In this month's episode of our Microsoft Teams news show, Kieran Devlin, Tom Arbuthnot and UC Today's panel of Microsoft Teams experts discuss the latest news impacting the Teams ecosystem:

In this update, we talk through the most popular Teams news headlines with this month’s special guests:

• Kieran Devlin, Technology Journalist, UC Today
• Tom Arbuthnot, Empowering Cloud
• Josh Blalock, Chief Video Evangelist, Jabra
• Satish Upadhyaya, Microsoft Unified Communications Architect, SOFTEL Communications
• Graham Walsh, Director, Global Technical Sales, Alliances, Neat
• Amanda Sterner, Employee Experience & Productivity Expert, Xenit AB

Exciting Teams Phone Updates! Pay-As-You-Go Calling Plans, Callbacks for Call Queues, Enhanced Survivable Branch Appliance, Operator Connect expansion, and more. How will these enhance your calling experience?

Teams Rooms 5.2 Release: The release encompasses experience dynamic video tile resizing, Cloud IntelliFrame in room previews, and much more with the latest Teams Rooms update. What do you think of the enhanced video features?

Microsoft Places Launching Soon! Microsoft Places will be generally available in Q4 CY24, with deployment beginning in November. Two new service plans—Places (core) and Places Premium—will be part of Teams Premium. How will this new feature reshape your workplace?

Microsoft 365 Copilot Wave 2 Announcements! Swathes of new features, including dynamic collaboration with pages, BizChat features, as well as updates for Copilot in Excel, Teams, PowerPoint, OneDrive and Word.

Voice and Vision in Copilot Consumer Updates: An AI companion designed for everyone. Are you excited to explore the future of AI in your everyday tasks?

Events and Plugs:

• The Teams Fireside chat covers the Queues App with Stella Lin and Cassandra Marrero on October 10
• Microsoft Teams Devices Ask Me Anything covering EMEA/NA and APAC on October 22 and 23
• Microsoft Ignite takes place November 19-21
• The Converged Communications Partner Sales Bootcamp occurs 2-4 and 3-5 December
• Microsoft UC User Group London takes place on November 27

Stay ahead of the curve by exploring these new features in your own Teams environment. Connect with our regular hosts Rob Scott and Tom Arbuthnot on socials here:

Rob Scott

• LinkedIn
• Twitter

Tom Arbuthnot

• LinkedIn
• Twitter

Thanks for watching, if you’d like more content like this, don’t forget to

Dive into our SEPTEMBER 2024 Microsoft Teams Show!

In this month's episode of our Microsoft Teams news show, host Rob Scott returns with a deep dive into the latest updates and features that are reshaping the Teams ecosystem. Joined by Tom Arbuthnot from Empowering Cloud and a panel of Microsoft Teams experts, the discussion covers significant advancements, from contact center enhancements to AI-driven meeting summaries.

In this update, we talk through the most popular Teams news headlines with this month’s special guests:

• Rob Scott, Publisher at UC Today
• Tom Arbuthnot, Empowering Cloud
• Satish Upadhyaya, Microsoft Unified Communications Architect, SOFTEL Communications
• Kevin Kieller, Co-Founder & Lead Analyst, enableUC
• Graham Walsh, Director, Global Technical Sales, Alliances, Neat
• Amanda Sterner, Employee Experience & Productivity Expert

Whether you're an IT professional, a business leader, or simply a Teams enthusiast, this episode offers invaluable insights into how these updates can improve your collaboration experience.

• Callback for Call Queues: Microsoft Teams now lets callers request a callback instead of waiting on hold. Discover how this game-changing feature could revolutionize customer service operations.
• Intelligent Recap for Ad-hoc Meetings: Coming in October, Intelligent Recap will bring AI-driven summaries to spontaneous meetings and calls. Find out how this feature could transform your meeting follow-ups.
• Channel Cards: Quick overviews of channel activities are now at your fingertips with the new Channel Cards. How will this impact team collaboration in Teams?
• Town Hall Reactions & Graph APIs: New reactions and Q&A export features are here for Town Halls in Teams. Explore how these tools enhance large-scale events and meetings.
• Voice Isolation on MacOS: AI-powered noise suppression is now available for Mac users. Learn why this feature is a must-have for hybrid work environments.

