Last Updated on May 22, 2021 by GrahamWalsh
Following on from my previous blog post on the roadmap watch here, I’d thought I’d provide an update. So, let’s look at the items previously announced and where they are now. For the below, MTRoA are Android based devices such as Poly X30/X50 and Yealink VC210/A20. MTRoW are Windows based devices such as Crestron Flex, Logitech TAP, Lenovo Hub etc.
Public Roadmap Features
| Feature | Previous Date | Current Status |
|---|---|---|
| Dual Screen on MTRoA | January 2021 | Released December 2021 |
| 1080p Outgoing Video on MTRoA | January 2021 | Targeted June 2021 |
| Centre of Room Console for MTRoA | February 2021 | Released April 2021 |
| Wired HDMI Ingest for MTRoA | March 2021 | Targeted June 2021 |
| Personal Mode for MTRoA | Febraury 2021 | Released April 2021 |
| Room Remote for MTRoW | January 2021 | Targeted May 2021 |
| Room Remote for MTRoA | March 2021 | Targeted July 2021 |
| Cortana Voice Assistant for MTRoW | December 2021 with Logitech Rally Mic | Still in preview but stated as launched! |
| Meeting Room Capacity Notifications for MTRoW | January 2021 | Targeted May 2021 |
| IP Based Audio/Video support for MTRoW | March 2021 | Targeted May 2021 |
| Large Gallery and Together Mode for MTRoW | January 2021 | Tagged as Preview |
| Large Gallery and Together Mode for MTRoA | February 2021 | Released December 2020 |
| Teams Casting for MTRoW from iOS. From Android | January 2021 | Released May 2021 for iOS/Targeted May 2021 from Android devices |
| Teams Casting for MTRoA | February 2021 | ?? |
| Breakout Rooms Support for MTRoA | March 2021 | Targeted August 2021 |
| Whiteboard on MTRoA & MTRoW | January 2021 | This item has disappeared off the roadmap |
| Manage Teams Displays in TAC | January 2021 | Released in January 2021 |
| Microsoft Teams Panels | March 2021 | Released February 2021 |
| Guest Join Access for video enabled Android Devices | NA | Targeted September 2021 |
Other Features
Next up we have the features that were discussed in public such as the Microsoft Tech Community or on Twitter, let’s see if there are any updates for these items.
| Feature | Previous Estimate | Current Estimate |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple Camera Support on MTRoW | H1 2021 | H2 2021 |
| Pan/Tilt/Zoom (PTZ) Support for Cameras on MTRoW | 2021 (Can be done with Crestron and Yealink MTRs today) | No update. Will Room Remote take this role? |
| Viewing/Controlling Files on MTR from OneDrive or meeting invite (same as Surface Hub) | No time frame in 2021 | No update |
| Proximity Join for MacOS | No time frame in 2021 | No update |
| Enlarged Self View | No time frame in 2021 | No update |
| Control sync’ing of Content sources (e.g in room PCs connected) to MTRs on Windows | No time frame in 2021 | No update |
| Test Call Feature (same as desktop) | No time frame in 2021 | No update |
| Updated Management features in TAC and MEM | No time frame in 2021 | Alerting was announced and then removed again |
| MTR Premium support for Android | No time frame in 2021 | Targeted December 2021 |
| MTR Premium support for Surface Hub | No time frame in 2021 | Targeted September 2021 |
| Different layouts on Front of Room | No time frame in 2021 | No update |
Hardware Developments
Along with all the software features, there are also hardware developments too. Here’s the status
| Vendor Product | Previous Release Date | Current Release Date |
|---|---|---|
| Yealink Teams Display | Nothing Confirmed | Nothing confirmed |
| EPOS Intelligent Speaker/Mic | Nothing Confirmed | Released April 2021. US Market only |
| Yealink Intelligent Speaker/Mic | Nothing Confirmed | Targeted May 2021 |
| Crestron UC-P8 Microsoft Teams Phone | Q1 2021 | Released January 2021 |
| Dell Microsoft Teams Monitors with built in Mic/Cam | February 2021 | Released February 2021 |
| Crestron Teams Panel | March 2021 | Released February 2021 |
| Yealink Teams Panel | Nothing confirmed | Targeted June/July 2021 |
| Audiocdes MTRoA | Q1 2021 | Released |
| Poly G7500 Certified as MTRoA | Q1/Q2 2021 | Q2 2021 |
Current Public Roadmap Items (additional to above)
| MTR Premium – Intelligent detection and remediation for MTRoW. Video overview | Targeted May 2021 |
| MTR Premium – Personalised room planning for MTRoW | Targeted May 2021 |
| MTR Premium – Threat detection & security update management for MTRoW | Targeted May 2021 |
| MTR Premium – Room Threat Protection with MDE | Targeted May 2021 |
| MTR Premium – Vulnerability Detection with Microsoft Defender | Targeted May 2021 |
| MTR Premium – Security Updates Management | Targeted May 2021 |
| MTR Premium – Custom Admin Roles | Targeted May 2021 |
| MTR Premium – Managed Crestron Firmware Updates | Targeted May 2021 |
| MTR Premium – Dynamic Signal Tickets | Targeted June 2021 |
| MTR Premium – Global Incident Detection (Outages) | Targeted June 2021 |
| MTR Premium – Location Based Roles Scope | Targeted June 2021 |
| MTR Premium – Managed OS Updates | Targeted June 2021 |
| MTR Premium – Managed Firmware Updates (additional OEMs) | Targeted June 2021 |
| MTR Premium – Action Driven Incidents | Targeted September 2021 |
| MTR Premium – Room Expansion Planning | Targeted September 2021 |
| MTR Premium – Partner Delegated Access, Multi-tenant support | Targeted September 2021 |
| MTR Premium – Room Occupancy Reports | Targeted September 2021 |
| MTR Premium – Value Reports | Targeted September 2021 |
| MTR Premium – Asset Management Workflow | Targeted December 2021 |
| Teams Admin Center – Device Management in GCC High | Targeted June 2021 |
Updated Hardware news
Along with the above hardware to be released, Crestron has announced the new Microsoft Teams Video phones. Available in 8″ and 10″ displays, they support the usual features such as live transcriptions, raise hand, background blur/replacement etc. Here is a quick overview of the device. They are now shipping.
Updated Software Features
It has been said on the Tech Community that MTRoA will get Direct Guest Join, enabling these devices to join Zoom and Webex meetings. This has now been added to the public roadmap and listed under this entry, slated for a September 2021 release. I guess this will coincide with the fall edition of Microsoft Ignite 2021. What is interesting, it says video enabled Android devices. Wonder if that includes Lenovo ThinkSmart View, Crestron UC-Pxx-C devices too 🙂
Ilya also informed us that Teams Casting will come to the desktop client too, targeted for Q3 2021.
That is all that I have for now. Lots of features coming to the MTR Premium managed meeting room service. Lots of other features I’m unable to discuss as they have not been made public yet, but once the public roadmap has them, I’ll do another update.
Any questions, let me know below.
Also published on Medium.