BIG UC NEWS From Microsoft, RingCentral and Zoom

Popular stories from the last week that you may have missed

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Unified Communications

Published: September 24, 2021

Marian McHugh

Technology Reporter

Welcome to our weekly collection of the biggest stories making waves in the unified comms and collaboration space.

This week Microsoft updated us on when we can expect Operator Connect to become generally available, RingCentral made history in India, and we compiled all the major news that came from last week’s Zoomtopia.

Operator Connect’s Timeline Revealed

Microsoft unveiled a date for when we can expect Operator Connect to become generally available. According to the Microsoft 365 roadmap, the move from public preview is pencilled in for September this year.

First announced at Microsoft Ignite in March, Operator Connect is a third option for bringing voice into Teams, alongside Direct Routing and Microsoft Calling Plans. It is billed

Microsoft said that it will begin transitioning Operator Connect to general availability towards the end of September, with the rollout expected to be completed in early October. The tech titan also revealed that Operator Connect conferencing is expected to become GA from December this year.

RingCentral Claims Historic First in India

The Indian government granted RingCentral a Unified Licence, which the vendor claims makes it the first compliant UCaaS provider in the country.

The licence from the Department of Telecommunications lets the vendor offer message, video and phone services, as well as contact centre as a service.

RingCentral will now build out domestic computing infrastructure in India, in conjunction with the Department of Telecommunications.

Vlad Shmunis, CEO and Founder of RingCentral, stated: “India is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world and a key strategic priority for us.

“The Unified License from the Department of Telecommunications will enable us to provide our unified team messaging, video meetings, and cloud phone system to global organisations in India”

The Biggest News from Zoomtopia 2021

The videoconferencing giant last week held its annual Zoomtopia event, where it revealed its Video Engagement Center (VEC), its partnership with Oculus, and its targeting of resellers with its Bring Your Own Carrier (BYOC) functionality.

It also announced security updates for the platform, including end-to-end encryption soon being added to Zoom Phones, and a partnership with Amazon Web Service (AWS) to bring Bring Your Own Key (BYOK) to customers with strict compliance.

Elsewhere, Zoom said it would be increasing the languages of both its translations and transcription services up to 12 and 30 languages respectively.

Sinch Continues M&A Push

The CPaaS vendor made its third acquisition of the year so far in the form of Munich-based SaaS provider MessengerPeople.

Sinch acquired the firm for £41.2m, significantly less than the $1bn it spent on Inteliquent and MessageMedia each.

“I’m very impressed with the MessengerPeople team and their success in bringing innovative products to market,” stated Oscar Werner, CEO of Sinch.

“Most businesses have yet to discover the benefits of conversational messaging, and together we are superbly placed to win in this market as uptake now begins to accelerate”

The Industry on the Hardware Challenges of Hybrid Working

UC Today gathered executives from Yealink, Crestron, Poly, and Jabra to discuss the challenges around hardware in a hybrid working world.

The panelists discussed the challenges businesses face regarding devices and hybrid working, the devices they are seeing increased demand for, how they are standing out in a crowded market, and how businesses should decide on the right devices for them.

 

 

Big UC NewsCustomer ExperienceDigital TransformationDirect RoutingFuture of WorkHybrid WorkMergers and AcquisitionsSecurity and ComplianceVideo Conferencing
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