Delivering a Good Microsoft Teams Experience in VDI

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Optimization for Microsoft Teams | Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops 7 - Background 

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Ms teams vdi deployment.Teams for Virtualized Desktop Infrastructure

 

If the registry key is not set, follow the installation guidance for Horizon Agent, as described in Horizon Agent Installation and Configuration. Also note that you need to log out of the Horizon desktop for the GPO policies to be applied. In the virtual desktop, restart Microsoft Teams to ensure that the correct settings have been applied by the Microsoft Teams client. We have seen issues in Microsoft Teams where incorrect flags get applied.

Restarting Teams ensures that the correct flags are pulled in and applied. Quit the Microsoft Teams application. This will force Microsoft Teams to reload its cache, which may have contained outdated values related to the environment. To ensure that Microsoft is not detecting a conflicting Citrix Agent installation on the desktop, review the Microsoft logs. Instructions for collecting Microsoft logs are provided in the Microsoft documentation topic Use log files to monitor and troubleshoot Microsoft Teams.

In Microsoft Teams, click the ellipsis points … next to your profile picture at the top, and then select Settings and go to the Devices section. Under Audio devices , you should see the local headset names in the Speakers and Microphone drop-down lists. Figure Device Settings for Microsoft Teams. If you see the local device names in the Microsoft Teams device settings, then Microsoft Teams optimization has been enabled in your environment.

Check if html5Server. If you do not see html5server. If you still do not see html5server. If you see that html5server. Similarly, if you are using a. Otherwise, html5server will not work as expected. Because html5server. This is an internal registry key used by html5Server. Backing up and restoring the registry key may result in erroneous behavior.

If you do not have any user profile management software installed or have excluded the above-mentioned registry key from the list, follow the next action item. Important : For the following step, you need to have administrator privileges on your virtual desktop operating system. If you see the below highlighted section, then Microsoft Teams optimization has been enabled on your VM. Note : For your convenience, the highlighted text you can search for includes the following settings:.

If the above settings are missing from the logs or if the logs display "allow:false" then Microsoft Teams optimization has not been enabled in your environment. Go through the installation guidance for Horizon Client for Windows or Linux, as described in Client Installation , and ensure that Media Optimization for Microsoft Teams check box has been selected in the Horizon Client Installation wizard. For the Mac platform, ensure that you have the supported version of Horizon Client installed.

If you have the supported versions installed and have selected the right configuration for Media Optimization for Microsoft Teams, contact VMware support. If you see the below highlighted section in the logs, then Microsoft Teams optimization has been correctly enabled for your session.

If the above settings are missing from the logs or if the logs display "allow":"false" then Microsoft Teams optimization has not been enabled in your environment. Contact VMware for further assistance. If Microsoft Teams on VDI is optimized and you are running into generic issues, or if you find that features are missing, check if you see the same behavior when using the Microsoft Teams web client. We recommend enabling the Citrix Profile container and redirecting the per-user directories listed in Per-user installer into the container.

List all the per-user directories into this configuration. For a complete list of verified endpoints, see Thin Clients. For more information, see Prerequisites to install Citrix Workspace app. After the update is complete, restart the Session. Root permission is required. Citrix Viewer app requires access to macOS Security and Privacy preferences for screen sharing to work.

If you want to disable Microsoft Teams optimization, run this command in a terminal and restart the Citrix Workspace app:. This section provides recommendations and guidance to estimate how many users or virtual machines VMs can be supported on a single physical host. The idea is to find out how many users or VMs can be ran on a single piece of hardware running a major hypervisor. This section includes guidance to estimate SSS.

Note that the guidance is high level and might not necessarily be specific to your unique situation or environment. Citrix recommends using this guidance and these simple rules to quickly estimate SSS only. However, Citrix recommends using Login VSI or the load testing tool of your choice to validate results, especially before purchasing hardware or making any financial decisions.

