Big UC News from Microsoft, Google, Meta, Avaya, and Gamma

Some not-to-miss highlights from the last week in unified communications 

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Published: September 9, 2022

James Stephen

Technology Journalist

From job cuts and seat gains to a suspicious-looking package, here are extracts from popular news stories this week. 

Avaya Braced for $26m Hit as Job Cuts Begin

Avaya expects to be hit by $26m in costs as it begins cutting jobs. 

The struggling UC-CC firm has not revealed how many roles it expects to axe but has said it plans to save between $225m and $250m annually. 

In an SEC filing, Avaya said: 

“The Company estimates that it will incur approximately $23 million to $26 million in pre-tax restructuring charges, all of which are expected to be in the form of cash-based expenditures and substantially all of which are expected to be related to employee severance and other termination benefits.”

The Story So Far 

Avaya’s share price has been on the slide for some time amid disappointing quarterly results. This culminated in the acrimonious sacking of CEO and long-time servant Jim Chirico at the end of July. 

A Closer Look at the New Teams Rooms

Microsoft has revamped its Teams Rooms pricing tiers with some fan fair, but is all as it seems? 

The new Microsoft Teams Rooms Pro offers users a comparable set of features to the existing Teams Rooms Premium for $10 cheaper per device. However, the new lower tier is stripping away advanced features, such as Front Row. to create Microsoft Teams Rooms Basic.   

Previously, the lower tier contained all of the same features as the upper tier; it just did not have Teams Rooms Managed Services. 

If Standard package customers wish to retain many of the features they have been using, they will be forced to pay more than triple the price for them by upgrading to a Microsoft Teams Rooms Pro account. 

What’s New at Workplace? September 2022 Update 

Workplace from Meta has announced new products and feature releases for September.  

The releases included new customisation functionality for Workplace admins and new courses in the Workplace Academy.  

The online collaboration software tool, Workplace from Meta, provides monthly updates of its latest innovations.  

New Insights and Customisation Options  

Workplace has now introduced the capability for admins to export workplace integrations into CSV files.  

The new functionality will allow admins to view usage data to see how their users are engaging with Workplace integrations. 

Google Meet Automatically Adjusts the Volume 

Google Workspace announced its weekly update which includes an automatic volume adjustment feature in Google Meet.   

Google Meet can now adjust participants’ audio to ensure everyone has the same volume.   

Other features from this week’s updates include changes to Google Classroom notifications and the capability to insert Google Maps place chips into your Google Docs.   

Google Meet Automatic Volume Adjustment   

As a result of participants using different devices to join meetings, the volume levels can vary from person to person.   

Google Meet’s new automatic volume level adjustment feature is now available and promises to create a “smoother meeting, with less disruptions”.   

Gamma Adds Over 90K Teams and Horizon Seats 

Gamma has gained 91,000 Teams and Horizon seats which contributed to a strong overall performance in the first half of the year.  

The company’s revenue grew by 8%, reaching £234.7 million, and its gross profit also increased by 8% to £120.4 million.  

Gamma is also on track to move from carbon-neutral to net zero by 2042.  

Andrew Belshaw, Interim Chief Executive Officer, said: “I am pleased to be presenting the first set of results since I took on my new role.  

“Gamma has had a strong first half. Our Direct business in the UK has returned to growth as we had indicated it would once the effects of COVID had worked through.  

“The UK Indirect business continues to be strong with good growth in the new variants of SIP which support MS Teams users.  

“Our European business has increased the number of Cloud seats by 7% despite a challenging economic environment.”

The UCaaS provider, Gamma, has seen positive growth across its biggest products, including voice enablement of Microsoft Teams using Direct Routing.

 

 

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