRS2 application and the MSI package available to redeploy anytime instead of a hving to go to the MS store app to get the latest version.

 

For a masse deployment of 600 rooms you can't afford to restage even 20% of your SRS2 if you get a wrong windows update or a need to update to the latest version due to a bug of federated contacts.

 

I really appreciate the schedule of updates for the support of the SRS2 but this needs to be stabilized, communication about the roadmap, and support .

Hello Pavel,

 

Surface Pro new generation could be very interesting with the fanless mode, i noticed the SRS2 was really using the fan during a call. We didn't invest in one yet.

 

Did you try to get the boot on PXE with the USB image and automate the last steps of the installation ?

 

 

 

Hello Christophe!

So far, we tried OSD with PXE and Stand-Alone media.

What exactly you mean wen you say about last steps automation?

 

Actually, we're working with Pavel together on this project.

So far we made many attempts to make SRS "somehow" ready for enterprise deployment through SCCM, but no luck yet.

 

Please find a few highlights below:

1) We captured reference Image with SRS application already installed. After deployment OS from this Image, the OS itself, CM Client, Domain Join and Windows activation are working smoothly, but SRS application just disappears from the Image. We still have source files in FS at C:\Rigel.

2) We tried to use these source files to restore the app.

We ran InstallSkype.ps1 script - no luck.

We tried with full installation by Config.cmd script - no luck.

After system restart we still see there is no SRS application. I guess this is because the installation scripts identifies that SRS is already installed (may be according to reg keys or files/folders in FS).

3) We cannot plan normal product lifecycle with SCCM (without Windows Store). Unfortunately, there is no MSI/EXE available when MS updates app in Windows Store.

4) When I observed SRS source scripts, I couls see that installation is aimed mostly for local account "Skype". I really like how this local account works for end user. (You only have SRS Interface and nothing more. No credential prompt, no possibility to do something wrong.)

Ideally would be nice to have installer which prompts for account name and install/configure SRS in the same way as for Skype.

 

Our next step - deploy clean Win10 on a Surface and try to install SRS manually with scripts, but this not ideal solution. We would not like to make reverse-engineering each time where there is an update :)

we got today update 3.10.0 but not aware of improvements inside.

And still we have some issue with the sharing second screen

That's imho one of the biggest problems, the missing fix/feature list. Most of the users who deploy SRSv2 want a kb article or something where we can get the latest infos about whats new/fixed in the appropriate release.
Some good news posted today :)

Check out the blog post from David Groom at https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Skype-for-Business-Blog/Skype-Room-Systems-v2-3-0-10-0-Update...

"For companies building their own SRS v2 images, we'll post a 3.0.10.0 standalone MSI shortly. The standalone MSI will be linked for download from the "Prepare the insallation image" article on Technet here."

hi Ivar,

was all you did literally just set the "Dual Monitor Mode" from OFF to ON? and the not-displaying-on-screen issue was resolved? 'cuz i've tried that but it still doesn't work. :(

smartdock not in dual screen.PNG

But as you can see, the SRS is very much recognizing the 2nd monitor, as it's got windows background pushed to it. Grrr...

 

Thanks a ton in advance,

-chuck

Just deployed our first SRS pilot installations in meeting rooms using Logitech kit.

 

I was naïve enough to use the unattended installation from TechNet article 790558 without modifications for this pilot and learned the hard way that auto-update is enabled in this setup, so an upgrade to version 1703 eventually happened.

 

After this I have received a report from a user who experience a "partial picture" when using the HDMI input, and the behaviour seems to be very much like Christophes example.

 

I presume CU is still "not supported" for SRS so I will revert to 1607 on one of the units to cross-check this.

 

I production we plan to monitor with OMS and manage the deployment through Intune, so we can defer future feature updates until they are approved.