It’s been a slightly quieter week in the UC space this week after the long weekend in the US. However, we’ve still pulled together the must-read stories from the past seven days.
We parsed through the June updates for Microsoft Teams, RingCentral launched a new AI solution to prevent scam or robocalls, and it was reported that Amazon might be planning to go up against Microsoft in the collaboration space.
What’s New In Teams?
Meetings and Webinars saw the biggest range of updates this month in Microsoft Teams, including an Attendance Dashboard which allows organisers to track engagements in their meetings or webinars. Also included is a new Dynamics 365 marketing solution, inking and laser pointers for Teams PowerPoint, and chat bubbles.
Users can also now access files offline on Android, and in Teams Calling, Microsoft has changed how 1:1 calling is enabled in the PSTN environment. Administrators can now delineate recording configurations for calling and meetings. The new feature is only available via PowerShell.
RingCentral Blocks Scam Calls
The cloud comms provider is leveraging its own AI data to enable companies to block spam calls and robocallers.
RingCentral is also contributing to industry groups in the deployment of the STIR/SHAKEN strategy for successfully stopping unwanted robocalls and spam. The STIR/SHAKEN authentication framework has helped RingCentral to accurately verify and authenticate traffic routed through the platform, reducing unwanted calls and enhancing security.
“We’re all too familiar with receiving robocalls and SPAM calls every single day and we know how disruptive these calls can be, as well as the business risks associated with them,” said Praveen Mamnani, vice president, Product, Enterprise and SMB, RingCentral.
“With our trained datasets and AI-powered solution, we’re continuously striving to protect customers from these unwanted calls. Also, not only have we completed the implementation of the FCC mandate requirements, but we have been active in industry and FCC efforts to effectively deploy STIR/SHAKEN to ensure our customers’ security is not compromised”
Amazon Plotting A Teams Attack?
Business Insider this week reported that the e-commerce giant was plotting a “rebel alliance” to compete against Microsoft in the collaboration space.
Citing people familiar with the situation, Business Insider reported that Amazon has held talks with Dropbox, Slack, Smartsheet, and others about creating a bundle of services to take on Microsoft 365. Microsoft is growing in the infrastructure space with Azure and has taken a chunk out of the collaboration market with Teams. Microsoft was also recently declared the second biggest UCaaS vendor globally.
