Teams Meetings Location .... Not Showing up for you ?

 Most of what we do in the technical world is founded on following instructions. From the time we were young, assembling models, to fixing cars and motorcycles, to implementing technical solutions and designing software - we follow instructions, guides and videos - and we mix in trial and error.

Recently I was working on a demonstration for a customer, and tripped across something I expected to be easy, or at least easy to find guidance. For the sake of the customers I support, I try to find the most official form of guidance, and usually start with Microsoft Learn documentation .... but in this case, I struggled to find clear guidance regarding Meeting Location definition when setting up a Teams Meeting.

The goal for the demo, Show how small conference rooms without a Meeting Room Device (Teams MTR) can be offered for Wellness Rooms and Focus time, and have a Teams Panel outside the room to visually display room availability. Sounds like a pretty straight forward setup, used often, and now much more important with many enterprises returning to offices, or offering hybrid work options.

As I set up the demo, I ran into the hurdle, this post will hopefully help others who find the same.

  

As I mentioned, the overall goal was to set up a Room Resource, with mailbox, and also assign a Shared Device license for the Teams Room Panel. This activity in itself is not terribly challenging. You might want to start in the M365 Admin Center to create the user account and assign the Shared Device License for the Panel. My first advisory, don't start by creating a user account for a room - the panel will work, BUT with one unintended consequence - the panel will not display the person who booked the room, and will show the meeting title which most people prefer to be obscured with shared devices and panels.

Not Obscured

Correctly Presented

So instead, start in Exchange Admin, or in the M365 Admin Center - Under Resources -> Rooms ... and create a room resource account. (You may already do this, but did want to point out the experience difference when ROOM type is not used)

From here, once created, you will have the right room resource, mailbox for scheduling, and you can assign a Shared Device license for the panel, assuming you don't have an MTR in the room. (when MTR IS in the room, your panel can use the MTR account to link the panel, MTR, and room scheduling with a common calendar)

 Users now see the room available as an attendee.

BUT - the room really isn't a person, not attending the meeting. The room is a room with a location and the location is not found.

At this point Outlook doesn't recognize the room as a location, and Teams knows its a room and shouldn't be invited as an attendee.

So - we have to take a few extra steps, to identify the room's location. This is done through Exchange Powershell. (Technically we could have created the room resource in Powershell using the New-Mailbox and Set-Mailbox cmdlet  - feel free to look that one up on your own)

The extra steps needed:

1. Create a Distribution Group using RoomList- NewDistributionGroup
2. Add the Conf Room Resource to the Distribution Group - Add-DistributionGroupMember
3. Set the location of the room - Set-Place -Identity

New-DistributionGroup -Name "Focus Rooms" -RoomList

Add-DistributionGroupMember -Identity "Focus Rooms" -Member "WellnessRoom"

Set-Place -Identity "WellnessRoom" -Building "Main Office"

The input and output looks like this

Note - if you have multiple rooms to add to a Distribution Group, you can use the following PS:

$AddConf = Get-Mailbox -RecipientTypeDetails Room Mailbox -Filter {Office -eq 'YOUR OFFICE NAME'} | Select -Expand Property Alias

$AddConf | Add-DistributionGroupMember -Identity "YOUR DG NAME"

Now both Outlook and Teams recognizes Wellness Room as a location and room.

And there you have it ... a room with panel with location in Teams calendar.

Ear Buds for Work and Play

Every day some really smart people post opinion and factual feedback regarding Bluetooth audio device preferences. Today I wanted to share my opinion, based on experience, with some popular choices in the Ear Bud category.

1st - if you prefer a full headset, over the ear experience, or like having a boom mic to mute/unmute - this review may not be for you

2nd - I don't use Apple ear buds, and don't even have them in here for review. 

This comparison will focus on Microsoft Surface Buds, Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3 and Poly Voyager Free 60+ UC. I'd have loved to put the Jabra options in this list - alas, I don't have Jabra buds, just over the ear models.

I'm also not going to get deep into tech-specs - codecs, frequency ranges etc. I wanted to stick to practical features and daily use - I'm not a review guy.

I also suspect many of you will recognize, each of these models appeal to different use-cases and user preferences - I will go through my experience.

        Poly Voyager Free 60+ UC      Sennheiser Momentum TW3      Good Old Surface Buds

Best for work+ - Poly Voyager Free 60+ UC

Best for Audiophile - Sennheiser

Smallest Case - Surface Buds

Backdrop - I have used the Surface Buds the longest - over 2 years now and still ticking. The Sennheiser's became a need, I was looking for a good blend of high quality music, workout bud, also good for meetings and calls. The Poly's came out right after I got the Sennheiser's - because ... that's how technology works, something new comes out right after you purchase.

