Microsoft Teams Insider: Recent Episodes
Tom Arbuthnot
Microsoft Teams discussions with industry experts sharing their thoughts and insights with Tom Arbuthnot of Empowering.Cloud. Podcast not affiliated, associated with, or endorsed by Microsoft.
MVP Tom Arbuthnot shares all the latest Microsoft Teams and Copilot news and announcements in less than 15 minutes for August 2026
Link to the deck: Microsoft 365 Enterprise Update - August 2026.pptx
Fresh on Empowering.Cloud
AudioCodes: Multi-Camera Teams Rooms on Android - with Alex Tan
Teams Insider Podcast
Microsoft Places Updates Explained - with Martin Boam, Microsoft. Desk booking, room booking and where AI fits.
Dynamics 365 Contact Center Explained - with Alpana Bajaj, Product Lead, Microsoft. A great walk through where D365 Contact Center sits.
Why Microsoft Is Quietly Winning with Enterprise AI - with Rishi Kumar, Logitech. A really interesting take on Microsoft's enterprise AI position.
Thanks to Landis for their support of Empowering.Cloud
Graham Hosking, Senior AI Solutions Engineer at Microsoft, breaks down Agent 365, Microsoft's approach to observing, governing, and securing AI agents across multi-platform environments.
• How Agent 365 builds on existing Entra, Defender, and Purview capabilities to provide full visibility over AI agents
• Live demo of a fully autonomous LangChain agent automatically flagged for risky behaviour by Defender
• How third-party agents from Amazon, Google, Databricks, and Salesforce can be brought into a central registry
• The Agent 365 SDK and how partners like Adobe, Atlassian, and Lovable are already baking in observability
• Shadow IT monitoring for local AI agents via Defender for Endpoint
• MCP tools and plugin management for controlling end-user access
• Licensing breakdown: end-user based, one seat lights everything up, and the E5 to E7 step-up path
• Bonus demo of Morgan, a fully autonomous digital CFO with voice and avatar interaction built on LangChain
Thanks to Crestron, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud
Martin Boam, Architect - Centre of Excellence at Microsoft, walks through Microsoft Places, the AI-powered workplace solution for coordinating hybrid work, booking rooms and desks, and optimising space management.
• The licensing shake-up: key Places user features now included in Microsoft Teams Enterprise licences from April 2025, plus a new Shared Spaces licence for desk and room booking at four desks per licence
• Room reservations with Places Finder and Places Explorer, featuring enriched search with room images, occupancy details, and Microsoft Teams Rooms device information
• Desk booking with map-based reservation, multi-day booking, desk pools, finding desks near colleagues, and ad hoc check-in via USB-C peripherals
• Automatic work location updates using corporate Wi-Fi, now generally available with admin and user opt-in
• Microsoft 365 Copilot integration for natural language scheduling, room finding, and conflict rescheduling via Work IQ
• The new Places admin portal replacing PowerShell for managing buildings, floors, desks, auto-release policies, and space analytics
• Upcoming investments including deeper Copilot alignment, enhanced location intelligence, and expanded extensibility
Thanks to AudioCodes, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud
Alpana Bajaj, Partner Group Product Manager at Microsoft, discusses how Microsoft is reimagining the contact centre with AI-first design and agentic capabilities.
• How Dynamics 365 Contact Center evolved from Omnichannel to a standalone, CRM-agnostic platform born in the AI era
• The five out-of-the-box AI agents: Customer Assist, Quality Assurance, Case Management, Knowledge Management, and ServiceOps
• Real-world customer stories, including double-digit improvements in call deflection, wrap-up time, and CSAT scores
• How Microsoft uses its own contact centre as a testing ground, serving over a billion customers across 40+ languages
• Licensing simplified: per-seat for human agents, consumption-based Copilot Studio credits for AI capabilities
• A practical ROI framework covering customer experience, operational efficiency, and revenue generation
Link to the deck: Agentify Your Contact Center Alpana Bajaj
Link to the Commonwealth Bank case study
Thanks to Ribbon, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud
Rishi Kumar, Director of Alliances and Go-to-Market at Logitech, discusses how Microsoft is positioning itself as the enterprise AI leader, the growing role of edge computing in meeting rooms, and what it all means for IT professionals.
