Meeting Rooms for a Hybrid World
Questions to ask yourself before designing and equipping a meeting room
Here is a list of questions you should ask and answer before planning a meeting room design. The information you gather should help you ask the right questions to your IT support or AV System Integrator to help you make the right decisions.
- Do you want a room-based solution or BYOD?
- How many meeting rooms do we have?
- How many meeting rooms are we planning to have?
- What is the size of the meeting room?
- How many people are present at a typical meeting?
- Will the meeting room be used for a specific type of meeting?
- Must the room support different types of meetings?
- Do external visitors use our meeting rooms?
- Do you have existing equipment that can be reused?
- Do all meeting participants bring and use laptops/other devices in their meeting rooms?
- How many electrical outlets does the room have and need?
What is Microsoft Teams Room (MTR)?
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- Microsoft Teams Room (MTR) is an all-in-one, easy-to-use solution, designed to deliver consistent Teams experiences.
- Native Microsoft Teams touch screen UI provides a consistent user experience with simple operation and one-touch meeting joins.
- Uses Microsoft-certified hardware created by leading industry partners like Crestron, Logitech, Poly, HP, & Lenovo.
Recommended AV Components
- Approved AV Guidelines for Meeting Room Design
- Schwartz Reisman Innovation Centre (SRIC) AV components
Purchasing AV Components
- Orders can be placed through uSource , an eProcurement platform for the University of Toronto
- U of T Approved AV Vendor List
Things To Consider
- Consult with your Local IT or an AV installer/integrator before making any purchases
- Consider purchasing a support agreement with an AV integrator if you do not have AV support
- AV equipment being impacted by global supply chain issues
- AV equipment currently back-ordered due to semiconductor chip shortages
- Expect lead times of approx. 8-12+ weeks
- Pricing & product availability is volatile
- Crestron most impacted manufacturer
Pros and Cons of Teams Rooms vs BYOD
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Microsoft Teams Room (MTR)
Pros
- Single tap to start meeting
- Easy to use (intuitive UI/UX)
- Participant’s device(laptop) is not needed to conduct the video conference.
- The Teams Room is a meeting participant and is invited to the meeting. (No need to log in with a personal account)
Cons
- Additional annual Teams Room license needs to be purchased
- Limited Flexibility – Joining Zoom meetings is possible but with limitations. (Web app)
- Content/Screen sharing requires meeting participants to bring a laptop or cell phone.
- Compute device only runs Teams Room OS – Cannot run windows/O365 applications
Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)
Pros
- Familiarity – Use the video conferencing applications already installed on your PC.
- IT pushes video conferencing software upgrades to users’ managed PC.
- Flexibility – Compatible with all video conference software (Teams, Zoom, WebEx, etc.)
- Cost Savings – No additional Teams Room license needs to be purchased.
Cons
- A meeting participant will be required to bring a laptop to run the video conference.
- More difficult to use the device while connected to a Video conference.
- Lack of Uniformity in Devices – not all employees have the same device
- Private email & chat messages could be seen by coworkers when projecting a laptop to a meeting room display.
Upcoming Training Dates
View the full list of dates on the Connect+Learn page.
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