I use each of these connected to different compute - iPhone, Android, Surface Laptop and Pro. Music genre is all over. And meetings - they are pretty standard, always someone muted who shouldn't be, and someone unmuted who should be - but noise canceling critical.

Volume - nothing can be loud enough for me - turn it to 11 and break off the knob. These all do a great job of balancing volume, with limited driver space, and battery life.

One might argue, my current employer has influence over my opinions here. This may be true, but not for the "surface" reason. We'll talk a little more about Teams Certified devices later.

On to the "good" ....

Surface Buds:

Pros	Cons
Least Expensive	Standard Audio Quality
Easy Pairing and Setup	Not Teams Certified (Surprising to some I bet)
	No additional noise canceling
	Form factor may not fit all ears

Rock Solid, and for those who use Surface Headphones with frustration, I'll tell you, the buds do a great job, getting connected and staying connected. I always thought the audio quality was great - until I tried some others. Case is small and easy to put in a pocket. As a Microsoft product, there are a few cool features, like slide advance in Powerpoint - Cool stuff I just don't use much. Charge lasts a while and updates are easy with Surface app. Other than my kids looking at me (with the buds in) and thinking I got my ears "gauged" ... These guys have never really let me down.

 

Sennheiser Momentum TW3:

Pros	Cons
Fantastic Audio	Not best for Gym - tend to fall out
Sound control - Smart Control App	Firmware updates - take some time
	Hard to reseat in ear without pushing a control

I was excited when I got these. Sennheiser always known for world-class audio and engineering. Music is spatial, almost 4 dimensional. The mic and AI noise canceling is great. Wind reduction also fantastic. Music on the plane, then I walk through the airport still hear what I need to (announcements for delays), and don't hear the "noise". When they do start to fall out of the ear, pushing them back in is tough without hitting a control like mute, or pause - but this only happens when I'm moving a lot. Initially had some echo in meetings when connected to my iPhone - could have been Apple/Teams/Smart Control app fighting for option priorities. Seemed to be fixed in latest firmware update. That said - firmware updates 15min +. I put these on (or in) and enter a different world.

Poly Voyager 60+ UC:

Pros	Cons
Great Audio - without having to configure an app	Firmware updates - case, USB dongle and buds themself
Case - I use it all the time - mute/volume/track advance and battery remaining	Case - while cool and useful, its big in a pocket.
Touch control on bud is easy	I suppose one could argue cost $$$

My winner and new go-to device. These are the only Teams Certified device of the 3 - and I'm on Teams meetings more than gym, golf course, and truck combined. I spend a lot of time stressing the importance of Teams Certified - so ill try to stay off my soap-box here.  Some may consider the USB dongle a pro or a con. I get fantastic distance and no distortion from my home office, with the USB dongle. I also hate packing up my laptop with "Stuff" hanging out of the USB ports - so the USB stays in the office connected to my PC/Dock. I use them without the dongle on my mobile phone - no problems, and my phone is usually near me so distance isn't an issue. Initial setup was a little confusing, Poly Lens helps - but each component needed a firmware update, some over the air, and some over USB-C. The "smart case" is a game-changer - I use it all the time (and didn't think I would). The physical design is also perfect - these stay in-ear best of the 3, and the elongated boom design allows for great mic separation, and space to re-seat them when needed. Audiobooks, podcasts, music and meetings - Poly allows me to hit all of these with ease and quality.

Devices Certified for Teams

Closing:

I will use my Sennheiser's for sure - the audio quality is beyond fantastic. The Surface Buds will now likely stay in my backpack or truck for just-in-case moments. Poly's audio is near the Sennheiser TW3 quality, and provides a few other leading factors which make these my winner and daily-driver.

Love to hear about your daily driver ...

Teams Auto Attendant - Quick Tip - Attendant Voice Gender Selection

 Auto Attendant - Language and Gender - Quick Tip

Setting up Teams Auto Attendant and Call Queues are incredibly easy, between guidance and videos provided through Microsoft Learn, and the step-through setup in the Teams Admin Center. Todays post wasn't intended to bore you with the process, but to share a little known tip. I have the luxury and benefit of working through challenges with, and for customers I support, and wanted to share.

During the setup process, language selection is offered in the first tab. This selection is pretty straight forward in the Admin Center.

One thing which is not (yet) available in the Admin Center, is the attendant voice gender selection. Both male and female voices are available setting through powershell.