Rooms and Devices:

• Custom Backgrounds in Teams Rooms on Android: Customization just got a boost! Find out how custom backgrounds in Teams Rooms on Android can elevate your meeting experience.
• Join Zoom Meetings with ID on Teams Rooms on Android: Joining Zoom meetings just got easier on Teams Rooms. What does this mean for businesses juggling multiple platforms?
• Dynamic Video Tile Size in Teams Rooms on Windows: Teams Rooms on Windows now adjusts video tile size based on room occupancy. Discover how this dynamic feature enhances video conferencing.
• Direct Recording in Teams Rooms on Windows: Start and stop meeting recordings directly from Teams Rooms on Windows. Learn how this feature simplifies the recording process.
• PowerPoint Live in Cloud Video Interop: PowerPoint Live presentations can now be displayed as video content in Cloud Video Interop. See how this boosts remote presentation quality.
• BYOD Participant Roster Grouping: The new participant roster grouping in Teams BYOD rooms brings individual identification and meeting intelligence to the next level.
• Yealink Teams Phones on MDEP: Yealink’s new Teams phones run on the Microsoft Device Ecosystem Platform. What does this mean for the Teams device landscape?

Events and Plugs:

Watch on YouTube.

Dive into our AUGUST 2024 Microsoft Teams Show! Host Tom Wright teams up with special guest Tom Arbuthnot from Empowering.Cloud to unpack recent updates and announcements. Joined by a panel of seasoned Teams experts, find out what’s new in the Teams ecosystem.

In this update, we talk through the most popular Teams news headlines with this month’s special guests:

• Ryan Herbst, Vice President & Chief Device Strategist, UnifiedCommunications.com
• Josh Blalock, Chief Video Evangelist at Jabra

Microsoft Teams News

• Microsoft Earnings FY24 Q4
• Modern Work Insights
• Multiple Teams Client Improvements
• Speaker recognition for all Teams Rooms on Windows
• Microsoft Teams devices updates / Chat Notification Service Depreciation
• Teams Displays
• End of support September 2025
• Microsoft to discontinue Microsoft 365 connectors in Teams (but extends deadlines to move to Power Automate)

Connect with Rob Scott and Tom Arbuthnot on socials here:

Rob Scott

• LinkedIn
• Twitter

Tom Arbuthnot

• LinkedIn
• Twitter

Thanks for watching, if you’d like more content like this, don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel.

You can also join in the conversation on our Twitter and LinkedIn pages.

Join our new LinkedIn Community Group.

Dive into our July 2024 Microsoft Teams Show! Host Rob Scott teams up with special guest Tom Arbuthnot from Empowering.Cloud to unpack recent updates and announcements. Joined by a panel of seasoned Teams experts, find out what’s new in the Teams ecosystem.

In this update, we talk through the most popular Teams news headlines with this month’s special guests:

• Graham Walsh, Product Specialist at Neat
• Ryan Herbst, Vice President & Chief Device Strategist, UnifiedCommunications.com

Microsoft Teams News

• European Commission's Objections: Discussion on the European Commission's formal statement of objections to Microsoft regarding the bundling of Teams with Office 365/Microsoft 365.
• Microsoft Teams Phone Intelligent Call Recap: Now generally available, part of Teams Premium or Microsoft 365 Copilot license.
• Recording and Transcription Policies: New policies for recording and transcription including explicit consent requirements.
• Copilot Sales Plugin: AI assistant for sales meetings and CRM integration.
• Intelligent Translation of Chats: Automatic language translation in text chats.
• Multi-tenant Enhancements: Improvements for organizations with multiple tenants.
• Custom Backgrounds for Teams Rooms Panels: Consistent branding inside and outside meeting rooms, available with Teams Rooms Pro license.
• SIP Interoperability: Enhanced interoperability with third-party services through Pexip.

