Embrava Blynclight Standard - Busy Light for The Office

Update March 2022: I am raising my rating from 3 to 5 stars, because all of the issues identified in my original review have now been solved through software updates. Teams can be used to set status from the client side now without any issues, no network privileges needed. And as of the latest update, there is the option to turn off the light in manual mode. With those issues solved it does exactly what I need, and after nearly two years of daily home office use it is still working great. Original review: I bought this for the home office to let others know when I'm on a call or otherwise unavailable. It's a terrific concept and almost very good in execution, but the few problems I've encountered are enough to knock off a couple of stars. First, and most importantly for me, I can't get it to integrate with Teams without network administrator access. My office has switched to heavy use of Teams in 2020 while we are all virtual, and I thought something linked to my Teams status would be perfect for alerting the family to my availability. In order to do this, though, I was surprised to learn upon installation that the software requires administrator access. Note that this is NOT referring to administrator access for your computer (which I have--I'm working off my own personal machine), but rather administrator access for your Teams account/network. In a massive org like mine, the odds of getting an administrator to sign off on granting access to a random app that hasn't been fully vetted and tested within our network is less than zero. So Teams integration is out, and the usefulness of the product is significantly decreased. It appears there was once a client-side Teams option, which I imagine is what I need, but this is now depreciated. The second big limitation is that in manual mode there is no way to just switch off the light. All the connected modes have the option of certain statuses turn the light off, but in manual mode the only options are to set the light to one of the color choices. This just seems like an oversight in the software--clearly the light is capable of turning off while the software is running--but it's an annoying one (particularly since I can't set up the link to Teams). Overall I still think it's a very useful idea but in need of further fine tuning. Since none of the issues are with the hardware but rather the software that controls it, I'm hopeful that it will improve over time with future updates.

I work hybrid, so I would often have the problem where my kids or wife would bust into my office, not knowing I was on a meeting or presenting. This light has completely solved that issue for me. I bought a separate USB-micro cord to plug in the light to the computer and used wire channel to hide the cord. The software is super user friendly, but I just let it automatically run based on my Teams status 99% of the time. The program allows you to "set it and forget it". It works perfectly, allowing for extremely specific controls over the light and color based on when you're in a call, busy, presenting, set to busy, do not disturb, away, available, etc. This has allowed me to set specific colors ), brightness, and flashing which my family understands as I can knock, I can enter, or I need to steer clear. If you have a home office and a family that's constantly interrupting at inconvenient times I strongly recommend this product. It's 100% worth the money.

I had to restart my PC after installing the software before I got any controls for the light, but otherwise installation was painless and it just ... works. I use MS Teams, and the light shows my Teams status within seconds of it changing. Honestly the only thing that would make this better for me is a Bluetooth version so I could put it on the wall outside my home office door without running a cable. Once I get a long enough cable, mounting it there will help prevent embarrassing interruptions while I'm on work calls. While it was sitting on my desk for testing, I got so used to it that I might buy a mini to keep on my desk after I move this one out to the hallway. This light turning red in sync with my work calendar has already prompted me to join a couple meetings that didn't have reminders set or whose reminders I snoozed and then overlooked, and the (configurable) flashing when I get an incoming IM or call has caught my attention a few times when I haven't been looking at the monitor and haven't had my headset on.

I love the Embrava Blynclight and have it setting up on top of my cubicle wall so anyone in the whole office can see it. I often use noise cancelling headphones at my desk just to focus, even when I'm not in a meeting, and my coworkers constantly come up behind and try to look at all of my 3 screens to see if I'm in a meeting, or just drowning out the background noise, before trying to get my attention. Now I have them trained that if the light is green, headphones or not, they can go ahead and talk to me, but if the indicator is red, then I'm on a call. I use MS teams, and so far the integration is good. There have been a couple buggy times when the light wasn't changing, but it could also be that my Blynclight is plugged into a dock and I'm constantly moving and plugging and unpluging my dock throughout the day. A "Reset Status" in teams usually fixes it. The only thing I don't like is that it doesn't integrate with normal WebEx meeting client, just their collaboration tool. We use Teams and WebEx for meetings, so if I go into a WebEx meeting, I have to manually change my status in teams to "In a call". I'm probably going to be buying a Stream Deck soon though, and that will be the first thing I program as a button!

The documentation for use of this device with Microsoft Teams is SORELY lacking. One of the several important points they don't tell you is that the device must access the Teams Server to function. My corporate IT won't allow that - so this device is not usable for me in my office using Teams.

I was frustrating with the light flashing while someone try to call me as it doesn't comes flashing on/off. Only new computer not old one.

Works out of the box

I expected something a lot larger, kinda like a police siren lol i didn't bother to check the measurements due to the high ratings. Despite this, it works a charm. Small size is perfect to attach on the side of the monitor.

i got it a few weeks ago

It works well in teams. It was smaller then expected but I was okay with that. All in all good product would buy again.