To enable optimization for Microsoft Teams, use the Manage console policy described in the Microsoft Teams redirection policy. This policy is ON by default. In addition to this policy being enabled, HDX checks to verify that the version of the Citrix Workspace app is at least the minimum required version.

Microsoft Teams reads the key to load in VDI mode. Loading the API is the first step toward redirection. Exit Microsoft Teams by right-clicking the notification area icon and restarting. Microsoft Teams relies on Media Processor servers in Microsoft for meetings or multiparty calls.

So the network health between the peer and the Microsoft cloud determines the performance of the call. Please refer to Microsoft network connectivity principles for detailed guidelines around network planning. We recommend evaluating your environment to identify any risks and requirements that can influence your overall cloud voice and video deployment. For support information, see Support. The manner in which this is accomplished will vary depending on the VPN product and machine platform used but most VPN solutions will allow some simple configuration of policy to apply this logic.

For more information on VPN platform-specific split tunnel guidance, see this Microsoft article. Citrix minimum recommendations per user are:. About performance, encoding is more expensive than decoding for CPU use at the client machine.

You can hardcode the maximum encoding resolution in the Citrix Workspace app for Linux and Windows. See Encoder performance estimator and Optimization for Microsoft Teams.

If you configure an explicit proxy server in the VDA and route connections to localhost through a proxy, redirection fails. If not, optimization fails. If the branch office is configured to access the internet through a proxy, these versions support proxy servers:.

If DNS requests are unsuccessful, P2P calls with outside users and conference calls media establishment fails. This support means that the endpoint must be able to perform DNS resolutions.

Consider a scenario where there is no direct path between the two peers or between a peer and a conference server and you are joining a multi-party call or meeting. The HdxRtcEngine. These ranges include both Transport Relays and media processors, front-ended by an Azure Load Balancer. Call quality depends on the underlying network protocol. Meetings fail. Use this architecture diagram as a visual reference for the call flow sequence.

The corresponding steps are indicated in the diagram. Citrix media engine and Teams. With Direct Routing, you connect your own supported session border controller to the Microsoft Phone System directly without any additional on-premises software. Call queues, transfer, forward, hold, mute, and resume a call are supported. Starting with version , Citrix Workspace app supports dynamic emergency calling.

The notification is provided based on the current location of the Citrix Workspace app that runs on the endpoint, instead of the Microsoft Teams client that runs on the VDA. To enable dynamic emergency calling, the administrator must use the Microsoft Teams Admin Center and configure the following to create a network or emergency location map:. When users start an optimized call using the Microsoft Teams client for the first time, they might notice a warning with the Windows firewall settings.

The warning asks for users to allow communication for HdxTeams. You can apply more restrictive rules if you want. You can deploy Microsoft Teams and Skype for Business side by side as two separate solutions with overlapping capabilities. For more information, see Understand Microsoft Teams and Skype for Business coexistence and interoperability.

Examples include island modes and Skype for Business with Microsoft Teams collaboration. Also, Skype for Business with Microsoft Teams collaboration and meetings. Peripheral access can be granted only to a single application at the time. For example, webcam access by the RealTime Media Engine during a call locks the imaging device during a call. When the device is released, it becomes available for Microsoft Teams.

Optimal audio and video quality require a network connection to the Microsoft cloud that has low latency, low jitter, and low packet loss. Backhauling of Microsoft Teams audio-video RTP traffic from Citrix Workspace app users at branch office locations to a data center before going to the internet can add excessive latency. It might also cause congestion on WAN links.

This use is to identify, categorize, and steer Microsoft Teams traffic. Business broadband internet connections in many areas suffer from intermittent packet loss, periods of excessive jitter, and outages. You can use multiple meetings or chat windows for Microsoft Teams in Windows. This feature is supported with Citrix Workspace app for Windows Microsoft Teams supports Gallery , Large gallery , and Together mode layouts. Microsoft Teams displays a 2x2 grid with video streams of four participants known as Gallery.

