Choosing the right devices for your communication strategy is an important step in ensuring the productivity and efficiency of your team. After all, while having the right software in place is crucial to enabling the workforce, your people can’t accomplish much without the best endpoints too.
The good news for those investing in the Microsoft Teams ecosystem for collaboration and communication, is there are endless complementary devices to choose from. As Teams becomes a more valuable addition to many business roadmaps, a number of hardware vendors have begun building their products to adhere to Microsoft’s standards.
Some vendors are even taking part in the “Microsoft Certified Devices” program, to prove just how effective their tools are when combined with Teams. So, what exactly are Microsoft Teams Certified devices, and what are their unique benefits?
Defining Microsoft Teams Certified Devices
While Microsoft does have a selection of its own peripherals and endpoints to offer today’s businesses, it also knows companies have specific preferences when it comes to choosing hardware. As such, Microsoft has developed a flexible ecosystem of partners capable of offering high-quality webcams, microphones, speakers, and room kits for the modern workplace.
To help customers identify which tools have been custom-built for the Microsoft Teams ecosystem, Microsoft also created the “Teams devices Certification Program”. This is essentially a method of evaluating the features and functionality of devices built for Teams, to ensure they meet the highest standards for quality and user experience.
Microsoft works with OEM partners in its networks to ensure every device created and certified for Teams delivers excellent audio, visuals, and a powerful user interface. The certification requirements also look at concepts like security and privacy for data transferred across endpoints, accessibility, and ease of use.
How Does Microsoft Teams Device Certification Work?
Microsoft’s certification program also guarantees all of the approved devices offered for Teams run on the latest version of the Android operating system, and deliver the correct feature set for Teams and the Teams admin centre. Vendors apply for certification, submitting their devices to the Microsoft lab, where experts analyse their functionality and performance.
The Microsoft team looks at a host of different capabilities, depending on the device submitted for certification, ranging from latency and HD video functionality to audio quality. After a complete battery of tests have been conducted, the device is approved or rejected for certification.
Notably, certifications do have an expiration, often based on the operating system version running on the device when it enters the program.
Vendors can extend the lifetime of their certification by upgrading their Android OS version, releasing new versions of the products, and making updates to the functionality. Beyond the certification period, Microsoft is also committed to supporting the performance of the most recent version of the Teams client on all approved devices for a further 2 years.
What Devices Can Be Certified for Teams?
As the communication and collaboration landscape continues to evolve, the number of devices companies rely on to keep teams connected is evolving. Today’s hybrid workplaces often use a combination of certified Teams phones, headsets, room kits and speakers to empower staff.