Maybe you would like to have all your attendant voices standardized, or maybe you chose to alternate male and female voices to demonstrate your organizations inclusive approach.

Each Auto Attendant can be set to male or female (and by language) individually.

Once you install the MicrosoftTeams Module and connect to the Teams service, you can run the Powershell command - GetCsAutoAttendant

In this case you can see this attendant is set to Female. To change this to Male - 

$autoAttendant=Get-CsAutoAttendant -Identity [yourAA id]
$autoAttendant.VoiceID = "Male"
Set-CsAutoAttendant -Instance $autoAttendant

Or if you wish to modify all attendant instances - just remove the specific identity flag from the $autoAttendant variable

$autoAttendant=Get-CsAutoAttendant
$autoAttendant.VoiceID = "Male"
Set-CsAutoAttendant -Instance $autoAttendant

For more information on Auto Attendant setup read more - Set up an auto attendant for Microsoft Teams - Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Learn

Thanks

Teams Phone and Analog Paralysis

Recently, Microsoft has made several enhancements to Teams SIP Gateway to enable additional endpoints and services. These efforts are in direct response to customer feedback regarding solutions required for enterprise UCaaS migrations.

Now supported: Analog adaptors, a growing range of DECT devices, overhead paging through Algo (preview). For more information read the lower section of the Microsoft Ignite Post HERE. 

In my previous post on December 22, I covered a DECT implementation option, so today I wanted to talk more about Analog. Not the implementation which a peer of mine has covered in depth HERE, but more about analog planning.

Background

During migration, many of the enterprises I support fall into 2 categories:

Organizations begin their UCaaS, or cloud voice journey, and end up stalling as they address analog scenarios (solutions and cost implications)

Or

In the early stages of planning, not enough time is available for analog analysis, replacing like-for-like is cost prohibitive, and the entire project fails to lift off (or slows)

While analog needs may not fully disappear for some time, I want to encourage organizations to allow for proper strategy regarding analog, take intentional steps to reduce analog dependency whenever possible, and use Teams SIP gateway to help minimize cost when analog is required.

Analog Planning Cost Study

I understand this chart can be fluid and may not address all use-cases. The purpose wasn’t to demonstrate a cost model, more to show the impacts of perpetuating investments in analog. While you may not believe there is budget available for replacement of analog devices, you may also be investing in solution cost which have limited future value or spending on legacy support versus enhanced capabilities.

Outside standard analog phones

A primary use-case for current analog use, the common area phone. Lobby and hallway phones are often analog today, but hopefully you never enter an office and sit down next to this:

You may question the organization you are visiting, just a little. What’s the adage? You never get a second chance to make a first impression. Recently Teams OEM partners have released low-cost native Teams Phones – like the Audio Codes C435HD, or the CCX350 from Poly, and coming soon Yealink MP52. Continue to watch the SIP Gateway compatible device list, you may be able to re-purpose legacy SIP Phones integrated to Teams through SIP Gateway for common area needs.

Fax over IP has been tricky for years and many organizations have moved to cloud-based fax services. Hopefully your organizations are less dependent on email and collaborate more efficiently in Microsoft Teams, so why not make sure fax needs are met in the solution used for daily communications. The Microsoft partner ecosystem have developed solutions to support faxing from within the Teams client itself – Options from eCommFax,  Etherfax and Zapier have Teams integrated fax solutions. For organizations using SBC’s in conjunction with Teams Voice, Audio Codes offers this solution

Overhead paging is still a thing and is often still analog. Take a look at this solution from Algo during planning. Also consider the criticality of paging, announcements, and emergency solution within your UCaaS strategy. InformaCast from Singlewire has a number of Teams integrated options to address securing and safety. Lastly, do we really need to “page”? or would a group chat, a voice enabled Teams channel, or even Teams WalkieTalkie (now available on Teams Mobile and Teams certified phones - with desktop client support coming soon) – a quick way to send an audio message to a defined group.

Closing Recommendations

Don’t go down the path on your own, consider working with consultant firm for analysis – you may be reluctant to spend money on the planning, they will help you save time/effort and reduce technical debt with analog and legacy dependencies.

Spend time to understand – who uses, what tasks are they trying to accomplish, why analog – or is there a more flexible solution.

Use SIP Gateway and analog integration to Teams where needed.

When you do invest, look for muti-use/multi-purpose solutions – which can meet the analog use cases today, and be something new/better in the future.

Every dollar spent perpetuating analog solutions is a dollar not used for enabling transformative technology in the future.

Thanks to my peers who shared information and suggestions on solution options.

Ongoing conversation welcome.