A seat at the table…
There is a fixed and symbiotic relationship between table design and the VC camera in Microsoft Teams Rooms.
In The Emperor’s New Clothes, it took a age of embarrassment before the little boy observed that he was naked. The sting in the tail for many expensively fitted out MTRs is how badly they self-present to remote participants.
Many organisations rely on their MTRs for dealings with clients and important ‘outsiders’. They risk ever-increasing reputational damage as their spaces age through their life cycles.
Compromises are being accepted in MTR room design in the hope that future multiple camera developments will solve the problems. But until this becomes a reality, maybe when Elon Musk is safely established on Mars, the basic need for a room design that combines heavily researched camera selection and placement with the table design is vital.
Looking beyond Signature Meeting Rooms (Medium) with typically six seats in a single arc, what’s needed for the larger rooms that also need to serve as regular meeting spaces?
The short answer to a long and complex question is that tapered table designs, designed reciprocally with a central camera that gives a great view to remote participants is a non-negotiable.
Multiple camera systems are an additional option. They are not a instead-of option.
Microsoft’s leadership in ideating new space designs is unlike the old Cisco telepresence space approach. Microsoft's approach is non-proscriptive, offering advice not instructions. But. This leaves a burden of responsibility back on the shoulders of the traditional partnership between client and supplier.
The need for test spaces - for both in-person and remote user experience is, sadly, mostly overlooked. Measure twice, cut once, says the wise carpenter. How true.
Posted: 4th May 2023