Microsoft says users shouldn’t be quick to blame poor audio experiences in Teams on the product.
Speaking on a panel at the Australian launch of premium audio brand Epos, Microsoft Teams Partner Lead Australia, Jahan Sheikh, spoke about the importance of using “correct” devices.
“Whenever I’m on Teams meeting, I notice a lot of the people on the other end are not using the correct devices,” Sheihk said.
“I see a lot of the times headphones being used, or sometimes if they don’t have headphones, they’ll just use the PC microphone.
“The first thing the person blames is the product. They’ll say ‘Teams doesn’t work’ or something’s wrong with the product itself. The thing I’d love to point out is the importance of having certified devices.
“Microsoft actually has a certification process that devices have to go through – Epos had to go through that as well. They’ve now got great certified devices that work well with Microsoft Teams to ensure that the quality is there.
“Certified for Teams’ is not a marketing term – there’s a lot more that goes on behind the scenes to get a product certified.”
As a bonus, Sheikh said, these devices have a Teams button which launches the application.
The panel discussion led by Yellow Brick Road executive chair Mark Bouris, examined the effects of poor audio in the workplace, citing a figure of 95 per cent of office workers losing concentration because of an audio issue, mostly due to the noise of an open plan office.
Epos, developed by sound giant Sennheiser, launched internationally earlier this year with headphones aimed the enterprise and gaming markets.
Seah Hong Kiat (pictured above), Epos vice president of enterprise solution APAC, said Australia was a key market for the company.
“Being part of the Sennheiser heritage, over the years we have built a foundation of great customers and valued partners,” he said.
“ANZ is a mature market with high adoption on audio technology.”
