Microsoft Teams

Crossover design, supply and install audiovisual and videoconferencing systems for a wide range of commercial spaces. If you need Microsoft Teams installing in your meeting room, office or events space why not contact us today to find out more.

What is Microsoft Teams?

Teams is Microsoft’s Unified Communications platform: a multi-medium collaboration tool which offers videoconferencing, audio calls with individuals or groups, group chat, streaming broadcast / webinar, and many other collaboration tools.

Crossover – AV Solutions for Microsoft Teams

Crossover supply and install hardware solutions to bring Microsoft Teams into any size of meeting environment. From a huddle space to a ‘town hall’ event space or conference room, with a single click on a touch panel you can join a Microsoft Teams meeting and enjoy high-definition video and audio collaboration.

If your organisation is adopting Microsoft Teams for videoconferences, meetings and chat, talk to Crossover about how to equip any meeting room, boardroom or conference space with AV hardware compatible with Microsoft Teams for the optimal meeting experience. 

Microsoft Teams – Team Collaboration

As its name suggests Microsoft Teams is aiming to be the main player in the team collaboration market, where currently Slack is leading the field (particularly in the tech and developer industries). Also falling under the unified communications umbrella, Teams combines videoconferencing (taking over from Skype for Business), workplace chat, audio calls, file sharing and file collaboration capabilities.

Launched in 2017, integration with Office 365 is a massive selling point for corporations who are also tied in to Microsoft’s Outlook and industry-standard office applications in the Office suite. Teams is included with business and enterprise level Office 365 subscription, which has meant a speedy uptake and deployment by large-scale enterprises. With so many businesses using Outlook, it’s very handy to be able to schedule a Teams meeting from Outlook, or share a Word, Excel or Powerpoint and edit and collaborate on the files in the Teams environment – no need to check files out or worry if a colleague has the document open – for a seamless, collaborative workflow.

As with most major collaboration platforms, Teams is able to run across multiple device-types, enabling simple one-on-one or group chat from Android and iOS smart phones, tablets, laptops, and PC’s & Macs.

Teams also features integration with 3rd party apps such as Dropbox, Trello and Google Drive, SharePoint and One Note meaning that if you already use any of these tools, they will and integrate neatly into your Teams environment. For a fuller list of compatible apps, have a look here.

If you need the AV hardware specified and installed to support Microsoft Teams, Crossover can help. Contact us here.

Crossover – expert installers of Microsoft Teams and AV hardware for any type of meeting space

The range of hardware solutions that support a Microsoft Teams environment is growing rapidly, with major manufacturers such as Crestron, Logitech and Poly (FKA Polycom) bringing new products to market to support Microsoft Teams in huddle spaces, meeting rooms, boardrooms and event spaces. Here are some of the solutions currently available, which can be supplied, installed and configured by Crossover:

Crestron –

Crestron Flex is a range of hardware to support Microsoft Teams in any size of meeting space. You could opt for an integrated VC soundbar solution for medium-sized meeting rooms which features beamforming microphones for fine-tuned vocal pick-up and an integrated Huddly IQ VC camera which auto-frames meeting participants in the room. A stylish 10” touch panel on the meeting room table runs a native MS Teams interface. The brains of the system can be mounted behind the screen, meaning only an Ethernet cable needs to be run to the meeting room table.

Poly (FKA Polycom) –

The Poly Studio is another integrated VC soundbar solution for Microsoft Teams, suitable for huddle rooms and small meeting spaces.

The Studio boasts sophisticated camera trickery, with speaker tracking based on facial recognition, and real time image manipulation to straighten out wide-angle lens views. A built-in quad core processor means the work is done inside the device, independent of the software VC platform used (Teams, Skype for Business etc) and helps far end meeting participants much more easily follow what's happening in the meeting room.

Poly's Trio Series 'spiderphones' can also be integrated with Microsoft Teams for audio calls, or used as a USB speakerphone and combined with a VC camera for full videoconferencing. 

Logitech –

The gaming hardware giant have been building expertise in the video collaboration market for a while. The Logitech Tap is a versatile touch controller that can operate with Microsoft Teams or other cloud-based conferencing solutions such as Zoom, Skype for Business and Google Meets.

Microsoft Teams FAQs

How much does it Cost?

Microsoft Teams comes as part of the Office 365 business plan at no extra cost, and has been designed to fully integrate with the Office 365 environment, meaning that it’s very easy for anyone using Outlook to set up meetings using the calendar in Outlook. So if you’re currently using Office 365, you will have access to Teams. If not, you’ll need to invest in a 365 licence.

In addition to the licence, you’ll need hardware to run Teams on; this could be anything from a laptop or smart phone for remote users to a full Teams hardware system for a Boardroom or event space at your site.

Is communicating via Teams secure?

Microsoft has put significant development into security on the Teams platform so you can be sure your data and videocalls are completely encrypted and safe. Microsoft has implemented platform‑wide two factor authentication, single sign on through Active directory, and full encryption of data in transit and rest, and all files are encrypted with SharePoint encryption.

I’ve already got some AV hardware installed in an existing meeting room, how do I convert it into an MS Teams room?

If you’ve got an existing meeting room with a screen and other audiovisual hardware there’s a good chance that the system will be able to be converted or additional equipment added in order to create a fully functioning Teams system in a cost-effective way. Give us a call to discuss!

Can you install a Teams system in somewhere larger than a standard meeting room?

Absolutely you can! Crossover can set up Teams systems for events spaces suitable for large scale 'Town Hall' or 'All Hands' meetings. With larger spaces you will need to scale up the audio and video capture and reproduction with appropriate microphones, cameras and displays, and perhaps install acoustic treatment to ensure the sound is just right. Lighting is another factor to consider.

Teams also has a Live Events meeting-type, designed for webinar broadcasts of up to 10,000 attendees - perfect for executive sharing or a company-wide presentation to a large remote audience. We talk more about using Teams for Event Spaces and Live Events here.