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General Information About Updating Neat Devices

Last updated August 4, 2025

Neat devices offer multiple avenues to ensure that your devices are running the latest device firmware and app versions available. While we recommend enabling the Automatic updates setting to ensure your devices are updated as soon as a new firmware version is released, we understand this might not be possible in all environments. This article gives general information about updating and managing the Neat firmware and other software applications on Neat devices (for more detailed information, click the article link in each section).

Contents

Note: The term firmware refers to the code produced and distributed by Neat which controls underlying hardware performance. The terms software or apps refer to the code produced and distributed by our platform development partners.

1. Prerequisites

For a Neat device to update successfully it must adhere to Neat’s network and firewall requirements in addition to any network and firewall requirements from Zoom or Microsoft depending on which application is chosen. The device must also have a stable internet connection at the time of the update.

A full list of network and firewall requirements for Neat devices can be found in the Network and firewall requirements article. If you are encountering issues, please check the Troubleshooting during installation section of this website.

2. Methods of updating

Neat devices allow you to manage software updates either automatically or manually whether a device is enrolled on Neat Pulse or not. These options are:

  • Automatically (by default)
  • Neat Pulse (once device has been added to Neat Pulse)
    • Neat Pulse provides further 4 methods of upgrading: Automatic, Manual, Delayed and Scheduled.
  • Using Microsoft Teams Admin Center
  • Using Zoom Administrative Portal using ZDM protocol
  • Manually (by disabling Automatic update)

More information about managing updates, see the article: Automatic and other methods of updating your Neat Device.

3. Stable vs. Preview Channel

Neat has two channels for managing updates.

  • The Stable update channel contains builds that are ready to be used in production environments.
  • The Preview update channel is used to test new builds that will be promoted to the Stable channel in a few weeks’ time and still undergoing the QA process in select environments before they are promoted to the Stable channel.

3.1 Stable Channel

By default, all devices are set to the Stable channel. This channel will always contain the latest versions of Neat firmware, Zoom apps, and Microsoft Teams apps that have been approved for use in production environments. When new versions are released to the Stable channel, Neat devices will download them within a few hours of publication then wait until 2am local time to reboot and apply the updates. New versions are generally released to this channel over the weekend to minimize user impact.

3.2 Preview Channel

The Preview channel contains cutting edge releases that are generally safe to use, but have not gone through our full suite of testing to ensure reliability for production environments. For a Neat device to download and apply any versions in our Preview channel they must be manually configured to look for these updates.

More information about Stable and Preview channels can be found in the Stable vs. Preview channels article.

4. First Installation (Out-of-box)

When Neat devices are first taken out of the box (OOB), they are running the Neat firmware version that was loaded on the device at the factory during manufacturing/production. At this point, they do not have any apps loaded on to them. Neat devices will come preconfigured with the following settings:

  • Channel: Stable
  • Automatic updates: enabled

Note: If a device is enrolled in Neat Pulse during the OOB process and has a settings profile applied, these settings will default to whatever is included in the settings profile.

Once connected successfully to the network, Neat devices will query https://ota.neat.no/stable.json to check for the latest Stable firmware and upgrade to that version. The user will then be asked to choose to load either Zoom or Microsoft Teams software. At this stage, the latest version of the Zoom or Microsoft Teams application that Neat has made available for Neat devices will be loaded from Neat’s servers.

5. Updates using Neat Pulse Control

Once a device is enrolled in Neat Pulse, its updates can be managed through the Neat Pulse Control platform. By default, automatic updates are enabled on Neat devices and they will download new versions a few hours after release and apply them overnight.

Updating devices using Neat Pulse Control, gives administrators a number of update options:

  • Automatic. Software updates will happen automatically after a new release is available
  • Manual. No software updates will happen unless an administrator executes the update
  • Delayed. Updates are automatic but a set delay for the updates can be chosen (available on paid Pulse plans only)
  • Scheduled. Administrators can schedule the day and time of updates (available on paid Pulse plans only)

More information about managing updates using Neat Pulse can be found in the Managing Software Updates with Neat Pulse article.

6. Neat devices running Zoom

Neat firmware versions come bundled with Zoom Room software versions. While updates to Neat firmware and Zoom applications are generally released simultaneously, it is possible to release an app update without a change in the firmware version, or vice versa. Neat devices running Zoom can have their updates managed automatically or manually through ZDM (Zoom Device Management).

More information about managing updates on Neat devices running Zoom can be found in the Updating Neat devices running Zoom article.

7. Neat devices running Microsoft Teams

Neat firmware versions come bundled with a Microsoft Teams Room on Android software version. While updates to Neat firmware and Microsoft Teams applications are generally released simultaneously, it is possible to release an app update without a change in the firmware version, or vice versa. Neat devices with a Microsoft Teams Rooms Pro license can have their updates managed automatically or manually through TAC (Teams Admin Center).

More information about managing updates on Neat devices running Microsoft Teams can be found in the Updating Neat devices running Microsoft Teams article.

After a Factory Reset

All Neat devices come with a ‘factory reset’ button at the back of the device. Once this is pressed and held down for longer than 10 seconds, Neat will erase the Zoom or Teams app completely along with any user-partition that was created for the application. This means all information, including sign-in details, for the app will be deleted. The Neat firmware in this scenario will remain unchanged and will NOT revert back to the original manufacturing firmware it was shipped with.

After a device has been factory reset, the OOB update process will be followed:

  • The Neat device will check our update server and confirm if it is running the latest Stable firmware. If there is an available update, it will upgrade its firmware to the latest version.
  • If the device is set to the Preview update channel and is already running a more up-to-date version of Neat firmware, it will not downgrade its firmware version to our current stable release.
  • After updating its firmware, the Neat device will ask the user to choose Zoom or Microsoft Teams and load an initial application from Neat’s servers.

By performing a factory reset, you can take your Neat device through the OOB process again where it will first check the latest stable channel firmware and upgrade if needed. It will behave like a completely fresh install, where you will be able to install the Zoom or Microsoft Teams application again.