• Why Microsoft's enterprise-first AI approach with Work IQ and trusted data boundaries is resonating with IT teams
• How meeting recaps have become the top AI use case, including new video and custom recap features
• Microsoft's multi-model strategy and the new E7 Frontier suite for enterprise AI deployment
• Logitech's work on AI at the edge, from beamforming microphones to the Logitech Spot sensor for room intelligence
• The evolving role of the meeting room, including facilitator room skills and camera-based room management
Thanks to Logitech, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud.
Craig Durr, Chief Analyst and Founder at The Collab Collective, discusses his revised five-year video conferencing device market forecast and why he has taken his compound annual growth rate prediction down from roughly 6% to just under 3%.
• The "triple replacement wave": Windows 10 to 11, Android 10 to 12, and ageing BYOD devices are driving room refresh priorities across enterprises
• Budget compression: rising DRAM costs are pushing device prices up, meaning IT teams can refresh fewer rooms with the same budget (for example, 85 rooms instead of 100)
• How the Mythos AI model creates an unexpected new variable. Cisco reviewed over a billion lines of code, and upcoming network infrastructure refreshes could pull budget away from collaboration devices
• Regional outlook: North America stays competitive, EMEA remains strong, and Asia Pacific (including India) emerges as a key growth opportunity
• AI in the room: the "brain in the room" concept is driving excitement, but feature velocity continues to outpace adoption
• OEM competition: with more vendors entering a slower-growing market, management platforms and support models are becoming key differentiators
Thanks to Nuwave, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud
It's the start of Microsoft's new financial year and there's already a lot to unpack. In this month's update we cover the new Microsoft Frontier company, Cowork going GA (and the new consumption cost model), a wave of Copilot and model updates, plus a huge run of Teams calling, meetings and devices news from InfoComm - including the big Teams Phone Agent announcement.
Huge thanks to this month's benefactor, Neat, for their continued support of the community. Neat have just announced an MCP server for their management platform (a first for OEM tooling) and their intelligent framing beta. Details on the Neat blog — and check out Graham's video on the Neat MCP server.
🔑 Key topics
• Microsoft Frontier - new $2.5bn company, 6,000 embedded ("forward deployed") engineers to drive enterprise AI adoption
• M365 price rises now live (business/frontline/enterprise up ~8-15%, frontline up 25–33%); annual local currency adjustments coming each January
• Cowork now GA - fully consumption-based (Copilot credits); example use cases range from ~$1 to $7+ and can climb fast with heavier models. GPT-5.5 available in the EU data boundary
• Copilot - Sonnet 5 selectable, Work IQ reasoning over Power BI, new vision capabilities, Notebooks rolling out to Copilot Chat
• Models - Fable back in Claude, GPT-5.6 rumoured, Microsoft leaning more on first-party models
• Agents - Planner agent GA, Sales agent GA (in M365 Copilot license), Dynamics Service agent announced, AI content watermarking
• Copilot Super App due August - merges Copilot Chat, Cowork & GitHub Copilot; plus a look at Anthropic's Claude Tag
• Teams Phone Agent - Microsoft's AI auto/mainline attendant, tied into Copilot Studio
• Multi-line GA, Queues app GA on mobile, dedicated Recap app, Facilitator with internet access + voice mode
• Admin - new transcript access controls, auto-block bots; Live Events and Together mode retiring
• Rooms - 1.5M active rooms (1,000+ added/day), IntelliFrame People Labels (Huddly first), Express Enrollment, new AVIXA training
• Devices - Android devices coming to Pro Management portal; Cisco native Zoom Rooms, Crestron Compute GA, Jabra new service plans
📅 July events
• 21 Jul - Teams Devices AMA (with AudioCodes)
• 22 Jul - Microsoft Partner Kickoff (summary to follow)
• 23 Jul - Teams Phone Agent webinar (with Pure IP & Microsoft)
• Late July - Copilot Fireside Chat
• Ongoing - M365 Community Change Roundup
🔗 Links
• Empowering.Cloud
• Ilya InfoComm keynote (speed edit)
• Neat MCP server + Graham's video
• Teams Phone Agent demo
• Slides and Links
Ben Richardson, Infrastructure Engineer at SmartSearch, and Andy Whiteside, VP of Sales at Numonix, discuss SmartSearch's move from legacy on-premise call recording to Numonix's IX Cloud platform for Microsoft Teams.
