You may have seen the acronym "MTR" thrown around about when talking about online meetings. Well when you are talking about online meeting rooms the MTR will stand for Microsoft Teams Room. (Yes that’s right, technology people seem to love acronyms)
An MTR is a physical meeting room or space that is specifically designed and set up to enhance the Microsoft Teams meeting experience. These rooms typically feature specialized audio and video equipment, including cameras, microphones, and speakers, to provide a high-quality and seamless meeting experience for participants.
The goal of these rooms is to make it as efficient and productive to have remote & hybrid meetings. Have you ever gone into a board room and you basically have to have a degree to work the confrencing equipment or you have to have IT on stand by for every meeting. Well the MTR platform is designed to make starting a meeting and using the technology simple.
Who is a Microsoft Teams Room for?
MTR is a good option for teams & companies that are already running Microsoft Teams or are using the Microsoft 365 platform. If you don't use any other Microsoft tools you might be better off looking at a Zoom room.
If your company has the need to have regular online meetings then the Microsoft Teams Room could be a good fit for you.
We at GBS are seeing an uptake of businesses all across southwest Victoria implement MTR Solutions. We have a client who has a site in Hamilton & Warrnambool that uses an MTR at both sites to have their daily meetings. This means they can easily collaborate within their teams without the need to drive an hour.
What kind of hardware should I use with an MTR?
We would recommend using hardware that is teams certified. Microsoft have a list of them available on their website. We typically will use either Yealink or Logitech Equipment with our clients, but if you prefer a different brand or style of equipment definanlty make sure that it is certified and supported on the platform. This way you ensure if you have an issue you are able to get support both from the hardware manufacturer but also from Microsoft.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/rooms/certified-hardware?tabs=Windows
Do MTR have to run on Windows?
Currently (December 2023) You can run a Microsoft Teams Room on Windows 10 or 11 devices. There are also dedicated android devices to run the teams room.
These android systems are typically included in the MTR cameras. The android systems have come a long way and some of them are quite good.
Typically if you are going to have a complicated MTR system with multiple camera's and microphones you will need to use a Windows based MTR - But that will probably change into the future.
What size room should we be implementing Microsoft Teams Rooms in?
Microsoft Teams Rooms can go into most sized rooms. The exact MTR hardware and solution configuration will vary depending on the size of the room, but for most rooms used in business, corporate, government & education that you would want to be having teams meetings in there will be an MTR solution to suite your needs.
When talking MTR they do break the rooms up into three different types:
- Huddle Spaces & Small Meeting Rooms - These are suitable for small teams and casual meetings. Typically, will have between two and five participants. Usually you would have a basic MTR configuration with a single camera and inbuilt audio for these rooms
- Medium Sized Meeting Rooms - Designed for larger teams and more formal meetings. These typically server six to twelve participants. Usually you would have better camera's with multiple microphones. Nowadays the camera's that you use for these rooms will have inbuilt AI features to do speaker tracking or show multiple participants on the screen at once.
- Large Conference style rooms - These are for large meeting or training rooms with twelve or more participants. These will typically have larger displays, high quality audio with multiple microphones and usually also have multiple camera systems with speaker tracking, presenter tracking and more AI features to enhance the meeting experience.
Is an MTR or Microsoft Teams Room right for me?
Do you want to find out more about MTR solutions. Talk to one of our IT Solutions Consultants and we can help you explore your options and provide the solution that will best serve your needs.
If you are in Warrnambool, Portland, Hamilton or Colac we might even be able to arrange an onsite assessment or onsite demonstration!!
