Microsoft Teams Insider

Eshan Mathur , Senior Product Manager at Microsoft, helps us understand the evolving Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) landscape within Microsoft Teams, focusing on Microsoft's aim to provide seamless user experiences and enhanced manageability for IT admins for BYOD. Eshan's unique career journey from game development, including 'Where's my water', to enterprise solutions Enha...

Irwin Lazar , President and Principal Analyst at Metrigy discusses key trends and insights in the unified communications and collaboration space and shares thoughts for 2025 How companies are navigating the complexities of hybrid work Moving beyond the hype of AI to practical deployments and adoption Microsoft Teams' increasing presence in meetings, messaging and as a voice platform How compa...

Emily Kirby George , Microsoft Teams Product Manager at Microsoft, shares her unique perspective on product management in the world of Microsoft Teams Phone, sharing challenges of balancing innovation with fundamental reliability. Emily's path from support Skype for Business to a Senior Product Manager on the Microsoft Teams Calling team How Microsoft prioritizes features, balancing tradition...

Aaron Steele , Practice Lead at SOFTEL shares his journey through Microsoft to his current role of SOFTEL, and his thoughts on the ever-evolving UC landscape.  The development and scaling of Microsoft Teams in unique scenarios such as global sports organizations during the Covid-19 pandemic Innovations in broadcasting including the use of NDI for creating interactive experiences at events such as...

Mark Cobbold , Vice President of Product Management at Ribbon Communications, explores the evolution of telecom networks from hardware to cloud-native solutions. The benefits of cloud-native deployments include reduced operational costs, improved software velocity and robust network security The variety of cloud deployment models and how they cater for different business needs Using real-time insi...

Charles Mason , Head of Digital Workplace at TP ICAP shares insights into the deployment of Microsoft Teams Rooms and Teams Phone, and the impact of Copilot. Selecting and standardizing Teams Rooms equipment across a global office network Complexities of integrating Teams Phone with legacy and trader voice systems in the finance industry TP ICAPs' journey with Copilot, including compliance co...

Henry Levak , Vice President of Product at Logitech for Business, discusses the company's innovations in video conferencing technology and workplace experiences. The Logi Sight was recently recognised among Time's best innovations of 2024 Development of multi-camera and multi-stream technology Logi's new software capabilities, including auto-booking and releasing meeting rooms to co...

Paul Cornish , UC Architect at Merlin Entertainment, dives into the unique challenges of deploying communications in large theme parks, hotels and attractions globally.  Merlin operates around 140 attractions worldwide, each with unique telephony needs The transition from Skype for Business to Teams Cloud-based telephony and its cost-effectiveness Standardisation in meeting room technology Best pr...

Josh Blalock , Chief Video Evangelist at Jabra, discusses the latest developments in Jabra's video solutions, focusing on the PanaCast 50 and VBS. Jabra's PanaCast series includes innovative video solutions for meetings The significant feature adds over the life of the PanaCast 50 Jabra's Android Bar - features and flexibility Working closely with Microsoft and MDEP Thanks to Jabra...

Preethi Ramarathinam , Head of Product - Microsoft Teams Virtual Event at Microsoft, dives into Teams capabilities for hosting large external virtual events, webinars, and town halls. Microsoft Teams is expanding beyond traditional collaboration scenarios Internal large use cases for Microsoft Teams include AMA sessions and Town Halls External use cases such as training and product launches Recent...

Patrick Watson , Head of Research at Cavell, discusses the evolving landscape of telephony, the impact of Microsoft Teams, market trends and the role of AI in Contact Centers. Microsoft Teams has significantly disrupted the telephony market Direct routing remains the dominant solution for Teams telephony users Discussing market dynamics and trends in telephony and differences in the enterprise and...

Mohammed Khalifa, Microsoft Alliance Manager HP Poly and Kimberly Tee , Lenovo Smart Collaboration EMEA join Tom to dive deep into the evolving landscape of collaborative tools and meeting room technology The shift in innovation focus from major updates to software and hardware hardware refinements Exploring AI's role in the meeting room: automatic enhancements vs user-driven experiences Barr...

Pardeep Gill , Senior Enterprise Architect at a global legal firm, shares his insights on the role of technology in modern workspaces. Flexible workspaces are becoming essential in professional services User experience is a key focus in modern office designs Sustainability must also be considered in technology procurement AV design must be integrated early in new builds Interoperability between me...

