Microsoft has revealed Operator Connect growth figures for the first time.
Speaking during an earnings call with investors, Microsoft CEO said that Operator Connect minutes grew by a multiple of eight in the vendor’s Q3, compared to the previous quarter.
Operator Connect, which launched last year, gives businesses a more straightforward way than Direct Routing to plug third-party voice services into Microsoft Teams.
The number of calls made through the service has increased as Microsoft has accredited more carriers. This number is set to grow through the launch of a new programme to onboard more operators – Operator Connect Accelerator.
Nadella was speaking as Microsoft reported another quarter of bumper growth, with sales rising 18 percent year on year to $49.4bn.
The CEO stopped short of revealing updated monthly active users for Teams but did offer some details on how the platform’s usage is unfolding.
“Teams usage has never been higher. We’re seeing growth in every segment, including very small businesses with Teams Essentials,” he said.
“We’re adding new growth engines to meet the demands of hybrid work, with Teams Rooms, Teams Phone, and Microsoft Viva.
“Teams Rooms is bridging the gap between people working remotely and those in the office, with innovations like Front Row.”
Nadella also credited Teams as giving Microsoft an entrance into emerging markets for the first time.
He said that lower-cost offerings such as Teams Essentials could help Microsoft penetrate regions where it has previously had no presence.
He also highlighted Teams Phone and Teams Rooms as “new growth engines” for the Redmond-based firm.
Microsoft’s Azure unit saw the highest growth of any division, with sales up 46 percent year on year.
Elsewhere in the business, Dynamics 365 saw revenue growth of 35 percent. Nadella claimed that the platform is “growing faster than the business applications market overall”.
LinkedIn revenue climbed 34 percent, with Microsoft claiming to see record engagement from 830 million users through the platform in the quarter.
The CEO confirmed that Microsoft has halted all new sales in Russia because of the war in Ukraine. He said that sales in Russia represent less than one percent of total revenue but will “decline significantly”.