Teams Events

• Virtual Converge Partner Bootcamp (APAC): July 8th to July 10th, 9 PM to 1 AM PDT.
• Teams Fireside Chat with Traci Herr: July 11th, discussing Intune and Android devices.
• Microsoft Teams Devices Ask Us Anything: July 15th and 16th.

Connect with Rob Scott and Tom Arbuthnot on socials here:

Rob Scott

• LinkedIn
• Twitter

Tom Arbuthnot

• LinkedIn
• Twitter

Thanks for watching, if you’d like more content like this, don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel.

You can also join in the conversation on our Twitter and LinkedIn pages.

Join our new LinkedIn Community Group.

Dive into our JUNE 2024 Microsoft Teams Show! Host Rob Scott teams up with special guest Tom Arbuthnot from Empowering.Cloud to unpack recent updates and announcements. Joined by a panel of seasoned Teams experts, find out what’s new in the Teams ecosystem.

In this update, we talk through the most popular Teams news headlines with this month’s special guests:

• Graham Walsh, Product Specialist at Neat
• Kevin Kieller, Co-Founder and Lead Analyst, enableUC
• Satish Upadhyaya, MVP, Microsoft 365 UC Architect
• Ryan Herbst, Vice President & Chief Device Strategist, UnifiedCommunications.com

Microsoft Teams News

• Copilot+ PCs and Microsoft Recall
• Team Copilot - a new personal assistant?
• Places Public Preview - 'an app that reimagines flexible work'
• Bookable Desks in Microsoft Teams update
• A big drop of new capabilities to help you manage Microsoft Teams channels
• Intelligent Recap updates - even more language support announced
• Custom emojis and reactions - dangerous or fun? or both? We discuss
• Slash commands to complete tasks more quickly
• Live Events retirement delayed
• Roadmap - some cool new features coming up!

Teams Events

• Teams Fireside Chat - Juan Rivera, Microsoft Corporate Vice President for Teams Calling, Meetings and Devices - June 13
• Microsoft Teams Devices Ask Me Anything - June 17 (EMEA/US) and 18 (APAC)
• Virtual Converged Communications Partner Technical Bootcamp - June 18 - 20
• Microsoft UC User Group London - June 19 - WPP office, London
• Experts Live
• Commsverse - June 26 - 27

Dive into our MAY 2024 Microsoft Teams Show! Host Kieran Devlin teams up with special guest Tom Arbuthnot from Empowering.Cloud to unpack recent updates and announcements. Joined by a panel of seasoned Teams experts, find out what’s new in the Teams ecosystem.

In this update, we talk through the most popular Teams news headlines with this month’s special guests:

• Graham Walsh, Product Specialist at Neat
• Kevin Kieller, Co-Founder and Lead Analyst, enableUC
• Josh Blalock, Chief Video Evangelist at Jabra
• Randy Chapman, Solutions Engineer in Video Collaboration, Logitech

Teams News

• Microsoft is reportedly developing its own AI platform to compete with OpenAI's ChatGPT. What does this mean for Microsoft, its AI strategy and its OpenAI partnership?
• Microsoft Quarterly earnings - 20 million Teams Phone users, an increase on 17 million last July
• Over one million Microsoft Teams Rooms customers
• Teams Rooms on Windows 5.0 - Lots of new features for Teams Rooms!
• New Teams update now on Teams Rooms
• Zero Touch Deployment with Windows Autopilot
• Skype for Business Deprecation
• Meeting Chat shown by default in Gallery View for Teams Rooms on Windows
• Microsoft Teams Rooms Pro Portal Remote Access - How does it work and could it be a gamechanger for IT admins?
• Restricted SharePoint search began rolling out in public preview for Copilot for Microsoft 365
• New Notebook for Copilot (on the web) - What exactly is it and how does it work?

