Barco, a provider of meeting room technology, announced it entered a formal agreement with Microsoft (News - Alert) focusing on Teams devices. As part of the partnership, Barco said it will integrate its ClickShare devices to provide valuable data through Microsoft’s Teams Rooms Pro Management portal and the Teams Pro Portal.
This collaboration allows IT managers to gain rich insights into room and device utilization.
Research by Frost & Sullivan (News - Alert) highlights the increasing importance of meeting insights and analytics tools, with 76% of decision-makers emphasizing this capability.
With Barco's ClickShare solution, which is renowned for its wireless Bring Your Own Meeting (BYOM) approach, users can host calls seamlessly from their laptops using preferred video conferencing platforms.
“Barco shares a clear focus with Microsoft on creating the best meeting experience. This focus drives our decision-making, strategy, and partnerships, which has led us to take this step,” said Dan Root, Head of Global Strategic Alliances at Barco. “We are very pleased to be a part of the Microsoft Teams Devices ecosystem and to bring Microsoft into our partnership program. Through this collaboration, we will work together to build industry-leading solutions that take collaboration to the next level.”
As much of today’s workforce is used to BYOD and BYOM setups, this latest move will make it easier to have conferences from wherever users are located.
With over 240,000 ClickShare Conference devices globally, Barco's ClickShare will serve as a substantial data source for Microsoft Teams Rooms management capabilities.
ClickShare can seamlessly pass information about connected microphones, speakers, and cameras to the Teams Pro Portal. As multiple users connect to the same ClickShare Base Unit, IT managers can also access detailed information within the Pro Management portal, for more efficient registration and management of meeting spaces.
This collaboration is an important step towards enhancing meeting room technology and providing IT decision-makers with invaluable insights without disrupting user experience.
“ClickShare has always put the user at the heart of the experience while guaranteeing IT managers have the necessary insights to equip meeting rooms in the most optimal way,” said Jan van Houtte, Head of Product at Barco. “Through this integration, Microsoft and Barco will work together to build easy management systems at scale for their customers. The joint forces in the Shared Spaces initiative are a first yet crucial step to explore market opportunities and establish a future portfolio.”
Edited by
Greg Tavarez
