Microsoft Teams Update - September 2024

Ryan Herbst, Vice President and Chief Strategist at UnifiedCommunications.com discusses the evolution of the unified communications industry and the challenges and opportunities it presents. He highlights the importance of standardisation and the balance between innovation and maintaining a consistent user experience.The importance of standardisation in customer deploymentsThe challenge of balancing innovation and maintaining a consistent user experience for organisationsImpact of AI in meetings including transcription and multi-camera capabilitiesFactors beyond technical specifications to consider when choosing devicesThanks to Numonix, this episode's sponsor, for your continued support and for helping to make content like this possible.

Microsoft Teams Monthly Update - October 2024Gartner 2024 UCaaS MQ3 New Teams Phone FeaturesOperator Connect 100 countries, 103 providersMicrosoft Teams New calendar experienceLimit Frontline Worker access to Teams when off shiftBlock the AI botsVoice and face enrollment on by defaultMicrosoft Places - Core and Premium GA NovemberEnd of Support for Skype for Business Server 2015 and 2019Microsoft Teams Rooms & Devices NewsMicrosoft 365 Copilot NewsEventsThanks to Neat, this month's benefactor, for your support of Empowering.Cloud and the community.Note that this is an audio-only version of the update, so if you would like to see the accompanying slides, please watch the video version over on Empowering.Cloud

Ryan McCarty, Senior Unified Communications Engineer at a legal firm explores the unique challenges of unified communications within the legal sector, the need for interoperability, user education and technology standardisation.Unique challenges of the legal sector presents Interoperability is crucial as clients dictate meeting platformsManaging change and user adoption strategies in Microsoft Teams RoomsThe importance of daily system checks to ensure reliability in high-stakes environmentsThanks to Landis, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of the community.

Harold Wortman, Senior Product Manager - Mobile Unified Communications at Verizon, discusses the journey of deploying Teams phone mobile, feature development and mobile as a default mode of communication,Teams Phone Mobile offers a seamless mobile communication experience within the Teams platformSignificant, with interest from small to medium-sized businesses, enterprises, and government organizationsWidespread adoption may take time due to the complexity of integrating with different mobile operatorsSecurity and compliance are important considerations for organizations, and Teams Phone Mobile can helpThanks to Ribbon, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of the community.

Doug Wycoff, Director of Digital Technologies and Innovation at Tampa International Airport, and Rebecca Criswell, Account Manager at AVI-SPL, explain the technological innovations at Tampa International Airport, including use of Microsoft Teams, digital signage, and advanced AV solutions.The rapid technological transformation from pre-Covid to present and the acceleration of Microsoft Teams adoptionImportance of standardisation across different room sizes and configurations in the airport's SkyCenter to ensure efficiency and ease of maintenanceHot desking solution enabling flexibility for employees to reserve and use spaces efficiently with real-time location trackingTampa Airport's outdoor parking lot video wall offering up-to-date flight information to help manage traffic and improve customer experienceThe importance of innovative solutions and strong vendor relationships Thanks to AVI-SPL, this episode's sponsor, for your continued support.

MVP Ragnar Heil, Business Development Manager Microsoft at HanseVision explores the role of Copilot in governance and compliance, as well as the importance of user adoption and change management in successful implementation of Copilot.The need for organisations to prioritise governance and compliance for CopilotCopilot's role in making governance more accessibleThe role of user adoption and change management in Copilot implementationManaging content freshness and organizing content with labels in CopilotBuilding a Copilot community with Viva Engage and Viva Insights' potential to enhance governance and adoption effortsThanks to Neat, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support and for helping to make content like this possible.

Chris Goodwill, Strategic Partner Manager and Solutions Specialist at Symity discusses the evolution of Microsoft's Contact Center and the new Dynamics 365 Contact CenterUnderstanding Dynamics 365 Contact Center, Microsoft's Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS)How Microsoft is driving with AI featuresDynamics 365 Contact Center vs Teams Ecosystem solutionsLicensing and pricing considerationsThe future of chatbots and multi-lingual supportThanks to Logitech, this episode's sponsor, for their support of Empowering.Cloud and the community.

Shabtai Adlersberg, Co-Founder, CEO and President of AudioCodes shares the fascinating journey of AudioCodes over the past 31 years, from its establishment to becoming a leader in the voice industry and more recent journey into SaaS and AI.Shabtai's background in engineering and digital signal processing, before co-founding AudioCodesAudioCodes evolution from focusing on algorithms to developing chipsets and then progressing to gateways and SBCsThe impact of partnering with Microsoft on AudioCodes success, from Lync to Microsoft TeamsChallenges and opportunities during market disruptions caused by technological advancements and the pandemicThe transition from hardware to SaaS platformsThe future vision for AudioCodes, leveraging conversational AI to enhance products and solutions

Microsoft Teams Monthly Update - September 2024No more General ChannelCallback for call queuesMicrosoft Teams Intelligent recap coming for ad-hoc meetings and callsTeams Client Updates Channel Improvements5 Town hall UpdatesAdditional languages - Copilot for Microsoft 365CNS Retirement Updates - old phones will get an update6 Microsoft Teams Rooms UpdatesNew Certified DevicesEventsThanks to Pure IP, this month's benefactor, for your support of Empowering.Cloud and the community.Note that this is an audio-only version of the update, so if you would like to see the accompanying slides, please watch the video version over on Empowering.Cloud

Taimoor Husain, Global Telco M365 GTM Strategy Lead at Microsoft, discusses the Microsoft Teams telephony landscape, the rise of Operator Connect and the future of Teams Phone.The transition from Skype for Business to Teams and the resulting changes in operators' business modelsThe growth of Microsoft Teams Operator ConnectTeams telephony options including Microsoft Calling Plans, Direct Routing, Operator Connect and Teams Phone MobileHow Copilot is set to revolutionize telephony by enhancing productivity and supportThe SMB and mid-market opportunityFuture developments in telephony, including new tools, APIs, features and incentivised partner programsThanks to Numonix, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud