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Teams Rooms on Windows now have a new look thanks to Microsoft

Microsoft is updating the Teams Rooms platform’s user interface so that it is consistent with both the Windows and Android operating systems.

Teams Rooms on Windows PCs and displays will soon get a visual update to bring them in line with Android consoles for Rooms. Microsoft claims that the improvements for Teams Rooms on Windows 4.16 would be made broadly accessible by the end of the first quarter.

Microsoft is updating the Windows console with new soft buttons for easy access to Meet, Call, Share (for HDMI content), Join through ID, and a More button for the expanded menu.

The new menu screen’s overflow option, “Invite this room,” lets attendees start a Teams meeting from a companion device and utilise the room’s audio and video. Accessibility controls, bug reporting, device restart, and configuration options are also included.

Microsoft is giving meeting attendees more say over the big screen by modernising the view switcher menu to more easily toggle between collaborative viewing modes like Gallery, Together Mode, Front Row, and so on. One may choose settings like whether to display both material and individuals, or simply the latter.

The Front Row view may be customised in a number of ways, including the ability to show or hide the meeting chat and the ability to choose which meeting elements appear on the left and right panels.

Microsoft updated its estimate of Teams’ MAUs for the first time since January 2022, when it said the service had 270 million MAUs, in its Q2 financial report for the fiscal year 2024, released this month. Since the epidemic drove Teams from 44 million DAU in March 2020 to 145 million DAU in April 2021, its growth has slowed dramatically, reaching around 280 million MAU as of the previous quarter.

More people are returning to the workplace, as Microsoft stated that there are now over 500,000 active Teams Rooms devices, up 70% year over year.

To the public, Microsoft will release the premium add-on to Teams in February. Advanced security and AI-powered meeting summaries are included in the monthly fee of $10 per user. Microsoft claims that the preview has generated “high interest.”

Once released to the public, Teams Premium will be sold as an add-on to current Microsoft 365 or Office 365 subscriptions. Intelligent recap, however, will start appearing in the first half of 2023.

In addition to Teams Rooms Standard ($15 per device per month) and Teams Rooms Premium ($50 per device per month), Microsoft has released Microsoft Teams Rooms Basic ($10 per device per month) and Microsoft Teams Rooms Pro ($20 per device per month).

With a free Microsoft Teams Rooms Basic licence, administrators may give out up to 25 licences to Teams Rooms devices, but those users will have access to less capabilities than those who subscribe to the paid Standard tier. Teams Rooms Pro is needed for any number of devices beyond 25, at a cost of $40 per month per device.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recently said that the company will “incorporate AI in every tier of the stack, whether it’s in productivity, whether it’s in our consumer services…” after making a massive investment in ChatGPT developer OpenAI.