Teams Events

• European Collaboration Summit - May 14-16
• Microsoft Teams Devices Ask Me Anything - May 21-22
• Microsoft Build, Seattle and Online - May 21-23
• UCX Manchester - May 21-22
• Teams Fireside Chat with Juan Rivera - June 13
• Commsverse - June 26-27

Dive into our APRIL 2024 Microsoft Teams Show! Host Rob Scott teams up with special guest Tom Arbuthnot from Empowering.Cloud to unpack recent updates and announcements. Joined by a panel of seasoned Teams experts, find out what’s new in the Teams ecosystem.

In this update, we talk through the most popular Teams news headlines with this month’s special guests:

• Graham Walsh, Product Specialist at Neat
• Kevin Kieller, Co-Founder and Lead Analyst, enableUC
• Josh Blalock, Chief Video Evangelist at Jabra

BIG NEWS: Microsoft to Decouple Teams from Office – A Global Game-Changer!

Teams Phone's New Horizons

• The upcoming Queues app in Teams Premium (Summer 2024)
• Reliability redefined with a Teams Phone service level agreement promising 99.999% uptime
• Strategic Survivable Branch Appliance Enhancements
• Teams Phone Mobile's new operator roster

Teams Phone Devices

• Enhanced Teams Phone devices UI for streamlined call handling directly from your phone’s home screen.
• Multi-task like a pro with improved multi-call handling.
• Sophisticated contact management for swift communication.
• Remote admin controls via TAC for bulk configuration and contact management

Meetings and Rooms Revolution

• Josh Blalock announces Microsoft Device Ecosystem Platform (MDEP) launches with Jabra and Yealink.
• AV1 enhancement for screen sharing in Teams — expect lower bandwidth usage and smoother frame rates.
• IntelliFrame's automatic camera switching and multiple camera view for a richer remote experience.
• Upcoming intelligent speaker recognition and transcript attribution for a more inclusive meeting atmosphere.
• Simplified join options with ultrasound proximity, QR code, and meeting ID features.

Copilot's Intelligent Evolution

• Copilot compose enhancements bring smarter interactions to Teams chat.
• Intelligent call and meeting recaps in Teams Premium and Teams Mobile.

Teams Events

• • Comms svNext - April 23
  • Microsoft 365 Community Conference - April 30 - May 1 -2
  • Teams Fireside chat - May 9
  • Commsverse - June 26-27

UC Today host Rob Scott is joined by Microsoft Teams Expert and Co-Founder of Empowering.Cloud, Tom Arbuthnot and a panel of experts from the Microsoft Teams community.

In this update, we talk through the most popular Teams news headlines with this month’s special guests:

• Graham Walsh, Product Specialist at Neat
• Satish Upadhyaya, MVP, Microsoft 365 UC Architect
• Amanda Sterner, Microsoft MVP, Technical Architect, Advania – Knowledge Factory

Microsoft Teams News

• Copilot for finance
• Copilot new languages

Teams Rooms

• Android Rooms Big Update
• Daily maintenance restart window for Teams Rooms on Android devices
• Control your Teams Room with your Windows PC on both Windows and Android
• Microsoft Teams now supports Android Auto

Teams Phone

• 96 countries now on Operator Connect
• Private line is now available
• Select IP phone models from Snom compatible with SIP Gateway
• Public preview of Azure Operator Call Protection

Events

• Channel Partners Conference & Expo - 11 March
• Teams Fireside Chat - 14 March
• Enterprise Connect - Everything a Teams Service Owner needs to know - 25 March
• CommsVNext - 23 April
• Ignite has a date! In Chicago and online - 18-22 November, 2024