• SmartSearch needed more than compliance recording, with usability, QA reporting, and third-party integration as critical requirements
• How SmartSearch integrated Numonix with Attention to automate sales call scoring and update HubSpot CRM via API
• Deploying Numonix took just 20 minutes and five PowerShell commands, compared to days with legacy on-premise recording systems
• Bring-your-own Azure storage allowed SmartSearch to meet strict InfoSec and data sovereignty requirements
• Practical advice for organisations evaluating Microsoft Teams compliance recording, from cross-department requirements gathering to vendor certification checks
Thanks to Numonix, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud
Kevin Kieller, Co-Founder and Lead Analyst at enableUC, discusses how the major unified communications vendors are taking distinctly different approaches to AI and what this means for IT professionals and organisations.
• How Microsoft, Zoom, and Cisco are each pursuing different AI strategies, from rapid deployment to simplicity-first to proactive ambient intelligence
• Why UCaaS platforms have reached feature parity on core capabilities and what that means for vendor selection
• The shift towards consumption-based AI pricing and the challenge of balancing enterprise cost predictability with encouraging adoption
• Why data and context matter more than having the best model, and the risks when AI assistants access information without clear boundaries
• Google's underappreciated position in the AI and collaboration space despite strong foundations in DeepMind and Gemini
• Why vendors may be over-rotating on agentic AI and the importance of focusing on real business outcomes rather than technology for its own sake
• How AI is reshaping the role of IT admins and why technology professionals need to keep pace with rapid change
• The growing importance of edge AI processing for meeting rooms and video systems
Thanks to Momentum, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud.
Michel Bouman, AI Powered Workplace Lead EMEA, India and SEA - Teams Engineering at Microsoft, shares a deep dive into Microsoft Scout, the new desktop AI autopilot that acts on your behalf around the clock.
• What Microsoft Scout is, how it evolved from Project Lobster, and how it differs from Copilot Chat and Copilot Cowork
• How Michel onboarded a personal agent called Red to manage email triage, calendar scheduling, and complex multi-step reporting tasks
• Real-world autonomous workflows including expense filing, booking appointments, and even monitoring EV battery charge for road trips
• Agent-to-agent orchestration in practice and how teams share skills and automations across their agents
• The security model behind Scout, including resistance to prompt injection and impersonation safeguards
• The psychology of working alongside AI agents, why treating them as human can be a risk, and Michel's upcoming book "When Your Next New Hire Isn't Human"
Thanks to Momentum, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud.
Alev Tamer, Sr. Partner Solution Architect at Microsoft, and Chris Wheeler, Senior Copilot Solution Engineer at Microsoft, discuss the latest Microsoft Copilot announcements fresh from Microsoft Build.
• Multi-model strategy: how Microsoft brings together models from OpenAI, Anthropic and Microsoft AI to offer genuine choice
• Critique and Council: using multiple models to validate and challenge each other's outputs for improved accuracy
• The DRACO (Deep Research Accuracy, Completeness, and Objectivity) benchmark and how Research with Critic achieves the highest score for deep research completeness and accuracy
• Copilot Cowork vs Scout: cloud-based fire-and-forget task execution versus local desktop agent capabilities
• Work IQ as the personalisation layer that makes Copilot genuinely relevant to your role and daily work
• Real-world use cases including automated demo pack generation, fitness apps built on Azure, NHS website creation and AI-assisted performance reviews
• Skills and plugins: creating reusable instruction sets for repetitive tasks and new integrations including Dynamics 365 and Fabric IQ
• Data residency and security: navigating Anthropic data processing, EU data boundaries and flex routing for European organisations
Thanks to Shure, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud
Howard Crow, Director of Product at Microsoft, joins the podcast to discuss the evolution of Microsoft Planner, its deep integration with Microsoft Teams, and the growing role of AI agents in work management.
