Can I use Microsoft Teams Room on Windows (MTRoW) device as a replacement for Surface Hub?

Microsoft Surface Hub has a unique use case for collaboration. Surface Hub comes in 2 different sizes (55" & 85") and it's an all-in-one device that combines hardware, software, and services in a flexible, dynamic, and easy-to-use package. 

It brings together whiteboarding, video conferencing and projection, and integrates seamlessly with Windows 10 Teams OS, Microsoft Teams App, OneDrive, and OneNote.

Surface Hub 2S is a purpose-built OS and simplified UI for admins/users for easy access. 

• You can use the Surface hub for a coordinated meeting experience in a Teams meeting.
• You can log in to OneDrive to access your files during the meeting. Once you exit the meeting it will automatically clear your files from the device for others to use.
• Use whiteboard In-room or in meeting for brainstorming.
• Use the Surface Hub device camera to focus room participants in addition to the front room camera.
• You can manage the device in the Teams Room Pro portal.

Microsoft Whiteboard app built-in on the MTRoW -

Microsoft recently released a new update (check this) for MTRoW which allows starting the whiteboard in the room.

You need the touch-enabled screen for an in-room collaboration experience. This works similarly to the surface hub where you can use MTRoW full functionality for the meeting experience (audio/video/content sharing).

Note: - You can add another MTRoW device/room for a coordinated meeting experience.

Key differences -

- You cannot log in to OneDrive to access files. However, you can share the content from your laptop.

In my personal opinion, you can easily accommodate surface hub features on the MTRoW device.

Whiteboard Sharing/Collaboration is not working on Neat/Surface Hub Devices

 

Where does Microsoft Whiteboard canvas content is saved?

When you initiate Microsoft Whiteboard canvas on the Microsoft Surface Hub or Microsoft Teams Room on Android by default the data is stored in Azure. However, if you initiate a whiteboard sharing on the Teams client (Windows/Mac) the data will be stored on the user One Drive who is initiating the whiteboard. The Whiteboard content is saved and synced automatically to OneDrive for Business or Azure. So, the next time when you open the same whiteboard on the same device or any other device with the same login you will see all your content and you can start from where you are left over.

Where does my Whiteboard content store in OneDrive?

Microsoft migrated Whiteboard's default storage location from Azure to OneDrive starting in January 2022. Once the migration is completed (Admin must configure Teams meeting policy to enforce the default store location) you can access the data under the “One Drive\Whiteboard” folder.

If you collaborated with others, the data will be under "Shared".

Whiteboard is not starting on the Surface Hub/ Neat Board devices?

After Microsoft migrated to OneDrive for Business the SharePoint sharing policy takes precedence to produce the data, you might see errors like a blow,

You SharePoint admin can configure the Sharing policy to allow anonymous users to access the content with the below settings,

Set-SPOTenant -AllowAnonymousMeetingParticipantsToAccessWhiteboards On

Manage sharing for Microsoft Whiteboard | Microsoft Learn

After the change, you should be able to access the whiteboard without any further issues.

What is the anonymous user can access to the content means?

When you are sharing a whiteboard and inviting Surface Hub or Neat Boards, the device resource accounts will impersonate the presenter tokens to temporarily access the whiteboard during the meeting. Once the meeting is over the device account will not have access to the content.

Can external participants able to collaborate on the whiteboard in Teams meeting?

Yes, external users will be able to collaborate within Teams meetings, if your SharePoint admin enabled the below settings.

Set-SPOTenant -AllowAnonymousMeetingParticipantsToAccessWhiteboards On.

Can I disable external anonymous users accessing the whiteboard during the meeting?

If you want to allow only MTR devices within the organization, but you want to block the external attendees, your Teams Admin needs to configure “Meeting Settings” not to allow external users to have access to Teams meeting apps.