Project Overview
Remark Group recently completed a project for a client that are in the agricultural sector. The company had several collaboration and meeting areas that were needed for them to communicate with clients across the country.
In order to keep up with recent developments in video conferencing platforms it was requested that Remark Group provide a turn-key solution enabling Microsoft Teams to be used in one of the most critical meeting rooms.
After completing a site survey and careful discussion with the client, it was decided to deploy a Microsoft Teams Rooms system to facilitate their Teams meetings.
The Conferencing Solution
The Conferencing Solution has been designed to encourage what the client has described as ‘low friction’ Microsoft Teams meetings, and ultimately achieves a user-friendly conferencing experience.
The Conferencing Solution for Microsoft Teams, consists of a complete solution to allow meetings to take place quickly and efficiently, directly from the designated Meeting Room. The Mini PC powers the system, and is controlled via the touch console interface, linking into the audio and video peripherals, and content sharing unit.
The sleek system design means that users can benefit from not only making calls directly from the room and system, but also by using a ‘bring your own device’ approach (when used in conjunction with the included associated Wireless Button).
The system also includes a Wired Microphone and wide-angle Pan Tilt Zoom Camera, for a vivid face-to-face virtual experience and features a Soundbar.
Installation
On the day of the installation our AV specifier accompanied our engineers to site and set to work running the necessary cables and infrastructure within the room. The camera was mounted above the screen, a touch pad dialler and microphone fitted to the desk and the micro PC was hidden within the floor space. The physical part of the install went very smoothly and within a few hours the system was online, simply requiring the client’s Microsoft log in details to begin providing seamless, trouble free conferencing capabilities.
By mid-afternoon the team had provided the client with a demonstration of the rooms new conferencing facilities making several test calls within the main hub. The responses to the system were extremely positive, both the audio and video quality impressed with their high definition. Indeed, one of the employees was amazed at how the HD camera image even allowed him to see the detail of the building several hundred meters away through the window of the meeting room.
Most importantly the ‘friction free’ experience of connecting to Microsoft Teams meetings was achieved to the client’s satisfaction, making the installation a complete success.
More about Microsoft Teams
Teams comes in two different options, the standard Teams App that users can have on their devices and Microsoft Teams Rooms for the meeting space, for everybody to enjoy in their meeting rooms. Microsoft Teams launched in 2017 is the complete collaboration tool enabling both office based and remote staff to collaborate with individuals or designated groups of employees within only workspaces with the Microsoft Teams Application. As Teams is Cloud based, it can be accessed anywhere via the desktop or mobile application on both iOS and Android.
Microsoft Teams is fully integrated to Microsoft Office 365 and combines chat, meetings, notes and attachments which allows businesses seamlessly interact with each other wherever they are. It can also be synchronized with your calendar and pulls in existing appointments and also shows when all the other attendees are free.
The dedicated ‘Meetings’ tab on the left-hand side of the interface displays all scheduled and past appointments, with details of the agenda if included. You can set up meetings in this tab via Teams or do it in Outlook; regardless, they will show up in both applications without issue. The real-time chat function makes it easy to keep track of every private and team discussion, as it’s all recorded in one easy-to-find place, keeping collaboration and productivity flowing.
One of the most popular features of Microsoft Teams is Live Events. Teams Live Events are considered the next version of Skype Meeting Broadcast and will eventually replace the capabilities provided in Skype Meeting Broadcast.
Live Events makes it easy and quick to organise real-time, virtual gatherings. It includes fully integrated video and content streaming, to make live discussion highly interactive. To engage with your teams in Live Events, all that the participants need is a USB audio/video device.
Using Microsoft Stream, event organisers can add in participants using third party hardware and software too. This further expands the locations and devices you can use to address a diverse audience in real time. Remark Group are experts in video conferencing, with each project being unique and bespoke to the client’s needs and requirements. Get in touch today to discuss your conferencing needs.
