Calculating the network bandwidth capacity for Microsoft Teams voice, video, meetings, and live events

In this chapter, we will go through some processes and tools that you can use to assess the state of your network and its readiness for a Microsoft Teams deployment, such as Network Planner.

However, before we look at how, we need to understand why and when you should plan to introduce Microsoft Teams into your organization. It's important to understand the way Teams prioritizes QoS concerning the state of your network. An example of how this works can be observed when Teams detects limited bandwidth. Here, the audio quality is given priority over video quality. Teams will always attempt to maximize both audio and video quality, and the better your bandwidth, the better your experience will be.

Where unlimited bandwidth is available, Teams can provide up to 1080p video resolution. HD video can be delivered in under 1.2 Mbps, which shows that Teams only uses what it needs to deliver the best possible experience.

Microsoft has provided the following guidance on the minimum, recommended, and best performance bandwidth requirements concerning Microsoft Teams:

Table 1.1 – Performance bandwidth requirements

Understanding the preceding requirements will help you successfully plan your organization's Teams deployment.

Now that we have set the scene in terms of what is required, let's look at how you can interrogate your network to assess and determine your readiness and establish your network requirements.