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We’re only at the end of the first month of 2020, and already we’ve seen a huge amount of movement in the communication and collaboration landscape.
Companies like RingCentral, Microsoft, and Avaya are exploring new ideas, planning for a future where “as a service” selling, is more common than ever.
Elsewhere, customers, partners, and resellers in the UC environment are planning their strategies for 2020, working hard to ensure that they get the most out of every investment.
Bandwidth, the leading CPaaS provider, were January’s headline sponsor.
Across January we’ve covered all things about CPaaS, so be sure to check out all our latest features and news stories by visiting our CPaaS category on the UC Today website.
UC Summit 2020 is also now officially open, offering incredible vendor discovery and educational opportunities to people around the world for 90 days. If you’ve been too busy climbing to the top of our summit to read the latest news, here are some of our top stories.
Microsoft Teams is Working on a Skype Integration
Leading tech maestro Microsoft has always been clear about the fact that it plans on replacing the Skype for Business collaboration experience with Microsoft Teams. However, we haven’t had much information from the company about what’s going to happen to the Skype consumer version.
A little while ago, in 2016, a customer on the Microsoft Teams community forum, left a comment asking for Microsoft to consider integration between consumer Skype and the new Teams experience.
At the end of 2019, Microsoft responded to this request, letting us know that Microsoft and Skype integration was already on the horizon. The Microsoft Teams roadmap, has now been updated to confirm that Microsoft is officially “working on” this new solution.
RingCentral Discusses Everything-as-a-Service
While it’s always tricky to predict where a fast-moving environment like unified communications may take you, we can learn from the trends that emerge in the market. For instance, recently, the demand for cloud-based and flexible communication strategies has been growing rapidly, both in the UK and around the world. That’s something that leading communications provider, RingCentral, has considered when planning its 2020 go-to-market strategy.
According to SVP of Operations for RingCentral, Curtis Peterson, UCaaS, and other as-a-service solutions are likely to take the lead as we move into the new decade. Additionally, customers everywhere will be looking for more convenient, flexible, and immediate digital experiences.
Is Twilio Taking Over the CPaaS Industry?
CPaaS is one of the most exciting, conversational points in the communication landscape, with people from all backgrounds exploring the benefits of a solution that they can design to suit their individual needs. While there are a number of vendors getting involved with the CPaaS landscape today, Twilio is one of the major brands leading the way.
Moshe Beauford, Journalist at UC Today, spoke with Tsahi Levent-Levi, a CPaaS, WebRTC and machine learning expert based in Israel, to find out why Twilio is making so much progress in the current marketplace.
Is Leaving Slack a Bad Idea?
Team collaboration apps are rapidly taking over as the most convenient hub for communication and networking in the digital landscape. Solutions like Slack, Microsoft Teams, and RingCentral Glip, provide today’s users with a quick and easy way to share ideas and knowledge. However, it’s often difficult for companies to determine what kind of collaboration app they need.
For instance, in a UC Today guest post, Kommando Tech’s Aleksandra Arsic, discusses the dangers associated with leaving a collaboration tool like Slack too quickly. She considers the benefits of the Slack service, and how it compares to other market leaders.
Workplace from Facebook is Leading Social Collaboration
The workplace as we know it is changing. Social collaboration has become the norm, in an environment where people no longer spend as much time as they used to in the same office. Remote work and mobile employment mean that businesses of all sizes now rely on a variety of immersive opportunities to connect with their team members through the cloud.
In 2019, consulting company ISG published a report into social collaboration in businesses, and how it’s evolving. The company revealed a number of useful insights into how today’s team members connect and collaborate. At the same time, ISG found that Workplace from Facebook was one of the key tools leading the way to the future of social collaboration.
Talkdesk Files Over 200 Patents in 100 Days
Innovation is crucial in today’s communication landscape. As the workplace and the way that people connect continues to evolve, companies of all sizes are searching for unique ways to serve their customers through everything from AI to 5G. One of the market leaders in the communication space, Talkdesk, showed its commitment to transformative new ideas recently, by successfully filing over 200 US patent applications in fewer than 100 days.
The new patents covered the enterprise contact centre delivered by Talkdesk, and more than half of them focused on artificial intelligence capabilities in the contact centre. The influx of new patent applications highlights Talkdesk’s commitment to innovation, which the company claims is part of its DNA.
How Call Centres Can Leverage Microsoft Teams
Speaking of collaboration tools as the central hub of business communication, some companies are even looking for ways to build their entire comms environment around their central Teams applications. Solutions like Microsoft Business Voice for Teams can make these strategies easier and more accessible in the right circumstances.
According to Attilio Licciardello, the general manager and co-founder of Mida solutions, it may even be possible to unlock the full benefits of Microsoft Teams for call centre environments too. Check out Attilio’s guest post for an insight into how businesses can go beyond the basics of Microsoft Teams meetings.
Why Are Comms APIs So Popular?
We’ve seen the rise of a lot of new technology in the unified communication space over the last couple of years.
Vendors have begun to offer more flexibility in the form of as-a-service solutions. CPaaS has paved the way for exciting forms of communication personalisation. What’s more, the rise of APIs has meant that companies of all shapes and sizes no longer have to settle for one-size-fits-all technology.
Vonage, one of the market leaders in API technology, has an excellent insight into the API revolution. President of the API platform Group for Vonage, Omar Javaid, shared his thoughts with us this week on the rising popularity of APIs and why they’re so valuable.
3 Reasons to Build Your Contact Centre in the Cloud
Now that flexibility has become one of the underlying concerns of any business technology or communication purpose; it’s no wonder that we see more interest in the cloud.
In 2020, the cloud is likely to see even more growth, as businesses discover simpler, and more convenient ways to migrate their data, processes, and people into a versatile, scalable landscape.
In a guest blog for UC Today, the CEO of NICE inContact, Paul Jarman, shared his thoughts on the reasons why businesses from all backgrounds should be thinking more seriously about the benefits of cloud-based contact centres.
Magic Leap Jumps into the Business Market
If you’re a long-term fan of UC Today, then you might have been around when we first reviewed the sensational new Magic Leap Entertainment headset in 2018.
The headset was designed to be an exciting new opportunity for people to explore the wonderful world of AR. Unlike other headsets of its time, Magic Leap’s product offered something sleek, lightweight, and easy to use.
Unfortunately, despite excellent engineering, the product didn’t get the attention it had hoped for from the consumer market. Now, in 2020, Magic Leap is planning on a different approach.
The company has decided to pursue new opportunities in the business market, unlocking a brand-new realm of spatial computing experiences. Learn more about the new offering here.
