Any known issues with Videoconference rooms when sharing Content to farend , farend video locally no longer seen

Scott Williams 0 Reputation points
2026-05-13T12:19:39.37+00:00

Any known issues with Videoconference rooms when sharing Content to farend , farend video locally no longer is seeing participants video only seeing locally the content. If they stop sharing they can now see far end video participants. For the farend participants all works and looks normal they can see the video participants room who is sharing and their content. I tested after their mtg and confirmed what was described. I even sent the room/customer an invite from my end and when they joined same behavior followed. Had user then join from another Videoconference room and same issue was present. Could this be firewall and a policy on their end causing this

Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Teams for business | Meetings and calls | Screen sharing
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  1. Killian N 1,565 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2026-05-13T13:28:01.23+00:00

    Hi @Scott Williams,

    From what you’ve described, this behavior is most likely related to a Teams Rooms layout setting, rather than a firewall issue. More specifically, it appears to be consistent with the "Focus on content" (content-only) layout, which is commonly used in single-display room setups.

    When a Teams Room is configured with a single front-of-room display, it can automatically switch to a content-only view as soon as someone starts sharing. As a result, participant video is temporarily hidden, and then reappears once sharing stops. This aligns closely with the behavior you’re seeing. In other words, the system is still receiving participant video, but it is simply not being displayed due to the selected layout.

    To confirm this, you may want to try the following:

    • On the room console, navigate to View
    • Then switch to Gallery, Content + people, or Front Row (depending on availability)

    If switching the view immediately brings participant video back while content is still being shared, this would confirm that the issue is layout-related rather than a media or connectivity problem.

    If the behavior is happening consistently across rooms, it would be worth reviewing the default configuration.

    • For XML-managed rooms, check the setting: <SingleFoRDefaultContentLayout> 0 = Focus on content (content-only) 1 = Content + people (gallery)
    • If you’re using the Teams Rooms Pro Management Portal, you can review: Default content layout in single display mode

    If the setting is currently configured for content-only, updating it to "content and people" should help prevent this behavior going forward.

    If, however, the layout is already set correctly, then another (less likely) factor to consider would be bandwidth or bitrate limitations. Because Teams Rooms prioritize audio first, followed by content, and then participant video, it’s possible for participant video to be reduced or suppressed when bandwidth is constrained and sharing begins.

    That said, since:

    • The far-end participants can see everything without issue, and
    • The behavior only affects the local room display,

    this further suggests that layout, rather than network conditions, is the primary cause.

    A firewall issue is unlikely here, because:

    • Media is clearly flowing correctly (far-end sees both video and content)
    • The behavior is display-specific, not transmission-related

    Given your test results, a firewall issue seems unlikely, as media is clearly flowing correctly between participants. Additionally, the issue appears to be related to how content is displayed locally, rather than how it is transmitted.

    Nonetheless, for completeness, you may wish to verify that standard Teams ports (TCP 80/443 and UDP 3478–3481) are open. However, I would not expect this to be the root cause in this case.

    To move forward efficiently, I would suggest:

    • Confirming whether the affected rooms are single-display setups
    • Testing the View setting during an active meeting
    • Reviewing the default layout configuration (XML or Pro Portal)
    • Only if needed, assessing network capacity or policy settings

    I hope these suggestions help point you in the right direction. Please feel free to try them and let me know how it goes.

    If you have any questions or need further assistance, don’t hesitate to reach out. I’d be happy to help further.

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  2. AI answer

    2026-05-13T12:19:53.6033333+00:00

    The described behavior matches expected limitations or bugs in specific conferencing/video implementations rather than a firewall issue, based on similar Microsoft real‑time media symptoms.

    From the provided context, comparable scenarios where video is not visible or is replaced by other content (blue screen, missing participant video, or only seeing shared content) have been resolved by client or server updates, not by firewall changes:

    1. In Skype for Business / Lync large conferences, participants sometimes see only a blue picture instead of shared video. This was fixed by installing the April 4, 2017 update (KB3178731) for Skype for Business 2015 (Lync 2013).
    2. In another Skype for Business 2015 (Lync 2013) scenario, a “Meet Now” organizer could not see other users’ videos after escalating to video; again, resolved by the same April 4, 2017 update (KB3178731).
    3. In 32‑bit Skype for Business 2016, participant video in conference calls could fail to appear when memory usage exceeded 2 GB; this was fixed by installing the December 1, 2020 update (KB4486745).
    4. In Lync Server 2013 with B2BUA, participants could not see video when joining via B2BUA until the July 2015 cumulative update for the Conferencing Server was installed.

    In all these cases, the root cause was client/server handling of multi‑view video or resource limits, not network/firewall policy. The far‑end participants seeing everything correctly while the room system loses far‑end video when content is shared is consistent with a rendering/layout or multi‑stream handling issue on the room side.

    Actionable guidance based on the context patterns:

    1. Ensure the room system and any associated desktop clients are fully updated to the latest supported build for the platform (Teams Rooms / Skype for Business / Lync, depending on what is actually in use).
    2. If the room is using legacy Skype for Business or Lync infrastructure, verify that the corresponding server and client cumulative updates that address multi‑view and conference video issues are installed (for example, KB3178731 for Skype for Business 2015 / Lync 2013, KB4486745 for Skype for Business 2016, or the July 2015 cumulative update 5.0.8308.920 for Lync Server 2013 Conferencing Server).
    3. Reproduce the issue from a different room system and a non‑room client (e.g., a standard Teams/Skype client on a laptop on the same network). If only the room systems exhibit the problem and far‑end participants always see everything correctly, this further points to a client/room‑system software issue rather than firewall.

    Nothing in the provided material indicates a firewall policy as the cause of this specific “lose far‑end video when sharing content” symptom; all similar documented issues are resolved by updating conferencing clients/servers.

    References:

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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