Microsoft Teams Rooms Pro: Is it Worth the Investment?

Microsoft Teams Rooms Pro adds AI, security and management tools to hybrid meeting rooms, but raises costs for buyers.

Meetings have always been a crucial component of any business landscape. Successful meetings pave the way for innovation, allow for more effective collaboration between teams, and ensure ongoing productivity. However, the way we meet has changed significantly in recent years.

The rise of hybrid and remote working, sparked by the pandemic, has led to fewer meetings taking place in traditional office environments. Additionally, conversations are now happening on a more agile, ad-hoc basis, making legacy meeting rooms less efficient.

Fortunately, leaders in the collaboration landscape, such as Microsoft, have introduced solutions designed to transform the meeting experience for everyone. With Microsoft Teams Rooms, companies can access all of the components they need to transform any space into a meeting room.

Microsoft has even built on its existing Teams Rooms offering with “Microsoft Teams Pro,” a more comprehensive solution, specially designed for the hybrid workplace. The question is, do you just need a standard Microsoft Teams Room, or a Pro solution?

What are Microsoft Teams Rooms?

Microsoft Teams Rooms (MTR) are essentially collections of components designed to help businesses create powerful meeting spaces, with minimal complexity. The standard MTR consists of a variety of different elements, such as a computing solution which runs a room-based version of the Microsoft Teams client, and tabletop consoles for managing meetings.

Teams Rooms also come with all the essential components required to support audio and video meetings, such as one or more cameras or camera bars, audio systems like microphones and speakers, and other accessories.

All “Rooms” solutions come with a host of benefits, including high-quality video and audio as standard, wireless content sharing and support for collaborative whiteboarding. They’re also designed to be easy to use for everyone, with flexible plug-and-play equipment that supports the rise of ad-hoc meeting environments.

The standard version of Microsoft Teams Rooms is free to use, although you will need to pay for the Microsoft certified devices you use in your meeting space. You’ll also need a subscription to Microsoft Teams, so you can leverage the collaborative platform for your workforce.

“Something to be mindful of, however, is that Teams Rooms Basic is free for up to 25 rooms. Organisations with more rooms will have to purchase Teams Rooms Pro from room 26 upwards. If organisations want a unified meeting room experience they will need to upgrade their first 25 rooms to Pro also.”

Wesley Budd, Strategic Partner Manager at Symity

What is Microsoft Teams Rooms Pro?

On the standard Microsoft Teams Room plan, users can join meetings with a single touch, share content seamlessly, and leverage shared digital canvases for collaboration. With Microsoft Teams Rooms Pro, businesses can upgrade the software behind their meeting room experiences.

The solution comes with all of the features of the “Basic” service, as well as some unique additions, such as:

Artificial intelligence: Enhance hybrid meeting experiences with AI-powered audio and video device experiences, designed to boost immersion and collaboration.
Advanced meeting experiences: Boost engagement with advanced meeting solutions like inclusive video and room layouts, customizations, and chat bubble alerts.
Enterprise-grade security: Protect your meetings with advanced management and security tools, access controls, remote configuration, ITSM integrations, and device analytics.
Management tools: Intelligently manage meeting rooms with AI-powered operations to automate problem detection, updates, and resolutions at scale.
Innovative features: Access all of the latest features in the Microsoft ecosystem, such as chat and Loop components, remote PTZ controls, and intelligent device support

Microsoft Teams Rooms Pro is available for a subscription price of £32.90 per room per month, which does add a significant additional expense to your Microsoft toolkit. Alongside your subscription, you’ll still need to pay for your meeting room technology, and Microsoft Teams service too.

Wesley Budd, Strategic Partner Manager at Symity says “Teams Rooms Pro offers great enhancements to your meeting experience as well as helping monitor your rooms health with the meeting room management portal helping to capture any issues your room systems may have early on. Which is especially useful for your most important meeting rooms like the boardroom.”

Is Microsoft Teams Rooms Pro Worth It?

Microsoft Teams Rooms Pro can be a relatively pricey add-on for smaller businesses investing in Microsoft’s solutions for collaboration. However, it does offer some fantastic benefits. With a more intuitive Rooms experience, companies can build intelligent, inclusive, and dynamic meeting environments, specially suited to the needs of the hybrid workplace.

Microsoft Teams Room Pro elevates the meeting experience offered by the standard Rooms software, with advanced configuration recommendations, inclusive meeting room layouts, and more comprehensive intelligent camera and speaker support.

It also provides businesses with useful insights they can use to improve meeting experiences, such as advanced analytical tools, real-time monitoring and alerts, and comprehensive self-management tools.

Deciding whether Microsoft Teams Pro is worth it for your business means asking yourself:

How important are hybrid meetings to your company? If you host regular hybrid meetings, Meeting Rooms Pro can help improve inclusivity and collaboration for your teams.
Are you investing in AI? If you’re already investing in intelligent cameras and speakers for your meetings, Microsoft’s Pro service will help you build on this technology, with advanced features, inclusive meeting room layouts, and powerful presentation tools.
How do you manage meeting rooms? With comprehensive self-management tools, advanced configuration recommendations, and security policies tailored to your environment, Pro can make managing your meeting rooms much easier.

Teams Rooms Pro offers great enhancements to your meeting experience as well as helping monitor your rooms health with the meeting room management portal helping to capture any issues your room systems may have early on. Which is especially useful for your most important meeting rooms like the boardroom.

Making the Most of your Microsoft Teams Rooms

While upgrading to the Microsoft Teams Rooms Pro experience can deliver a number of benefits to hybrid teams, there are other ways to enhance the quality of your meeting spaces. Leading Microsoft partners, like Symity can create and implement room packages on your behalf, ensuring you make the most of every Teams Room investment.

Experts can design room packages that work for your teams, implement easy-to-use tools, and supply all of the intelligent cameras and equipment you need. Plus, these partners can integrate your MTR solution with Teams, outlook, security, and network tools, improving user adoption and strengthening the outcomes of your meetings.

As an added bonus, partners for Microsoft Teams Rooms and meetings can deliver ongoing proactive support to ensure your room keeps delivering value year after year. They can offer access to some of the most intuitive tools in the marketplace, while giving you the technical and configuration guidance you need to transform the meeting room experience.

If you’re looking for a way to take your Microsoft Teams Rooms experience to the next level, investing in Microsoft Teams Rooms Pro could be a good choice. However, you can also boost the quality of your meetings, and unlock more value from your technology with the right Microsoft partner.

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