Microsoft to update Lync Room Systems with a new Skype for Business experience

Just about a year ago, Microsoft rebranded Lync as Skype for Business. The company has been working hard on rolling out the new Skype for Business experience on some major platforms in the past few months. Today, the company announced that it will be rolling out a new Skype for Business experience for Lync Room Systems.

The software giant will roll out the new Skype for Business experience for Lync Room Systems on November 10 as a Cumulative Update to Crestron, Polycom and SMART Lync Room Systems. The update will introduce a new user interface, and obviously, the new Skype for Business branding.

Here’s what Microsoft says about the new UI:

The console, positioned at the center of the meeting room table, is used to control the meeting room experience. The design changes include a dark background theme, round icons and a round presence indicator, as well as the Skype for Business logo.

The in-meeting UI of the console now also closely resembles the Skype for Business look and feel and includes buttons like Pause Video, Mute Room and New Whiteboard, specific for meetings.

The video gallery UI on the displays in front of the meeting room also has been updated to the Skype for Business design.

The UI of presenting a PowerPoint on the display in the front of the room will not change, though also, here the video gallery on the second display gets a slightly darker background color, as shown below.

The end-user education, basic meeting room use scenarios go unchanged. Meeting room organizers will continue to be able to start meetings, share content and change display modalities the same way they did before the Cumulative Update.

With the upcoming update, Microsoft is also adding new private settings which will allow the room admin to enable or disable the room’s calendar subject line. Microsoft says that the company will be introducing a “wider range of meeting room sizes,” as well as additional cameras and sound systems with the future updates.