• Howard shares his nearly 30-year journey at Microsoft, from the founding days of SharePoint to leading the Planner and Project teams
• The genesis of Microsoft Planner and how it democratised project management beyond specialist tools like Microsoft Project
• Microsoft's unification strategy, bringing To Do, Planner, and Project for the Web together under a single Planner brand
• How Planner integrates deeply with Microsoft Teams across meetings, channels, and chats
• The Planner Agent and Microsoft's multi-agent runtime service, the first production multi-agent harness shipped at Microsoft
• How MCP (Model Context Protocol) is becoming the "USB for APIs" and unlocking new integrations for Planner
• The future of work: managing teams of humans and AI agents together, and why a visual planning surface matters for knowledge workers
Thanks to Luware, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud
MVP Tom Arbuthnot shares all the latest Microsoft Teams and Copilot news and announcements in less than 15 minutes for June 2026.
Many thanks to Pure-IP for their continued support.
- The Copilot Super App Is Coming
- Scout and Autopilots
- NVIDIA-Powered Laptops
- Windows Optimisations for Open Claw and Local Agents
- Work IQ and Web IQ APIs GA
- Project Solara — Agent-First Hardware Devices, Powered by MDEP
- 7 New Microsoft AI Models
- Teams Devices News
Link to the deck
Useful Links:
Briefings
• 4 Ways to Improve Customer Experience With Landis Contact Center for Microsoft Teams
• First Look at the Neat Board 32 Microsoft Teams Rooms With MDEP
• The Lenovo Microsoft Teams Rooms Portfolio Explained and the Huddly Partnership
• Decoding Dynamics 365 Contact Center: Microsoft Teams Voice, New AI Agents, and Licensing
Teams Insider Podcasts
• Microsoft Teams Facilitator: The First Group AI Agent for Meetings With Madhu Sudan, Microsoft
• Microsoft Teams Call Quality Dashboard (CQD): Intelligent Classifiers, Silent Test Call and Power BI
• Microsoft 365 Message Center and M365 Change Explained with Brian McGough, Principal Program Manager
• Microsoft 365 Agents Explained - Declarative, Copilot Studio, Pro-Code or Skills in Copilot Cowork?
Microsoft Build 2026: Be yourself at work
GitHub Copilot app: the agent-native desktop experience
What's New in Microsoft 365 Copilot — May 2026
Microsoft 365 Copilot release notes
Introducing Microsoft Scout: your always-on personal agent
Project Lobster is Microsoft Scout
Introducing Surface Laptop Ultra: Made for world makers
Surface Laptop Ultra product page
Windows platform security for AI agents
Announcing the new Work IQ APIs
Work IQ: production-ready intelligence for every agent
Announcing Microsoft Web IQ
Composing a new platform for agent-first devices
Microsoft Device Ecosystem Platform documentation
Microsoft Build 2026 Live blog
Building a hill-climbing machine: launching seven new MAI models
Build, scale, and monetize apps and agents with Microsoft Marketplace
Certified Android-based devices for Microsoft Teams
More choice and flexibility: Cisco Board Pro Certified for Microsoft Teams Rooms
Q-SYS QSP-11 Scheduling Panel
Madhu Sudan, Partner Director of Engineering at Microsoft, discusses Microsoft Teams Facilitator, a first-of-its-kind group AI agent built to actively collaborate with entire teams during meetings.
• How Facilitator differs from Copilot: group-level support vs one-to-one assistance
• Real-time note-taking, action item assignment, and meeting moderation built into Microsoft Teams
• Proactive capabilities including knowledge gap detection, quorum checking, and late-joiner recaps
• The permissioning model that keeps group conversations secure and prevents data leakage
• Plans for meeting series memory and bringing cross-meeting context to future sessions
• Extensibility with other Microsoft Teams agents and Microsoft 365 data
Thanks to AVI-SPL, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud
James Parkes, Senior Product Manager for Microsoft Teams Call Quality Management, Siunie Sutjahjo, Principal Product Manager for Microsoft Teams Meeting, and Victor Guzman, Senior Technical Program Manager, all at Microsoft, discuss the latest advances in Microsoft Teams call quality tools and reporting.
