Frequently Asked Questions

General

What is the Microsoft Places integration?

The Haltian IoT integration for Microsoft Places feeds real-time sensor occupancy data from physical sensors into the Microsoft Places platform. This enables features like sensor-verified room availability in Places Finder, automatic room release for ghost bookings, sensor-confirmed desk status, and data-driven workspace analytics — all within Microsoft Teams and Outlook.

Which Microsoft 365 licenses do I need?

As of April 1, 2026, individual desk booking, autorelease, and occupancy reports moved from a per-user Teams Premium license to a per-space licensing model. Customers with active Teams Premium subscriptions purchased before that date keep these features until renewal.

The Haltian IoT sensor infrastructure and the integration itself do not require additional licensing beyond the Microsoft 365 tier and space licenses that enable the Places features you want.

See Microsoft’s license requirements for an authoritative and up-to-date list.

Sensors and Hardware

Which sensors work with Microsoft Places?

See the Supported Sensors page for full details. In summary:

Do I need a separate sensor for each desk and room?

For desks: Yes, one Thingsee PRESENCE sensor per desk.

For meeting rooms: You have options:

• Small rooms (up to ~4 people): One Thingsee PRESENCE sensor is sufficient.
• Larger rooms: Combine multiple Thingsee PRESENCE sensors in a device group for full coverage.

Can I use sensors I already have installed?

The integration is certified for Haltian sensors. If you have existing Thingsee PRESENCE sensors, these are supported. Third-party sensors are not currently supported for the Microsoft Places integration.

What happens if a sensor goes offline?

When a sensor stops reporting, the last known occupancy state remains in Microsoft Places until the sensor resumes communication. Haltian IoT Studio will show the device as offline (stale lastSeen timestamp). Room release will stop functioning for affected rooms until connectivity is restored.

To be alerted to sensor connectivity issues, set up device alerts in IoT Studio.

Occupancy and Accuracy

How quickly does room availability update in Microsoft Places?

Occupancy state changes are pushed to the Microsoft Places API in near real-time — typically within a few seconds of the sensor event. End-to-end latency (sensor trigger → visible in Teams/Outlook) is usually under 30 seconds.

How does automatic room release (ghost booking detection) work?

When a meeting room is booked in Outlook/Teams but no occupancy is detected within a configurable window after the meeting start time (typically 5–15 minutes), Microsoft Places automatically cancels the booking and releases the room for others to book.

Haltian sensors provide the occupancy signal:

• Thingsee PRESENCE — Detects any movement or body heat. If no one is present, the room is reported as vacant.

How accurate is PIR detection for small vs large rooms?

Does the system handle multiple people accurately in large rooms?

For larger rooms, the Occupancy Data Engine combines multiple Thingsee PRESENCE sensors in a device group, evaluating whether any sensor in the group detects presence to produce a single occupancy state for the room.

Setup and Configuration

Who owns which setup tasks?

See the Integration Guide for step-by-step instructions for each task.

How are sensors linked to specific rooms in Microsoft Places?

Haltian configures the sensor-to-resource mapping in the Haltian IoT platform. Each sensor (or device group for multi-sensor spaces) is associated with the Exchange mailbox address of the corresponding meeting room or bookable workspace in Microsoft 365. This mapping determines which Places resource receives occupancy updates from each sensor.

Accurate room mailbox addresses are required from the customer during setup.

How long does a full deployment take?

A typical deployment timeline depends on scope:

For a building with 50 rooms and 200 desks, expect 3–6 weeks end to end.

Can I add new sensors after the initial deployment?

Yes. New sensors are installed and then mapped to Microsoft Places resources by the Haltian team. There is no downtime for existing sensors during expansion.

Privacy and Security

Do sensors collect any personal data?

Haltian sensors used in this integration do not capture images, audio, or personally identifiable information:

• Thingsee PRESENCE — PIR (passive infrared) detects heat signatures and motion. No identification.

The integration reports aggregate space-level occupancy to Microsoft Places. No individual-level tracking data is shared.

Does sensor data leave the Haltian platform?

Depending on the configured sensor mode, occupied/vacant status or non-directional movement count is sent from the Haltian IoT cloud to Microsoft Places over HTTPS. Only the configured measurement and timestamp for mapped resources are transmitted, not raw sensor payloads.

Troubleshooting and Support

Places Finder does not show sensor-based availability

1. Check that the sensor mapping is active and the device has a recent lastSeen in IoT Studio.
2. Ensure Places Finder is enabled for your tenant (Set-PlacesSettings -PlacesFinderEnabled 'Default:true').
3. Wait 5–10 minutes after a mapping change for Places to pick up the new data.

Room release is not triggering

1. Confirm the room has an MTR, MTSS, or MTSS-SS space license assigned.
2. Check that automatic room release is enabled in the Microsoft Places admin settings.
3. Verify the sensor is correctly mapped and actively reporting.
4. Ensure the no-show detection window is configured (Microsoft default: 5 minutes after meeting start).

Where do I get help?

• Haltian support: support@haltian.com
• Microsoft Places documentation: learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/places/