MC892055 – (Updated) Microsoft Teams: Participant roster grouping in Teams BYOD meeting rooms

Product:

Teams

Platform:

Mac, Online, US Instances, Windows Desktop, World tenant

Status:

In development

Change type:

Admin impact, New feature, Updated message, User impact

Links:

MC814577
413711

Details:

Summary:
The Microsoft Teams update for participant roster grouping in BYOD meeting rooms will not be rolled out to GCC High or DoD organizations during the initially outlined timeline. Other organizations will see users in BYOD rooms grouped in the roster, with rollout starting early October 2024 and ending late November 2024.

Details:
Updated October 3, 2024: We will not be rolling this out to organizations in GCC High or DoD during the timeline outlined below. We will communicate via Message center when we are ready to proceed. Organizations in GCC High and DoD can safely disregard this message. Thank you for your patience.
Coming soon for Microsoft Teams: When users join a Teams meeting with their laptop in bring your own device (BYOD) meeting rooms, they will appear in the In-room participant section of the roster, which enables individual identification and meeting intelligence capabilities. As communicated in MC814577 (Updated) Microsoft Teams: Roster grouping for in-room participants through Proximity Join for Teams Rooms on Windows (July 2024), we will launch this same experience in September 2024 for joining a nearby meeting with a Microsoft Teams Room and a companion device.

Unique to BYOD meeting rooms, the roster group will be displayed as Meeting space if the connected device is NOT identified in the Teams Pro Management Portal (PMP). If the device is identified in the PMP, the roster group will display the configured meeting room name.
This message applies to Teams for Windows and Mac desktops.
This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 413711.
[When this will happen:]
Targeted Release: We will begin rolling out early October 2024 and expect to complete by mid-October 2024.
General Availability (Worldwide): We will begin rolling out mid-October 2024 and expect to complete by late October 2024.
General Availability (GCC): We will begin rolling out mid-October 2024 and expect to complete by late November 2024.

Change Category:
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Scope:
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Release Phase:
General Availability, Standard Release, Targeted Release

Created:
2024-09-18

updated:
2024-10-04

Task Type

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Docu to Check

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MS How does it affect me

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MS Preperations

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MS Urgency

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linked item details

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Pictures

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summary for non-techies**

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Direct effects for Operations**

Roster Grouping Impact
Users joining from BYOD meeting rooms will be grouped under a room node in the participant roster, which may confuse users who are accustomed to seeing individual participants listed separately. This could lead to misunderstandings during meetings regarding who is present and their roles.
   - roles: End Users, Meeting Organizers
   - references: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/roadmap?filters=&searchterms=413711

User Experience Disruption
The automatic grouping of participants may disrupt the flow of meetings, especially if users are not informed about the change. Users may struggle to identify who is present in the meeting, impacting collaboration and communication.
   - roles: End Users, IT Support
   - references: https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/roadmap?filters=&searchterms=413711

Configutation Options**

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explanation for non-techies**

Imagine you're hosting a dinner party and you have a seating chart to keep track of where everyone is sitting. Previously, each guest was listed individually, and it was a bit challenging to remember who was sitting with whom, especially if they moved around. Now, Microsoft Teams is introducing a feature that groups people who are physically in the same room together on the participant list during a virtual meeting. This is like updating your seating chart to show who is sitting at each table, making it easier to see which guests are together.

This change is specifically for situations where people are joining a Teams meeting from a "bring your own device" (BYOD) meeting room. In this context, a BYOD room is like a conference room where everyone brings their own laptops to join the meeting. With this update, if you join a Teams meeting from such a room, you'll be grouped with others in the same room on the participant list. This helps everyone in the meeting know who is physically together, similar to how a seating chart helps you know who is at each table.

For organizations using Microsoft Teams, this update will start rolling out in October 2024 and finish by November 2024. However, it won't be available to certain government organizations (GCC High or DoD) right away. For everyone else, this change will happen automatically, and there's no need for any technical setup. It might be a good idea to inform your team about this new feature and update any relevant meeting guidelines or documents.

This update also introduces a couple of scenarios where the grouping might change. For example, if someone in the room raises their hand during the meeting, they will be temporarily moved out of the group to show the order of raised hands. Similarly, if someone's role changes during the meeting, like becoming a presenter, they will be placed in the appropriate category on the list. This is like temporarily moving a guest to a different table for a special toast or speech.

Overall, this feature aims to make virtual meetings more organized and provide a clearer picture of who is collaborating together in the same physical space.