Microsoft Teams Insider

Josh Blalock, Chief Video Evangelist at Jabra, discusses the latest developments in Jabra's video solutions, focusing on the PanaCast 50 and VBS.

• Jabra's PanaCast series includes innovative video solutions for meetings
• The significant feature adds over the life of the PanaCast 50
• Jabra's Android Bar - features and flexibility
• Working closely with Microsoft and MDEP

Thanks to Jabra, this episode's sponsor, for your continued support.

Preethi Ramarathinam, Head of Product - Microsoft Teams Virtual Event at Microsoft, dives into Teams capabilities for hosting large external virtual events, webinars, and town halls.

• Microsoft Teams is expanding beyond traditional collaboration scenarios
• Internal large use cases for Microsoft Teams include AMA sessions and Town Halls
• External use cases such as training and product launches
• Recent key features
• Future Roadmap for Teams event and AI integration

Thanks to Landis, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support.

Patrick Watson, Head of Research at Cavell, discusses the evolving landscape of telephony, the impact of Microsoft Teams, market trends and the role of AI in Contact Centers.

• Microsoft Teams has significantly disrupted the telephony market
• Direct routing remains the dominant solution for Teams telephony users
• Discussing market dynamics and trends in telephony and differences in the enterprise and SMB markets
• AI is set to transform contact centers
• Look out for Cavell Enable London in December

Thanks to AudioCodes, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support.

Mohammed Khalifa, Microsoft Alliance Manager HP Poly and Kimberly Tee, Lenovo Smart Collaboration EMEA join Tom to dive deep into the evolving landscape of collaborative tools and meeting room technology

• The shift in innovation focus from major updates to software and hardware hardware refinements
• Exploring AI's role in the meeting room: automatic enhancements vs user-driven experiences
• Barriers to adoption including IT administration, cyber security concerns and organizational readiness

Thanks to Landis, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support.

Pardeep Gill, Senior Enterprise Architect at a global legal firm, shares his insights on the role of technology in modern workspaces.

• Flexible workspaces are becoming essential in professional services
• User experience is a key focus in modern office designs
• Sustainability must also be considered in technology procurement
• AV design must be integrated early in new builds
• Interoperability between meeting platforms is crucial in enterprise environments

Thanks to Luware, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support

Trond Johannessen, CEO of Pexip, discusses the evolution of video conferencing, the increasing demand for interoperability between UCaaS solutions and the customer use case for secure self-hosted meeting.

• Pexip's Microsoft certified solution connects meeting rooms to cloud meeting platforms, enhancing collaboration and catering for both cloud and on-premise deployment needs
• Why meeting platform interoperability is becoming essential as organizations use multiple platforms
• Explaining Pexip Secure meeting solutions and where they meet a need in regulated industries and the public sector

Roopam Jain, Vice President of Research, Information and Communications Technologies at Frost & Sullivan, explores the evolution of room video systems, the impact of hybrid work and office modernisation.

• The influence of the UC/Collab platform on room system decisions
• The transformative role of AI in enhancing meeting experiences
• BYOD is becoming a significant part of the meeting experience
• Sustainability is a key consideration in workplace technology

Thanks to Crestron, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support.

Anthony Woodruff, Technical Program Manager at Microsoft, discusses his role working with customers in the Microsoft 365 Customer and Partner Ecosystem Team, Copilot in Microsoft Teams and the wider challenges and impact of AI adoption.

• AI-powered tools can significantly improve productivity and efficiency
• Copilot use cases: summarizing conversations, onboarding new employees and streamlining workflows
• The potential of AI to revolutionise education

Thanks to AVI-SPL, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support.

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 deployments
• The challenge of balancing innovation and maintaining a consistent user experience for organisations
• Impact of AI in meetings including transcription and multi-camera capabilities
• Factors beyond technical specifications to consider when choosing devices

Thanks to Numonix, this episode's sponsor, for your continued support and for helping to make content like this possible.

Microsoft Teams Monthly Update - October 2024

• Gartner 2024 UCaaS MQ
• 3 New Teams Phone Features
• Operator Connect 100 countries, 103 providers
• Microsoft Teams New calendar experience
• Limit Frontline Worker access to Teams when off shift
• Block the AI bots
• Voice and face enrollment on by default
• Microsoft Places - Core and Premium GA November
• End of Support for Skype for Business Server 2015 and 2019
• Microsoft Teams Rooms & Devices News
• Microsoft 365 Copilot News
• Events

Thanks 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