Crestron has announced new Crestron 70 Series Scheduling Panels integrated with Microsoft Teams, bringing Teams meeting scheduling functionality to panel displays.
The Crestron Scheduling Panels are designed to provide in-office employees with the ability to manage and monitor room availability and capacity using enterprise tools and software that they’re already familiar with, such as Microsoft Exchange and the Teams Admin Center.
The panels are intended to provide a native Teams experience for in-office employees with an overview of each room’s status in real-time, including occupancy, availability, cleanliness, and more via the Teams panel functionality coupled with Crestron hardware for any bookable spaces.
Designed to be mounted outside meeting rooms, the panel displays data from inside the room to the people approaching the room, avoiding issues before they arise. Network-based occupancy sensors provide data to notify employees when a room is at capacity or automatically release the space if no one shows up. Employees can also locate an available room close by with the “Nearby Rooms” feature in the event their desired room is occupied.
“In the reconfigured workplace, the journey to the room is just as important as the room itself, particularly as we face challenges in re-opening physical spaces post-pandemic,” says Andrew Gross, Senior Director, UC Enterprise, Crestron. “Our collaboration with Microsoft represents a step forward in the room scheduling device category, an important component of supporting and building the workplace of the future. The Crestron 70 Series Scheduling Panels offer more than just the ability to book meetings – organizations can now better understand room utilization and improve how they manage their spaces which keeps organizations and their employees safe and informed.”
Albert Kooiman, Director of Microsoft Teams Devices Partner Engineering and Certification, adds, The new Crestron 70 Series Scheduling Panels unlock the full Microsoft Teams Room experience and will let customers optimize and track the use of meeting spaces. Together with Crestron, we aim to provide a way to monitor and manage space usage, enforce company policies, and plan for future technology investments, all based on Microsoft Teams and Microsoft 365.”
Crestron 70 Series Room Scheduling Panels are enterprise-grade devices engineered to meet the demands of a corporate office, conference center, or higher education environment. With Crestron Room Scheduling, customers can help future-proof their investment by purchasing hardware from Crestron, and can then upgrade for future capabilities such as Teams integration without having to replace or purchase new hardware.
Support staff have the ability to configure the panels with new partners via firmware updates and confirm room status without needing to be on-site. Organizations are also able to configure, deploy, and manage their Crestron Scheduling Panels remotely through the Teams Admin Center augmented by the onboard Crestron XiO Cloud® platform.
Offering enterprise-grade networking and robust security features, the Crestron 70 Series Scheduling Panels proximity sensors wake upon approach to reveal the user interface as well as dual USB 2.0 ports, and add-on capabilities such as an optional RFID indicator that controls badge access to rooms to support contact tracing.
Available in black and white finishes, the new panels offer a modern design and thin bezel with 7 and 10-inch sizes. Crestron offers a variety of options for mounting the panels to drywall, masonry, glass, mullions, and other surfaces.
In addition to direct integration with Teams, 70 Series products integrate with more than 15 scheduling partners to optimize the use of meeting spaces as well as customize experiences through integration of first and third-party apps.
New Crestron 70 Series Scheduling Panels are available for order today with a Microsoft Teams firmware upgrade available in Q1 2021. Crestron customers can install the hardware now and connect to Microsoft Exchange with the ability to switch to the Teams panel experience once generally available. Go here for more specifics and pricing information.