• How CQD has evolved from on-prem monitoring to cloud-scale Power BI reporting with over 45 report pages in the latest v5.3 release
• The new intelligent classifiers: around 40 models that move beyond legacy network averages, using real user feedback as ground truth to pinpoint issues at the device, compute and network level
• How remote and local models identify whether a quality issue originates from a user's machine, their network or a dominant participant affecting others in the call
• A walkthrough of the Power BI QER reports, including the search report, user health details and media health as starting points for troubleshooting
• Silent test call: a full bi-directional media stream test for proactively evaluating network readiness, available for Microsoft Teams Premium users
• Admin-initiated remote log collection: how IT admins can now pull client logs directly from the Teams Admin Centre without relying on end users
Thanks to Neat, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud
Brian McGough, Principal Program Manager at Microsoft, gives a behind-the-scenes look at how change communications work across the Microsoft 365 ecosystem and what's coming next.
• How Message Center has grown from 50 posts a month to over 225, and the operational complexity behind keeping hundreds of live posts up to date
• The targeting system behind Message Center, from licensing-based filtering to tenant-specific notifications across multiple clouds including GCC, GCC High, and DoD
• Microsoft's modernised approach to change management, introducing frontier, standard, and deferred release options that give admins more control over when changes reach their users
• The new MCP servers for Message Center and Roadmap data, and how they unlock conversational, tenant-grounded insights
• Why customer feedback on Message Center posts genuinely drives change, including stopping feature rollouts and reversing retirements
Thanks to Landis, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud
MVP Tom Arbuthnot shares all the latest Microsoft Teams and Copilot news and announcements in less than 15 minutes for May 2026.
Many thanks to Logitech for their continued support.
• Microsoft 365 E7 and Agent 365 GA
• New Models in Copilot • Cowork gets Skills, Plugins and Mobile
• AI Skills in SharePoint • Modernising M365 Change Management – New MCPs
• Teams Phone Multi-line GA
• Teams Devices News & New Devices
• Upcoming Events
Useful Links:
Briefings
Understanding Express Install for Microsoft Teams Rooms
Microsoft 365 Roadmap and Azure Updates (Roadmap) MCP Explained
FIRST LOOK: Neat Board 32 & Neat Pad Pro - Devices for Every Meeting Room
NEW Neat Board 32 & Neat Pad Pro: Full Product Walkthrough & Key Features
Teams Insider Podcasts
What is Microsoft 365 Frontier, Work IQ, Cowork and Agent 365 with a Copilot Global Black Belt
Microsoft 365 Copilot Cowork Explained with Bas Brekelmans, Software Engineer at Microsoft
Creating a First Class Microsoft Teams Rooms Experience at Their New London HQ with Damian Lewis at BSI
Microsoft Teams for Frontline Workers: Market Opportunity and Enterprise Mobility with Spectralink
Graham Hosking, Senior AI Solutions Engineer at Microsoft, discusses Copilot Skills, Cowork, and the rapidly evolving world of agentic AI across the Microsoft stack.
• How businesses are navigating AI adoption and why there is no silver bullet for enterprise AI
• What Copilot Cowork is and how it takes Microsoft 365 Copilot to the next level with multi-threaded task automation
• Skills as reusable blocks of instructions that simplify complex business processes like RFPs without needing multiple agents
• The spectrum from declarative agents to Copilot Studio to pro-code solutions on Azure Foundry
• MCP servers and plugins extending Cowork's reach to third-party systems like Salesforce
• Computer use arriving via Windows 365 plugins, unlocking automation for legacy systems without APIs
• Sovereign data considerations and Anthropic model availability across Europe
Thanks to Barco, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud.
Brett Johnson, Copilot Global Black Belt at Microsoft, returns for a second discussion to decode some of the biggest developments in the Microsoft 365 Copilot ecosystem.
