Navigating Microsoft Teams Panels in 2022

Discovering the potential of Microsoft Teams Panels

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Navigating Microsoft Teams Panels in 2022
CollaborationInsights

Published: May 19, 2022

Rebekah Carter - Writer

Rebekah Carter

Building the perfect Microsoft Teams Room environment for your hybrid workforce means ensuring you have the right software in place and the correct hardware. 

While Microsoft Teams can give companies all the software solutions, they need for video conferencing, content sharing, and more, incredible conferencing experiences rely on your ability to access the correct devices. For many companies, this includes the use of “Panels”. 

Simple but effective devices for controlling your Microsoft Teams environment through the Microsoft Teams Rooms app, “panels” are often placed outside meeting spaces, next to the entrance. Let’s explore everything you need to know about Teams panels.

What are Microsoft Teams Panels?

Often placed outside a meeting room, panels display all the meeting details scheduled via Outlook 365 or Teams calendaring applications. The solutions prominently display meeting details, so attendees can confirm if they’re in the right place for their meetings.

Microsoft Teams panels support a range of features, including:

  • Display of meeting space details: Panels provide quick information about meeting spaces, including their availability and location. You can also see key meeting details like the title of a meeting, meeting schedules, and who is responsible for organising each meeting.
  • Availability status: Colour coded indicates display meeting room availability status immediately. This ensures users can tell from anywhere whether a meeting space is reserved or available to use without speaking to an admin. 
  • Reservations: If a meeting room is available, you can use your Microsoft Teams panels to reserve the space instantly for an ad-hoc meeting. You can even join the meeting from the in-room Teams or Surface hub devices. 
  • Accessibility: Microsoft Teams panels come with various accessibility features, including high-contrast text and customisations, so anyone can easily see the information they need about a meeting straight away. 
  • Customisation: To ensure your panels match your brand, administrators can change the default look of their panels within the settings. You can add your own background wallpaper and change the colour of the “busy” indicator.

Teams Panels: Requirements and Licenses

Microsoft works with many leading brands to deliver exceptional functionality to companies in need of Teams panels. At the time of writing, there are five certified panels available, including:

  • Logitech TAP scheduler
  • Yealink RoomPanel
  • Crestron TSS-1070
  • Crestron TSS-770
  • Neat Pad panel

Each panel will come with specific hardware, software, and network requirements to consider when deploying your technology, so it’s worth speaking to the manufacturer about your needs. On the plus side, from a Microsoft Teams perspective, you should only need a Teams Rooms standard license to get started. 

To choose your Microsoft Teams panels, you may want to look at some of the devices on offer. The above-certified solutions are designed to work specifically with Microsoft Teams, so you can rest assured that they’ll give you a great meeting experience. However, you may also want to think about whether you can integrate these devices with other hardware you might be using. 

Microsoft does recommend creating a resource account for managing your Microsoft Teams panels hardware in advance of your actual installation date. A good tip is to name your resource accounts, so you know what you’re using each one for. 

How to Use Microsoft Teams Panels

Like most Microsoft Teams tools, Microsoft Teams panel solutions are designed to be convenient and easy to use. The first step in leveraging your technology is procuring the right panel for you. Microsoft recommends taking an inventory of the bookable meeting spaces in your business landscape during this stage to decide how many panels you need and what additional hardware might be necessary. 

It’s also worth looking at things like:

  • Mounting requirements: Different meeting spaces will have different mounting requirements based on the materials in use in and around the room (i.e., glass or plaster)
  • Site readiness: Make sure you work with networking, audio-visual teams, and other experts to ensure your deployment requirements are met at each stage. You may need access to specific power supply options around your meeting rooms. 
  • Resource accounts: Microsoft recommends having dedicated resource accounts set aside, which you can use to sign in to your Microsoft Teams app on each panel.

As a bonus note, Microsoft reminds users that if you own a room resource account for your meeting space, you can use this when signing into the panels device. However, you’ll need to make sure the resource account has access to a Microsoft Teams Rooms standard license so you can use it as a panels account. 

Additionally, if you own a Microsoft Teams Rooms solution deployed where you’re installing your panels, you won’t need to purchase a separate license to deploy these hardware tools. For larger meeting spaces, like conferences and board rooms, you can still mount a one-panel device at each entrance, and these panels will share the same resource account.

Testing and Using Microsoft Teams Panels

Once you have your Microsoft Teams Rooms panels installed and assigned to the correct accounts, you’ll be able to test the features yourself and ensure everything works properly. Microsoft recommends creating various meetings for different time slots and checking if the details are correctly displayed on the panels. 

You can simply go into your Microsoft Teams admin centre and access the “Panels” tab in the “Teams Devices” section to manage your Teams panels. You’ll have total control of your panel’s configuration from a distance, and you’ll be able to easily manage updates, restart devices, and even add or remove device tags.

If you’re looking for a convenient way to upgrade your Microsoft Teams Rooms experience, panels can be an excellent choice. All you need to do is make sure you choose a panel from the right vendor and take the time to configure it properly. 

 

 

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