Teams App Update (4.16) on the Microsoft Teams Room on Windows

Teams room on windows update 4.16

If you are using Teams room devices in your organization, you might be interested in the latest windows update 4.16, released on March 28, 2023. This update brings some new features and improvements to the Teams room experience, bug fixes, and security enhancements.

Improved UI -

The latest update for Teams room brings a new and improved user interface that enhances the meeting experience. The new UI features a simplified layout, larger icons, and easier access to common actions. You can now join, share, and manage meetings with just a few taps on the touch screen. The new UI also supports dark mode and high contrast settings for better visibility. 

Microsoft is standardizing UI across the Windows and Android platform to use better usability.

With this update, MTRoW will show the calendars on the front room display just like in Android.

Improved Video layout: 

Teams room devices now support a new video layout that optimizes the screen space and shows more participants at once. You can also switch between different views, such as gallery, large gallery, together mode, or content-only mode, by tapping on the screen and selecting the desired option.

You can customize the display for Front Row view what to show on your left/right side of the front room display,

You can enable/disable the meeting chat option when using the "Focus on content" layout.

Enhanced spotlighting:

Teams room devices now allow you to spotlight up to seven participants at once, making it easier to focus on the speakers or presenters in a large meeting. You can also spotlight yourself if you want to draw attention to your video or content. To spotlight someone, tap on their video and select Spotlight. To remove the spotlight, tap on their video again and select Remove spotlight.

Bug fixes and security enhancements: 

Windows update 4.16 also includes several bug fixes and security enhancements that improve the performance and reliability of Teams room devices. For example, it fixes an issue where the device would freeze or crash when joining a meeting with a large number of participants. It also updates the device firmware and drivers to address some security vulnerabilities.

Live reactions:

You can now express your emotions and feedback during a meeting using live reactions. These are animated emojis that appear on your video feed and disappear after a few seconds. You can choose from a variety of reactions, such as applause, thumbs up, heart, laughter, and more. To use this feature, tap on the Reactions icon on the meeting controls and select your reaction.

Content camera support:

If you have a Teams room device with a content camera, you can now use it to share physical content such as whiteboards or documents during a meeting. The content camera will automatically detect and enhance the content, and you can also use digital ink to annotate it. To use this feature, tap on Share content on the meeting controls and select Content camera.

Join a meeting with an ID:

Now you can join Zoom and Teams Meeting with meeting-ID.

Teams meeting control:

You can manage to turn on/off live captions, Enable/Disable chat bubbles, and Enable/Disable Room Remote.

Invite this Room -

It's more of an instruction on how to invite the room from your laptop to connect to the Teams meeting.

Share feedback with Microsoft -

Share the content using HDMI cable or use wireless cast -

How to enable it?

• Manually update a Microsoft Teams Rooms device.
• Once the Teams App is updated, it doesn't automatically enable the Teams new experience. For now, you have to enable the feature through  XML file.

                     <SkypeSettings>

          <TeamsRoomsNewExperience>true</TeamsRoomsNewExperience>

</SkypeSettings>

• The background image will span into Room Console and Front Room Display.
• Now you can see the room calendar information on the FoD.
• If you are using custom image for branding or to display room instructions, you have to update them to fit with new UI changes.
• Make sure your systems is updated to latest windows updates.