When using Crestron, the 60 second timeout for the room control interface is counter-intuitive in some situations.
The Cresron UC Flex product with Microsoft Skype and Teams provides the programmer a custom interface for room controls. In certain situations such as larger conference rooms and divisible spaces where the custom control interface needs to be the primary control interface for users and the Skype/Teams interface called up when needed. This would allow the Crestron UC Flex system to be utilized in more environment, driving more sales (both Crestron and Microsoft).
My suggestion is to provide an option for the Custom Room controls timeout to be set to longer times (5 mins, 10 mins, 30 mins, etc.) as well as an option for that timeout to be 0 (none) so that the Crestron programmer can provide the user a custom interface for controlling larger room systems where the primary use may be local presentation or simply lecture with no media.
Providing a Crestron programmer the ability to jump between these two modes at will without a timeout would benefit AV integrators looking to use the Microsoft solution in many different solutions, where the timeout prohibits it's use in these systems.

9 comments
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Collin Harwell commented
To provide the MS team with understand of deployment of Flex Teams systems...
We use 10" panels, Flex Engines, and displays. You already know that.
What we need you to understand is that we're often times using the Teams Flex engine as a source component for a much much larger Audio-Visual system.
Example..Emergency Operations Center with 2 giant video walls, 6 projectors and 16 sources to select from including a Flex. Add in SIP audio calls for backup, lighting & HVAC in the Crestron project (you call Room Controls)
Client wants one touch panel to control everything, no exception. So no problem until we added in a Flex system and touch panel with the auto Teams page flip.
The Teams auto page flip back to the MS GUI drives the end user crazy. The primary purpose of the touch panel is for Room Controls, not Teams controls.
Please allow the same "Project Page Flip" control, default page, and timeout to the TSW-1060 that Zoom already does.
Kindest Regards.
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Brian commented
+1 Its almost as if is a Crestron label slapped on an MS box, so the panel is 99.9% the teams UI and MS is forcing this app to be always on top and ready to go.
Nobody mentioned the issue if the Content input is sensing a video sync, that it does not enter standby (sleep), so if you have a switch to have 2 laptop cables on a large table, cant use the auto off automation. also the 2am MS restart will also cause it to exit standby mode, auto power the sys on. Shame its not a Crestron product yet. While adding a Video switch that does not output video sync on the content input, add in an occupancy sensor, and then you might have a better ability to monitor the room use, just wish there was "Call_Connected_FB" so we knew it was currently in a call.
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Anonymous commented
I agree with this idea, and even a way to disable the auto flip. When the Teams calling is part of a larger installation and the panel is leveraged for other functions we need the ability to control the user experience.
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Ira Beyer commented
I also vote for the above options (timeout 5, 10, 30 or never) so we can do a better job of creating seamless environments using this product and Microsoft Teams.
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Jeff Bethke commented
This is a concern for our system designs when controlling other hardware. We know how to manage a user experience, please let us do this by managing the pages!
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Adam Wickham commented
I would like the ability to adjust and disable the "auto swap" of the Teams UI from a custom interface in a Teams Room system.
My Use case is that I am using many Crestron Flex systems that utilize the Teams Room application. The Teams user interface can be flipped to a Custom user interface to control the other room hardware such as the LCD on the wall. When the LCD is powered off, I need the User Interface to stay on the custom UI and NOT the Teams UI so the user does not need to flip back before using the system. This creates confusion as to why the Teams system is active but the Room is not powered on.
The crestron programming ecosystem allows for discrete User interface flipping but the Auto timer overrides this. Why allow discrete control if we cannot disable the auto flip?
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Scott Smith commented
As per Mr. Lindahl - make it like the RL2. You did it before...why take it away?
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Richard Brown commented
We are a systems integrator and this is hard when we are integrating this into a solution as it will force the system back to Flex.
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Patrik Lindahl commented
This is how the "old" RL and RL2 systems from Crestron worked but now with the new approach to Teams, this seem not to be possible anymore