Microsoft Teams Room and Touch
Due to the popularity of hybrid working (people working in the office and remote), Microsoft Teams has become a much-used application in working environments. To effectively meet with remote participants as a group, several companies have started offering standalone Microsoft Teams Room (MTR) hardware such as MTR cameras and desk devices. Since a while, Microsoft has added the Microsoft whiteboard to the MTR platform, making a combination with a touchscreen a perfect match. Note that different vendors offer Android or Windows based MTR solutions that may have slightly different behavior and required settings. In this tech note, we will describe typical MTR setups and relevant Neo/Canvas settings.
Two typical MTR setups
Relevant Canvas and Neo settings
To have the MTR system work well with the screen and save energy, we advise the following settings as a starting point. In Neo touchscreen, al these settings are in the Settings menu. In Canvas, part of the settings are in the Settings menu, others are in the dealer menu.
| Setting | Description | MTR advised value |
| Power On Source | Source shown after screen is booted | MTR port (eg HDMI 1) |
| No signal Power Off | Screen will switch off when no signal is present on the video inputs | Off |
| HDMI CEC | HDMI CEC signal is enabled/disabled | Off |
| Startup by External device | Screen will boot up when external device sends signal (only supports 5V DC signal, not clock sync) | Off |
| Standby time (Smart on/off) | Time after which screen goes in low-power mode (backlight mute) with no touch or movement in the room | 30m |
| Auto-switch Source | Switch to newly connected video source | Off |
| Power on/off | Automatically set time and days to switch screen on/off | Morning/evening times |
| Note: Update touchscreen to latest firmware (Canvas 1006+; Neo 1.3.2+) | ||
| Note 2: For Windows-based MTR systems: Set resolution in Windows settings to 1080p for best reliability | ||
Tested MTR products
Many brands have MTR standalone products such as Logitech, Crestron, Lenovo, Yealink and Cisco. So far, we have tested with the following MTR products:
- Lenovo MTR with desk control screen (Windows10-based)
- Yealink A30 camera MTR with/without desk control screen (Android-based)
- Logitech desk control screen with Intel NUC PC (Windows based)
For Lenovo and Logitech MTR with Intel NUC, we have found that best reliability can be gotten with the settings above, giving special care to:
- Set Windows resolution to 1080p
- Disable Windows sleep function
- Disable ‘No signal power off’, ‘HDMI CEC’
Logitech with Intel NUC: Canvas screen proved to be the easiest and most reliable setup!
For Yealink settings proved to be non-critical, but we still advise disabling ‘No signal power off’ and ‘HDMI CEC’.
Multiple touch screens
MTR also offers support for multiple touchscreens, which enables the participants to the the whiteboard on one screen and the remote participants on the other screen in full size and both with touch. In order to support this, Microsoft requires a Premium Room account however, so make sure you have this (a message will appear on the second screen if you have a basic account). Apart from this, this dual setup will give a great interactive meeting experience!
Warning
The settings and changes shared in this note are a good start for helping configuring MTR and CTOUCH touchscreens. However specific functionalities and behavior can change with each new firmware or product change. Therefore, it is STRONGLY advised to thoroughly test the MTR setup with touchscreen and specific settings in your office or lab, and test over a longer period of time (several days and over the weekend) and in daily use before installing in a live situation!
*CTOUCH cannot guarantee functionality in combination with specific MTR systems, as MTR settings, hardware and firmware change constantly.