Why Q-SYS and Microsoft Go Deeper Than AV Certification

Marcus Law: Hello and welcome back to UC Today. Q-SYS's platform now covers a broad range of devices certified for Microsoft Teams. But certification is only one part of the relationship. QSC has joined the Microsoft Device Ecosystem Platform community, and that alignment is starting to shape how the company builds its own collaboration products, right through to how connected rooms feed into tools like Microsoft Copilot. Today I'm joined by Geno Zaharie, Senior Director of Alliances and Ecosystem at QSC, for the second in our look at the Q-SYS platform. This time, on what that Microsoft relationship really involves. Geno, welcome back. Thanks again for joining us. Geno Zaharie: Thanks, Marcus. Appreciate it. Marcus Law: Really appreciate your time again. Q-SYS has a really broad portfolio of devices now certified for Microsoft Teams. But what does the relationship involve beyond certification? Geno Zaharie: We've been collaborating with Microsoft for quite a few years, and we have our certified Teams product portfolio, validated through interoperability. But the Q-SYS and Microsoft relationship is really about long-term platform alignment through Microsoft's Device Ecosystem Platform membership. There's also Microsoft Places, and the integration and cloud management solutions we have to make sure our products work with. Q-SYS helps extend the Teams experience way beyond the meeting room into the broader high-performance workplace. When we look at all those facets, it's not just certifying a device. It's being able to align with Microsoft's roadmap and vision, and making sure our products are feature-rich based on what Microsoft requires in their spec. That's really the foundation for our continued relationship with them. Marcus Law: Absolutely. You touched on it there, and I mentioned it in the intro: the Device Ecosystem Platform. What does Q-SYS joining that community actually mean for customers? Geno Zaharie: It's really assurance. Our customers gain an added level of confidence from the fact that Microsoft is endorsing our products as certified devices. That reflects our joint commitment to the reliability, security and performance of the products. The collaboration tightens our integration and creates greater confidence between the customer, Microsoft and ourselves. Deploying Q-SYS solutions, like the scheduling panel and the collaboration bar, all becomes a natural extension of that relationship, and it's trusted and vetted. Marcus Law: And when it comes to closer alignment with Microsoft, how does that influence the way Q-SYS develops collaboration products? Geno Zaharie: Closer alignment with Microsoft allows Q-SYS to develop products not only for Teams certification, but for Microsoft's broader vision of the AI-powered workplace. We're starting to see how AI is transforming how we operate. How do we operate AI, and how is it useful in a collaborative environment? That's the next big question. It influences everything from our operating system choices and device management integrations to product roadmaps focused on intelligent spaces, workplace data, Microsoft Places and future AI collaboration experiences. So it's not just the roadmap to make sure the device is certified. It's also the roadmap of what we want out of our devices, which are feeding intelligence back to Microsoft to make us more productive. That might be a nice way to sum it up. Marcus Law: Absolutely. What role does the AV platform play in connecting physical spaces to Microsoft workplace tools? Geno Zaharie: You just said it, Marcus: connecting. The AV platform connects valuable context about what's happening in the physical workplace to Microsoft's digital workplace toolset. It provides the audio, video, control, automation, monitoring and data layer that allow Microsoft Teams to understand and interact with real-world spaces as part of a connected workplace. And it can elevate the personal experience for the user, making them want to use the space. So think of us as the connective tissue. We have the microphones, the audio experience, the visuals and the control to feed exactly what Microsoft needs to enable a better workplace experience for everyone. Marcus Law: Let's look at the IT team side. What should IT teams understand about the relationship between connected rooms, workplace data and integrating tools like Microsoft Copilot? Geno Zaharie: Copilot, for sure. Connected rooms are sources of workplace intelligence. That might be a good way to frame the workplace intelligence we contribute to. As platforms like Q-SYS connect room data with tools such as Teams, Places and the future Copilot experiences we're going to see evolve, the value shifts from managing individual rooms to understanding and optimizing the workplace as a whole. So again, it's that connective tissue: providing the audiovisual experience back into Copilot and back into AI, so it can help us better understand and interpret the data about what the environment is like. All to make us better and more productive in our workplace experiences. Marcus Law: If we look at the Microsoft EC1 deployment as an example of this, and it's a fantastic use case, how does it demonstrate the value of this connected platform across multiple space types? Geno Zaharie: It's a pretty amazing facility and experience. Microsoft leaned into a very simple premise: when experience is the product, the infrastructure must be software-based. We love that, because of course we're a software-based platform. In EC1, Microsoft chose the Q-SYS full-stack AV platform to unify audio, video, control, monitoring and room automation into a centralized, network-first architecture across more than 1,200 endpoints, which is pretty incredible. This reduced complexity and enabled consistency across theaters, demo labs, immersive installations and executive meeting spaces. It's a really good testament to the idea of connective tissue. In a software-based environment, all of those spaces can come together under a very manageable platform for Microsoft. Marcus Law: Absolutely. Just one more question for you, Geno. What does this long-term platform alignment with Microsoft mean for organizations planning a multi-year Teams strategy? Geno Zaharie: It's great, because as we talked about earlier, it's this assurance. It's knowing and trusting that we're going to continue to extend Microsoft's roadmap with our own roadmap. Long-term platform alignment with Microsoft has always been the key goal and the key mission. It gives organizations and users the confidence that their teams can invest and evolve with Microsoft's roadmap, in alignment with ours. The alternative is deploying technology as bespoke pieces, where single rooms have disparate tech, and that starts to unwind what we've been talking about and what we're trying to achieve with Microsoft and QSC. Marcus Law: Brilliant. Thank you very much for taking us through all of that. Really appreciate your time. Geno Zaharie: Thank you, Marcus. Appreciate it. Marcus Law: Between our look at physical space coverage and this deeper look at the Microsoft relationship, we hope we've provided a fairly full picture of where QSC's Q-SYS platform is heading. You can read the full roundup now on UC Today for how this all comes together for IT teams evaluating their Teams Rooms and AV strategy. I've been Marcus Law for UC Today. Thank you very much.