“Android vs Windows: Which is the Better Option for Microsoft Teams Rooms?”

As we all know, Microsoft Teams Rooms has grown exponentially in the past 2 years, with most customers deploying it.

As per the Statista website, there are close to 270M active users on MS Teams, globally.

From March to June 2020, Microsoft Teams noticed 894% growth, more than Zoom

Aternity

Microsoft has been actively promoting Microsoft Teams Rooms as a way to enhance collaboration and communication in hybrid work environments that combine in-person and remote participants. Microsoft Teams Rooms can be deployed in meeting rooms of various sizes and types, from huddle spaces to large conference rooms, and can integrate with a wide range of audio and video equipment.

When it comes to Teams Rooms Deployment for shared spaces, there are mainly 3 options:

– Teams Rooms on Windows

– Teams Rooms on Android

– Surface Hub

When planning Windows vs Android, It is so very important to understand the differences between the two.

Please note, Microsoft is gunning for feature parity across Windows and Android but there are still some differences.

Ronak Agarwal

In Summary, here are the differences:

– MTRoA is not available for GCC High customers

– Front Row Layout, Chat Bubbles, Pin multiple participants & Intelligent content capture are coming soon on MTRoA

– Coordinated meetings with Surface Hub is not available for MTRoA

– Cortana voice skills is coming soon on MTRoA

– Resolution of 3840×2160 (16:9) is coming soon on MTRoW however it is available on MTRoA

– Resolution of 2560×1080 (21:9) is not available on MTRoA

– Connected peripheral health monitoring is coming soon on MTRoA

– Custom theme & Multi-purpose room (16+ people) are not available on MTRoA.

Detailed Differences

	Features	Windows	Android
Supported environments		Commercial, GCC, GCC High	Commercial, GCC GCC High support targeted for 2023
Meeting join	One-touch-join	Available	Available
	Proximity join	Available	Available
	Meet now	Available	Available
	Direct guest join	Available	Available
Meeting engagement and collaboration	Intuitive, purpose-built app experience	Available	Available
	Video and content layouts (for example, Together Mode, large gallery, gallery only, and gallery and content)	Available	Available
	Front row layout	Available	Coming soon
	Chat bubbles	Available	Coming soon
	Raise hand, lower all hands	Available	Available
	Pin multiple participants	Available	Coming soon
	Spotlight multiple participants	Available	Available
	Live reactions	Available	Available
	Companion mode	Available	Available
	Live closed captions	Available	Available
	Meeting recording and meeting transcription	Available	Available
	Coordinated meetings with Surface Hub	Available	Not available
	Microsoft Whiteboard (on-screen inking available with touchscreen display)	Available	Available
	Intelligent content capture	Available	Coming soon
Meeting and device controls	Room remote controls on mobile	Available	Available
	Wireless sharing	Available	Available
	Cast from mobile	Available	Available
	Video and content resolution: 1080p, 30 FPS	Available	Available
	Pan tilt zoom (PTZ) control for cameras with mechanical PTZ controls	Available	Available
	Meeting participants roster	Available	Available
	Cortana voice skills	Available	Coming soon
	Dual screen support	Available	Available
Supported Front of Room Output Resolutions	1920×1080 (16:9)	Available	Available
	3840×2160 (16:9)	Coming Soon	Available
	2560×1080 (21:9)	Available	Not Available
Security	Secure mounting, security lock slot (Kensington lock), I/O ports access	Available	Available
	Operating System	Windows 10	Android 8.1+
	OS security features	TPM 2.0, disable specific ports, secure boot, Credential Guard, OOBE setting access control, direct memory access protection, network security	Android full disc encryption, OEM-specific features
	Kiosk mode	Available	Available
Management and administration	Securely delegate management access to a partner	Available	Available
	Roles-based access control	Available	Available
	Device inventory views	Available	Available
	Overall device health monitoring	Available	Available
	Connected peripheral health monitoring	Available	Coming soon
	Remote configuration (restart, settings, Log collection)	Available	Available
	Automatic Teams app updates	Available	Available
	Device auto-enrollment	Available	Available
	Call quality analytics	Available	Available
	Custom theme	Available	Not Available
Good for / Space	Focus (2-4 people)	Available	Available
	Small (4-6 people)	Available	Available
	Medium (6-12 people)	Available	Available
	Large (12-16 people)	Available	Available
	Multi-purpose room (16+ people)	Available	Not Available

Final Thoughts

While MTRonWindows has been the preferred choice by organizations however, in the past year or so, I see a trend where organizations are moving towards MTRonAndroid.

One example is, Room devices like Poly Studio X50 with TC8 on Android can easily switch between Zoom or MS Teams, depending on the choice of the platform by the organization. This is not possible or unsupported to do on a windows based meeting room system.

For the list of Windows or Android based devices, you can navigate to this link.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/microsoft-teams/across-devices/devices/category/teams-rooms/20?filterIds=&page=1

Hope this information helps you plan for Windows vs Android device selection.

Well, it’s important to understand what OEM’s are doing and keeping oneself updated.

That’s it Folks! Let me know what you think about the blog. Please share and do comment your thoughts. I am always interested to know different perspectives and learn from you. Please post for any questions, comments. I can also be reached at LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook.