Another week has passed here in the Unified Communication and Collaboration industry, and that means another 7 days of news updates and reports from today’s top brands.
Over the last week, we’ve seen a massive outage from leading collaboration tool, Slack. Microsoft dipped its toes in the CPaaS pool with a new offering and revealed new details for the Skype for Business Server. Plus, Lumen and Zoom joined forces on a new team experience.
If you didn’t have chance to keep up with all of the most exciting updates to appear in the last 7 days – don’t worry. Here are the top stories from the week.
The Top 10 Contact Centre Influencers
The contact centre environment is constantly evolving, driven by new demands from customers, expanding technology, and new expectations. It’s difficult to know what you need to do to stay on the cutting edge of the latest trends. While you can always stay up-to-date here at UC Today, we also recommend checking out some of the biggest Contact Centre influencers around.
Rob Scott shares his top ten influencers in the contact centre environment in this new list, so that you can track down the most informed individuals around. The list covers everyone from Rowan Trollope of Five9, to Tiago Paiva, Thomas Kurian, and more. Check it out here.
Slack Suffers a Major Outage
In a world where virtually every company is relying on collaboration tools to stay connected, leaders like Slack can’t afford to make any mistakes. Unfortunately, on Monday the 5th of October, the world of remote work came to a standstill for many employees, as they were left unable to use the Slack service. The collaboration tool stopped sending and receiving messages at around 9:30 am.
It wasn’t until 1:41 that the Slack team announced some improvements to the problem – while admitting that some people would still be facing problems. As complaints about Slack continued to trend on Twitter, the team reassured users that it worked hard to solve the problem. At around 4:41 pm, Slack finally announced an end to the issue. See the full story here.
Microsoft Challenges the CPaaS Landscape
Microsoft has been making waves over the last week thanks to announcements from the popular Ignite conference. This year, Microsoft’s Ignite has played host to a selection of exciting announcements, including details on the arrival of new Microsoft Teams features and developer tools. Microsoft also went on to reveal the arrival of Azure Communications Services – a new opportunity for the technology company to expand its tech stack.
Azure Communications Services makes it easier for third-party apps to make voice and video calls. The system also supports chat and text messages and phone calls for inbound/outbound calling. This new service will put Microsoft into competition with CPaaS providers like Twilio. Check out what Microsoft is going to be bringing to the market with Azure Communications Services here.
Zoom and Lumen Join Forces
Leaders of video collaboration solutions, Zoom, recently announced an exciting new partnership with Lumen. The two companies are working together to allow Lumen to add Zoom technology to its UC&C suite. Lumen will be delivering state-of-the-art services to support customers with Zoom’s sensational video conferencing landscape and aiding a growing global customer base.
Zoom and Lumen are both committed to transforming business communications, Lumen will be using its great network to deliver boosted quality experiences to its customer base, along with an updated series of network security options for companies taking advantage of Zoom. The combined experience from Lumen and Zoom will give businesses access to a comprehensive UC&C solution, perfect for the new digital landscape. See the full story here.
Microsoft Skype For Business Server Updates Announced
Microsoft’s Server solutions are a common tool for enterprise customers searching for ways to enhance their communication infrastructure. The origins of this tool date back to 2003, when the company launched Microsoft Office Live Communications Server. It wasn’t until 2015 that the name “Skype for Business Server” arrived. Microsoft has remained committed to the Server business with Skype for Business, even as it prepares to retire the solution in 2021.
Following Microsoft Ignite, the company has revealed some interesting insights into the next version of the Skype for Business Server and what it may bring to companies in 2022. Check the full story here.
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