Trond Johannessen , CEO of Pexip, discusses the evolution of video conferencing, the increasing demand for interoperability between UCaaS solutions and the customer use case for secure self-hosted meeting. Pexip's Microsoft certified solution connects meeting rooms to cloud meeting platforms, enhancing collaboration and catering for both cloud and on-premise deployment needs Why meeting platf...

Roopam Jain , Vice President of Research, Information and Communications Technologies at Frost & Sullivan, explores the evolution of room video systems, the impact of hybrid work and office modernisation. The influence of the UC/Collab platform on room system decisions The transformative role of AI in enhancing meeting experiences BYOD is becoming a significant part of the meeting experience S...

Anthony Woodruff , Technical Program Manager at Microsoft, discusses his role working with customers in the Microsoft 365 Customer and Partner Ecosystem Team, Copilot in Microsoft Teams and the wider challenges and impact of AI adoption. AI-powered tools can significantly improve productivity and efficiency Copilot use cases: summarizing conversations, onboarding new employees and streamlining wor...

Ryan Herbst , Vice President and Chief Strategist at UnifiedCommunications.com discusses the evolution of the unified communications industry and the challenges and opportunities it presents. He highlights the importance of standardisation and the balance between innovation and maintaining a consistent user experience. The importance of standardisation in customer deployments The challenge of bala...

Microsoft Teams Monthly Update - October 2024 Gartner 2024 UCaaS MQ 3 New Teams Phone Features Operator Connect 100 countries, 103 providers Microsoft Teams New calendar experience Limit Frontline Worker access to Teams when off shift Block the AI bots Voice and face enrollment on by default Microsoft Places - Core and Premium GA November End of Support for Skype for Business Server 2015 and 2019...

Ryan McCarty , Senior Unified Communications Engineer at a legal firm explores the unique challenges of unified communications within the legal sector, the need for interoperability, user education and technology standardisation. Unique challenges of the legal sector presents  Interoperability is crucial as clients dictate meeting platforms Managing change and user adoption strategies in Microsoft...

Harold Wortman , Senior Product Manager - Mobile Unified Communications at Verizon, discusses the journey of deploying Teams phone mobile, feature development and mobile as a default mode of communication, Teams Phone Mobile offers a seamless mobile communication experience within the Teams platform Significant, with interest from small to medium-sized businesses, enterprises, and government organ...

Doug Wycoff, Director of Digital Technologies and Innovation at Tampa International Airport, and Rebecca Criswell, Account Manager at AVI-SPL, explain the technological innovations at Tampa International Airport, including use of Microsoft Teams, digital signage, and advanced AV solutions. The rapid technological transformation from pre-Covid to present and the acceleration of Microsoft Teams adop...

MVP Ragnar Heil , Business Development Manager Microsoft at HanseVision explores the role of Copilot in governance and compliance, as well as the importance of user adoption and change management in successful implementation of Copilot. The need for organisations to prioritise governance and compliance for Copilot Copilot's role in making governance more accessible The role of user adoption a...

Chris Goodwill , Strategic Partner Manager and Solutions Specialist at Symity discusses the evolution of Microsoft's Contact Center and the new Dynamics 365 Contact Center Understanding Dynamics 365 Contact Center, Microsoft's Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) How Microsoft is driving with AI features Dynamics 365 Contact Center vs Teams Ecosystem solutions Licensing and pricing consid...

Shabtai Adlersberg , Co-Founder, CEO and President of AudioCodes shares the fascinating journey of AudioCodes over the past 31 years, from its establishment to becoming a leader in the voice industry and more recent journey into SaaS and AI. Shabtai's background in engineering and digital signal processing, before co-founding AudioCodes AudioCodes evolution from focusing on algorithms to deve...

Microsoft Teams Monthly Update - September 2024 No more General Channel Callback for call queues Microsoft Teams Intelligent recap coming for ad-hoc meetings and calls Teams Client Updates Channel Improvements 5 Town hall Updates Additional languages - Copilot for Microsoft 365 CNS Retirement Updates - old phones will get an update 6 Microsoft Teams Rooms Updates New Certified Devices Events Thank...