Big UC News from Zoom, Microsoft and BT

Zoom Rooms Passes 2Mn Licenses Milestone, Is ‘First UCaaS Company’ To Add Post-Quantum E2E Encryption To Video Calls

Zoom has announced that it’s surpassed two million licenses for Zoom Rooms.

In Zoom’s latest earnings call, the launch of its AI-powered, unified platform, Workplace, helped catalyse prosperous quarters for several of Zoom’s products, including Zoom Rooms. The business’s year-over-year revenues saw three percent growth, above the guidance for the quarter.

Zoom’s Rooms licences milestone was among several operational successes that the vendor celebrated, including now having five customers with 100,000 or more Zoom Phone seats and 700,000 AI Companion licenses activated since its arrival eight months ago.

In other Zoom news, the vendor revealed it is introducing post-quantum end-to-end encryption to Zoom Meetings within its Workplace platform.

While end-to-end encryption has been present in Zoom meetings since 2020, post-quantum E2E adds an extra layer of security safeguarding against potential bad actors as their own technology becomes ever more advanced. In the process, Zoom says it is the first UCaaS company to offer a post-quantum E2EE solution for video conferencing.

Michael Adams, Chief Information Security Officer at Zoom, said:

With the launch of post-quantum E2EE,  we are doubling down on security and providing leading-edge features for users to help protect their data. At Zoom, we continuously adapt as the security threat landscape evolves, with the goal of keeping our users protected.”

While currently only available for Zoom Meetings, Zoom says post-quantum E2E encryption will be introduced to Zoom Phone and Zoom Rooms “soon”.

• Read more about Zoom’s recent earnings call
• Read more about Zoom’s post-quantum E2EE solution

Microsoft Unveils Team Copilot, Your New Colleague For Teams Meetings, Showcases Copilot+ PCs With GPT-4o

Microsoft has announced Team Copilot, an expansion of its flagship AI assistant into becoming a “valuable member of your team”.

Unveiled at this week’s Microsoft Build 2024 event, Team Copilot intends to transform the AI-powered assistant from a behind-the-scenes helper into a meeting facilitator, group collaborator and project manager—while ensuring users have complete control over assigning its tasks and responsibilities.

“Team Copilot expands Copilot beyond a personal assistant to act as a valuable team member—participating and contributing along with the team,” wrote Jared Spataro, Corporate Vice President of AI at Work at Microsoft. “And, of course, you’re always in control—assigning tasks or responsibilities to Copilot so the whole team can be more productive, collaborative, and creative together.”

Team Copilot will be available in Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Planner, Microsoft Loop, and more, and intends to boost user productivity and collaboration even further than what Copilot currently offers. These capabilities will be available in preview later in 2024 for customers with a Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365 license.

Also revealed at Build this week, Microsoft Copilot is being updated with OpenAI’s latest model ‘GPT-4o’ for a new line of PCs called Copilot+ PCs.

GPT-4o (the ‘o’ is for ‘omni’) enables people to interact via voice, video, and text within the same model, similar to a much more powerful Alexa. Combined with Copilot, users will have access to more accurate answers and text generation. They can also use GPT-4o to leverage app functions, such as opening apps and editing photos.

Copilot+ enhances this experience by incorporating what the user is viewing on-screen into its contextual understanding, making communication with the AI assistant even more natural and intuitive.

• Read more about Team Copilot
• Read more about Copilot and GPT-4o

BT Group Delays PSTN Switch-Off

BT Group has opted to postpone its PSTN switch-off date to the end of January 2027.

This will give customers who are relying on the old analogue Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) longer to transition across to a modern fibre network.

BT is planning to move over 14 million copper lines onto the fibre network, simultaneously ending the legacy services and wholesale line rental products connected to them.

Howard Watson, BT Group’s Chief Security and Networks Officer, said:

Managing customer migrations from analogue to digital as quickly and smoothly as possible, while making the necessary provisions for those customers with additional needs, including telecare users, is critically important. Our priority remains doing this safely, and the work we’re doing with our peers, local authorities, telecare providers and key government organisations is key.”

• Read more

EU Approves ‘First-of-its-Kind’ AI Rulebook

The European Council has released “first-of-its-kind” rules called the ‘Artificial Intelligence Act’ to set standards for the regulation of AI within the European Union, which will likely influence policymakers elsewhere.

The EU body has adopted a risk-based approach to new AI legislation, implementing stricter rules based on the threat level to the public. The law aims to ensure that AI systems in the EU’s public and private sectors are safe and trustworthy. It is also designed to respect the rights of EU citizens and foster business growth within the continent.

“This landmark law, the first of its kind in the world, addresses a global technological challenge that also creates opportunities for our societies and economies,” said Mathieu Michel, Belgian Secretary of State for Digitisation, Administrative Simplification, Privacy Protection, and Building Regulation.

“With the AI Act, Europe emphasises the importance of trust, transparency and accountability when dealing with new technologies while at the same time ensuring this fast-changing technology can flourish and boost European innovation.”

• Read more