Microsoft is eager to differentiate its Teams offering from a growing crop of virtual collaboration tools and Slack alternatives. One of the tactics it has chosen to do this is by call-enabling the Teams platform with a host of native integrations. Business telephony is a major investment for enterprises worldwide, and in our recent Teams update with Tom Arbuthnot, we explored how Microsoft is opening its ecosystems to third-party players (even competitors) to give customers the best possible calling experience. Carrying on this conversation, Microsoft has an impressive set of Teams updates lined up for Ignite 2020, which would make small but game-changing tweaks to the calling experience.
- Collaborative calling – You will be able to connect a call queue to the Teams channel of your choice. As you take one call after another, you can collaborate via the Teams channel on the side and share information. We predict use cases in customer service desks, IT support centres, HR support, etc.
- More powerful 1-on-1 calling – As we know, the definition of meetings has changed hugely in a WFH world. Even 1-on-1 conversations now require powerful add-ons, akin to what we’d expect from a typical multi-participant video conference. That’s why Teams is bringing transcription, live captions, native recording, and seamless transfers between Teams Mobile and Desktop to one-on-one calls. All transcripts and records will be available on the 1-on-1 chat window.
- Affordable Teams phones – Tom already hinted that a new generation of affordable, USB-based Teams calling devices are on the way, powered by Microsoft’s partnerships with AudioCodes, Poly, and Yealink. These combine an old school physical dial pad with a modern Teams UI to ease adoption for users of every kind. Here, we predict several use cases in shared areas, like hotel lobbies, the office cafeteria, and other spots with occasional but necessary calling requirements.
- A UX overhaul – Microsoft has reimagined the end-to-end calling UX with a streamlined, feed-like view. You’ll be able to see your contacts, call records, and voicemail history side by side to quickly prioritise, return a call, or create a reminder. These actions will be available at a single click, making the entire calling experience seamless.
- Microsoft Teams Display – This is something that we’ve been waiting for – a standalone display that consolidates chat, meetings, calls, calendar management, and file–sharing into a single device. Think of it as an echo show, but for productivity. Lenovo and Yealink are some of the hardware providers behind this move, and Microsoft has packed in Cortana Voice Control for hands–free usage. The Display can double up as an excellent calling/meeting device when paired with a headset.
With time, Microsoft is moving Teams away from chat-based business collaboration to video, audio, and VoIP/SIP telephony. This could very well drive up Teams usage numbers, decoupling from the desked office productivity suite to open up use cases in contact centres, retail shops, and other frontline areas. These five features from Ignite 2020 mark the next leap in this direction, covering both the hardware and the software ends of the spectrum.
