As another week rolls into a lovely long weekend, we’ve gathered up the top news stories from the UC&C space for your reading pleasure this bank holiday.
This week saw Microsoft add a personal angle to its popular Teams product. We also took a deep dive into what exactly Teams Room Managed Service involves. Elsewhere, Cisco launched new Webex offerings for UK SMBs, Google announced it was adding smart canvas to its Workspace suite and 8×8 launched a combined UC and CC solution.
Teams Gets Personal
Microsoft has made personal features in Teams generally available globally to people on desktop, mobile, and web.
Some of the personal features include access to Together Mode, the feature in Teams intended to reduce video fatigue by bringing people together in a shared virtual environment. Video call links are also available to anyone, regardless of whether they use Teams or not and these video calls can be accessed from any browser or device.
Google Launches Smart Canvas
Google’s new smart canvas offering is billed as a “collaboration experience that builds on its vision for the future of work”.
It is intended to make it easier for people to stay connected, focus their time and attention, and transform their ideas into actions. Smart Canvas enhances Docs, Sheets, and Slides to make them even more flexible and interactive.
“For too long, the ways people have worked together have been defined by legacy tools developed last century that simply cannot support the collaboration needs of the future,” said Javier Soltero, VP and GM, Google Workspace.
“At Google, we pioneered modern collaboration and see it both as our responsibility and opportunity to steer Google Workspace toward enabling new ways of working. Smart canvas is the next step in delivering on this promise.”
UK SMBs Get Extended Webex Offerings
Cisco this week launched Placetel with Webex offering for UK small businesses. Initially only available in Germany, Placetel with Webex offers UK users the ability to work in a hybrid way, with video conferencing and instant messaging through the Webex platform, full cloud telephony functionality with over 150 features, integration with Salesforce and Zendesk, and clear pricing in a subscription model.
Aine Rogers, Head of Small Business, Cisco UK & Ireland, stated: “Small businesses are the backbone of the UK, and as we enter this phase of recovery, we want to ensure that we’re supporting entrepreneurs and fast-growth businesses as they navigate a new normal.
“The future of work and the way people interact with organisations will be hybrid. This means businesses of all sizes need a platform that enables the workforce to collaborate with employees, customers and partners alike.
8×8 Launches Combined UC and CC Solution
8×8 has launched a combined unified communication and contact centre as a service solution.
The vendor refers to the offering as Experience Communications-as-a-Service and says it can be used to support all employees in an organisation. It combines contact centre, voice, team chat, meetings, and CPaaS capabilities with an uptime SLA of 99.99 percent.
What is Teams Rooms Managed Services?
Microsoft Teams Rooms Managed Services has been around in some guise or another for a few years now.
Built on an AI layer of support, the managed service provides proactive monitoring and technical support from Microsoft direct to end-users, via their help desk, covering areas such as faulty devices, known issues, updates, and threat detection.
Demand for the offering has skyrocketed recently as businesses prepare for a return to offices and meeting rooms.
Here, UC Today’s Tom Wright breaks down what it is, where it triumphs, and where it could be improved on.
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