Another week has passed, and that means another 7 days of interesting updates in the world of Unified Communications and Collaborations.
Over the last week, companies across the globe have been exploring a new era of remote work, tapping into the incredible feature sets available from leading vendors in video collaboration, VoIP, and even CCaaS technology.
As we all continue to adapt to this new environment, leading companies from every environment have been introducing new and improved solutions to keep us all connected. If you haven’t had time to read all of the latest stories here at UC Today, here are just some of our favourites to keep you on the cutting edge of the industry.
Microsoft Introduces Backgrounds
Have you ever been sitting in a Microsoft Teams meeting, unable to concentrate on what’s going on, because you’re too worried about how messy your office looks behind you? In the past, Microsoft offered background blur to deal with that very problem. However, a blurred background isn’t the most visually appealing thing to show off to all your colleagues.
Now that more people are working from home than ever before, Microsoft has updated it’s video collaboration offering to include a custom backgrounds feature. This solution will allow you to add a new background to your meeting, so you can forget all about your cluttered living room. We cover the details here, as well as providing tips on how to add your own custom backgrounds to the mix.
BlueJeans vs Zoom: Which One Should You Choose?
Are you overwhelmed by the number of video conferencing providers on the market right now? There seem to be dozens of options to choose from, and all of them come with a range of amazing features to tempt you. Combine that with some very generous COVID-19 offers designed to get more people collaborating online as quickly as possible, and the choice becomes even tougher.
To help you make the right decision in this complicated time, we’ve put together a few comparisons for some of the leading video collaboration tools on the market today. In our latest comparison, we put BlueJeans and Zoom head to head to see which one wins out when it comes to user experience, features, and performance.
Global Internet Outages Map Released
ThousandEyes, an Internet Cloud intelligence company, recently released their new global map, showcasing the state of internet connections around the world. The virtual map covers everything happening to internet connectivity around the globe, with insights into lost connections, and overviews of which outages will impact which customers and companies.
As more businesses are forced to work from home, having an overview of the internet connectivity in your region can make it much easier to prepare for issues. The global Internet Outages map is available to access for free. However, there’s also a full Insights solution available from the company for people who want more information on potential outages. Check the map for yourself here.
Google Cloud Launches New Chatbot
Google, just like many other brands in the current environment, is responding rapidly to the COVID-19 outbreak, and the impact that it’s having on businesses around the world. As the pandemic spreads across the globe, citizens have turned to healthcare providers, governments, and other companies, searching for answers. This means that the demand on contact centres has increased drastically.
To help with this, Google has introduced a new rapid-response virtual agent solution. This will give businesses the opportunity to provide consistent 24/7 conversational support to people around the globe. The chatbot solution is available in chat and voice, as well as social media, with 23 languages to choose from. To ensure rapid deployment, Google is also working with contact centre providers like Avaya, Mitel, and Cisco. Check out the full story here.
Verizon Acquires BlueJeans
Verizon, one of the leading communication businesses in the current landscape, recently agreed to purchase video conferencing and collaboration company, BlueJeans. Verizon will be working with BlueJeans technology to update its already impressive UC&C portfolio. Currently, the BlueJeans VCaaS offer supplies a considerable customer base, including small and large businesses alike.
BlueJeans will now form a crucial part of the Verizon UCaaS solution. What’s more, Verizon is planning on incorporating BlueJeans technology into the 5G product roadmap too. The new integration of BlueJeans and Verizon should create a very competitive component for Verizon’s communication stack. See the full report here.
What was your favourite story from the last week? Let us know in the comments below, or join in the conversation with UC Today on social media.