In this case, Microsoft Teams sends four video streams to the client device for decoding. When more than four participants share video, only the last four most active speakers appear on the screen. Microsoft Teams also provides the large gallery view with a grid up to 7x7. As a result, the Microsoft Teams conference server composites a single video feed and sends it to the client device for decoding, resulting in lower CPU consumption.

Lastly, Microsoft Teams supports Together mode , which is part of the new meeting experience. Using AI segmentation technology to digitally place participants in a shared background, Microsoft Teams puts all participants in the same auditorium. The user can control these modes during a conference call by selecting Gallery , Large gallery , or Together mode layouts in the ellipses menu.

Microsoft Teams relies on video-based screen sharing VBSS , effectively encoding the desktop being shared with video codecs like H and creating a high-definition stream. Teams users on VDI can now manage Teams calls and meetings in a separate pop-out window, allowing them to use the main Teams client while a call or meeting is in progress.

Accessing Teams and chats will be possible while keeping the popped-out call or meeting window visible - whether on the same screen as the main Teams client or on a secondary display. Meeting and call controls such as mute, video, chat, and leave are now located at the top of the meeting window for easy access. Meeting screen pops out leaving the main Teams window accessible. Getting started: Once users have the latest version of Teams and have satisfied the other requirements, they will see a banner when a new version of Teams is opened for the first time.

At this point, they will need to restart Teams. After Teams has restarted, users can open chat in a separate window by simply right-clicking on any chat and selecting Pop out chat option.

Teams users on VDI can give and take control during calls and meetings while sharing their desktop. Give control Presenters can give control to another meeting participant to change a file, help present, or demonstrate. Presenters can take back control of the shared content at any time.

Teams then sends a notification to that person to let them know the presenter is sharing control. While control is shared, they can make selections, edits, and other modifications to the shared screen. Take control To take control while another person is sharing, simply:. Select Request control, from the sharing toolbar prompting the presenter to approve or deny the request. Once a user has control, they can make selections, edits, and other modifications to the shared screen.

To return screen ownership to the presenter, select select Release control. This feature is available in desktop sharing scenarios but is not supported in individual window sharing. It will soon be available to Azure Virtual Desktop. Teams users on VDI can now use real-time captions to improve meeting accessibility for participants with hearing impairments, varying levels of language proficiency, or those who may be attending from noisy environments.

Users can also adjust the language captured for improved the accuracy of the captioning. During a scheduled Teams meeting, users can start a live transcription of the proceedings. The text appears alongside the meeting video or audio in real time, including the speaker's name unless they chose to hide it and a time stamp.

However, Teams uses Electron and Optimization, and some of those limitations require a VDI architect to consider unique design decisions compared to the rest of the Office suite.

The fast pace and complexity to implement Teams requires careful planning, design, and proper hardware prior to implementation to prevent data loss and performance degradation. Consider using a managed virtual desktop infrastructure provider to help your team avoid set-up and implementation errors, and keep Teams running smoothly for your entire remote workforce.

To learn more, download the complete solution brief: Deploying Microsoft Teams. Have VDI questions? Our Info sessions are always free. Schedule one for your team:. Capital View Center S. Whitehat Virtual Blog Discover best practices, product information, and IT tips that you can use to help your business. There are three major design decisions for an admin deploying Teams for VDI: 1.

Endpoint Device 3. Installing on the system drive prevents this scenario. Per-machine install prevents auto-updating, which allows proper QA of new Teams releases.

Most virtual desktop optimization clients recommend per-machine installs. Per-machine Cons: Teams updates frequently and bug fixes must be implemented often to keep up to date in the golden image.

Once a user launches Teams, they are unable to prevent auto-launch. Teams will always auto-launch and cannot be turned off by the user. Teams consumes all session resources to launch. This effectively means auto-launching is increasing your user logon times because the session will be unusable until Teams finishes launching.

Per-user Pros: Teams can be prevented from auto-launching by an admin by default and a user can toggle auto-launch on or off.