Microsoft has announced it is extending the expiration date for personally licensed Teams Rooms hardware to give customers more time to transition between licenses.
Initially, Microsoft had said the cut-off date would be July 1st, but it has now added a further 90 days of amnesty, shifting the deadline to September 30, 2023.
Even though the move will provide those affected with price reductions, it is evidently taking customers longer to make the transition than Microsoft had first anticipated.
In an announcement made just days before the first change-over deadline, Microsoft said:
“While we remain steadfast in our objective of ensuring a secure and compliant use of Microsoft Teams Rooms devices, we also acknowledge the need for adequate time to address migration issues.
“Therefore, we’re granting more time to allow you to help your customers complete their transitions smoothly.”
Specifically, the Teams Rooms device licenses affected include customers using Personal Mode, plus the Teams application on Surface Hub and Teams Panels. They will no longer be able to sign in without a corporate Teams Rooms license from the end of September.
The impact of this decision affects Cloud Solution Providers (CSPs) and Licensing Solution Provider (LSP) partners.
Microsoft has provided various resources to help these partners and providers in getting their customers to effect a migration.
The first is a link to its first announcement, breaking the news and offering to answer questions or concerns they may have.
The second resource is an example script with an embedded video tutorial to assist in auditing Teams Rooms licenses.
Finally, Microsoft has provided a downloadable PDF with FAQs, such as “Why is Microsoft enforcing the Teams Rooms licensing” and “Will I need to purchase additional hardware to comply with licensing enforcement?”.
Microsoft admits the extension is based on known customer issues and explains its motivation behind extending the deadline in the FAQ, “Will I receive a grace period if I am not compliant by July 1, 2023?”:
“Given the challenges that some of our customers are facing in migrating to the new licensing, we have elected to provide a 90-day grace period enforcement period that will begin on our July 1, 2023 enforcement date and end on September 30, 2023.
“We have made this decision with our commitment to customer satisfaction and seamless transition.”
It goes on to explain that the grace period will only apply to those actively taking steps to obtaining compliant licenses by July 1.
Those “improperly using User licenses” for Teams Rooms or Teams Panels will not be given an extension to get their licenses in order.
We will find out soon how strictly Microsoft will enforce the July 1 cut-off for those it perceives to be dragging their feet, and how exactly it would determine which companies these are.
Ultimately, Microsoft warns, failing to adopt the new licenses “could result in disruption to your Teams Rooms experience, including the ability to join meetings or make calls, depending on the device type.”
It adds that devices enrolled in the Pro Management portal and Teams Panels will also be affected.
New Era Technology has offered advice about how to manage Microsoft Teams Rooms on a global scale.
UC Today’s Rob Scott discussed the latest Teams news this month with various Microsoft Teams experts.
