Overview

Microsoft has changed the way Microsoft Teams Rooms are licensed.  On September 1, 2022, Microsoft began offering the following licenses:

• Microsoft Teams Rooms Basic
• Microsoft Teams Rooms Pro 

These new licenses are replacing Microsoft Teams Rooms Standard & Microsoft Teams Rooms Premium.

Microsoft Teams Rooms Basic

For small and medium businesses (SMB) customers, Microsoft is offering Teams Rooms Basic at no additional cost (free).  Teams Rooms Basic provides the core meeting experiences when you purchase a Certified Teams Rooms device.  The core meeting experiences includes scheduling, joining meetings, content sharing, and collaborative whiteboarding, as well as basic security and management capabilities out of the box.  Each Teams Rooms Basic license enables one Certified Teams Rooms device per room (MTR Android, MTR Windows & Surface Hub).

Teams Rooms Basic licenses are only available to purchase from the Microsoft 365 admin center.  The licenses are not available via volume license channels or from a Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) partner.  Additionally, you are only allowed 25 active Teams Rooms Basic licenses in your 365 tenant.

Microsoft Teams Rooms Pro

Microsoft Teams Rooms Pro aligns closely with the old Teams Rooms Premium and delivers enhanced in-room meeting experiences like intelligent audio or video, multi-screen support, the full-set of device management capabilities, and future enhancements that differentiated value.   It’s the appropriate license for the Enterprise segment and for smaller organizations with larger room counts or more advanced needs. 

Teams Rooms Pro licenses are available via volume license channels, CSP partners, and from the Microsoft 365 admin center.  List price is $40 per license.

Which Should I Choose?

Review the below feature comparison table to determine which license is best for your organization. 

If you currently have Teams Rooms Standard, and you want to maintain all features that are included with Standard, you will need to switch to Teams Rooms Pro.  Otherwise, you can switch to Teams Rooms Basic for free, which is available in the Microsoft 365 admin center.

If you currently have Teams Rooms Premium, you should switch to Teams Rooms Pro. 

You can have a mixture of both license types (Basic & Pro) depending on your requirements, but you are limited to 25 Basic licenses per 365 tenant.

When Do I Have to Switch?

You have until the renewal date of your current Teams Rooms Standard or Teams Rooms Premium licenses before you are required to switch.  Your current Teams Rooms Standard or Premium licenses will not automatically renew.  Reach out to your Evolve IP sales representative for details on your renewal date and the process to switch your licenses. 

Substituting with O365/M365 User Licenses

This is not supported by Microsoft.  Customers who have been applying user licenses (for example, O365 E1, E3, or E5) to a Teams Rooms user account will be required to update their licensing to a valid Teams Rooms SKU (Basic or Pro) before July 1, 2023.  User licenses will be blocked from sign-in on Teams Rooms systems after July 1, 2023.

Teams Rooms Basic & Pro Feature Comparison

Licensing	Teams Rooms Basic	Teams Rooms Pro
Included Licenses	Microsoft Teams M365 Audio Conferencing	Microsoft Teams M365 Audio Conferencing Phone System Intune Microsoft Entra ID P1
General	Teams Rooms Basic	Teams Rooms Pro
Join Teams meetings with 1-touch, proximity, and meeting ID
Meet Now (start ad hoc meetings from the room)
Direct guest join for Zoom and Webex meetings
Teams Panel support (meeting room check-in)
Join meetings across Microsoft clouds (Commercial to GCC)
Share and Collaborate	Teams Rooms Basic	Teams Rooms Pro
Share and view all Teams content types
Content Capture Camera (Use a webcam to capture content from physical traditional whiteboards)
Meeting Engagement	Teams Rooms Basic	Teams Rooms Pro
Teams video gallery with multiple layout options
Front row
Integrate Chat & Loop content
Together mode
Large gallery (up to 50 videos)
Dual monitor/screen support (split gallery across 2 screens)
Calling	Teams Rooms Basic	Teams Rooms Pro
Make and receive peer-to-peer and group calls (VoIP)
Dial into meetings (meeting organizer must be licensed)
Dial out from meetings (meeting organizer must be licensed, minutes are limited)
Microsoft Teams Phone License (Microsoft 365 Phone System)	Not Supported	Included
PSTN Calling	Not Supported	Add one of the following: Microsoft Calling Plan Direct Routing Operator Connect
Intelligent Audio & Video (may require specific peripherals)	Teams Rooms Basic	Teams Rooms Pro
Intelligent speaker live transcript with speaker identification
Multi-stream people feed for intelligent cameras (on the roadmap)
Multi-camera support
Panoramic room view
Remote PTZ controls (on the roadmap)
AI noise suppression
People counting
Security & Compliance	Teams Rooms Basic	Teams Rooms Pro
Secure operating system
System level security (Secure boot. Assigned Access mode, etc.)
Endpoint management with Intune and Config Manager
Azure AD Conditional Access policies (Microsoft Entra ID P1)	Not Supported	Included
Device Management	Teams Rooms Basic	Teams Rooms Pro
Teams Admin Center enrollment and inventory
Automatic software updates
Detailed system and configuration information
Peripheral health management
Remote configuration
Device history and activity
ITSM integration
Custom health alerts
Device analytics
Application updates and Al-powered remediation service

Microsoft's Teams Rooms Resources

• Microsoft Teams Rooms Pro Announcement
• Microsoft Teams Rooms Tour
• Microsoft Teams Rooms Certified Devices
• Microsoft Teams Rooms Admin Documentation
• Microsoft Teams Rooms End-User Documentation