• What the Frontier Program is, how it differs from public preview, and how organisations can get early access to the latest AI innovations on a per-user basis
• How Anthropic models are now integrated into Microsoft 365 Copilot, including data sovereignty considerations and the path to EU availability
• Work IQ explained: the intelligence layer combining Microsoft Graph, memory and real-time inference to supercharge Copilot experiences
• Cowork in action: how the Anthropic-powered agent creates documents, manages calendars and processes complex multi-step tasks in a secure cloud container
• Brett's vibe coding journey, building an astrophotography automation tool with Claude and VS Code, and why personal AI projects accelerate workplace adoption
• Agent 365 goes GA: what it means for governing, managing and securing the growing number of AI agents across organisations, including third-party integration via the Agent 365 SDK
Thanks to Luware, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud
Bas Brekelmans, Software Engineer at Microsoft, focused on Microsoft 365 Copilot Cowork, explains its architecture and use cases.
• How Copilot Cowork runs entirely in the Cloud, unlike local machine-based alternatives, enabling enterprise-grade security, audit and compliance
• The multi-model approach using Anthropic's Sonnet and Opus, with the flexibility to switch to the best available model
• Built-in and personal skills for calendar management, document generation and automated workflows
• Extensibility through MCP servers, enabling integration with third-party and line-of-business applications
• Scheduled tasks and autonomous email handling that save hours of manual work each day
• Enterprise compliance features including Purview integration, eDiscovery support and rich audit logs
Thanks to Crestron, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud
Damian Lewis, Digital Workplace Specialist at BSI, shares the story of designing and deploying Microsoft Teams Rooms across BSI's new London headquarters, the Acre.
• Moving from an antiquated AV setup to a fully cable-free, Microsoft Teams-centric environment
• The spectrum of room types: from Jabra PanaCast BYOD “hot offices” to Neat Board Pro casual spaces, and full multi-camera divisible Q-SYS rooms with presenter tracking
• How proof-of-concept testing in the old office helped shape vendor selection for Jabra, Neat, and Q-SYS
• Room booking with Matrix integrated into Microsoft 365, including scheduling panels across hot offices, parenting spaces, and multi-faith rooms
• User adoption lessons: building champions, online inductions, and fortnightly AV "ask me anything" sessions to bring colleagues up to speed
• Managing a global Microsoft Teams Rooms footprint from Sydney to San Jose using Jabra Pro Portal and OEM tooling
• Replicating the adoption playbook at BSI's North America office and planning for smaller-scale rollouts at existing sites
Thanks to Jabra, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud
MVP Tom Arbuthnot shares all the latest Microsoft Teams and Copilot news and announcements in less than 15 minutes for April 2026.
Many thanks to AudioCodes for their continued support.
PowerPoint Deck
- Places Insider Live
- Microsoft 365 Copilot Cowork Updates
- Anthropic Models for Copilot
- AI Flex Routing in EU and EFTA
- New SharePoint Experience
- Microsoft Teams & AI Powered Workplace News and Roadmap
- Teams Devices News & New Devices
- Upcoming Events
Useful Links:
Briefings
- NEW Neat Board 32 & Neat Pad Pro: Full Product Walkthrough & Key Features with Darin Worthington
- Microsoft Places Deep Dive with Microsoft - Customer Feedback, Deployment, Licensing with Chris Fitzsimmons, Brennan McReynolds & Craig McClellan
- Enterprise Voice Infrastructure Options On-Prem. Private Cloud and Cloud-Native with Ribbon and AWS with Gordon Eddy (Ribbon Communications)
- Multi-Platform UCaaS at Scale with NUWAVE iPILOT with Tony at NWN
Teams Insider Podcasts
- Frontline Workers: Market Opportunity and Enterprise Mobility with Patrick Watson (Cavell) & Stewart Wright (Spectralink)
- Teams Queues App Explained — Shared Call History, Copilot, and What's Next with Sean Gilmour (Microsoft)
- Novo Nordisk's Microsoft Teams Rooms Journey — Thousands of Rooms with Christopher Amdi Mark (Novo Nordisk)
- Work IQ, Agent Types and the Road to the Frontier Firm with Alev Tamer & Chris Wheeler
Patrick Watson, Director of Research at Cavell, and Stewart Wright, Business Development Director for Spectralink EMEA, discuss the untapped opportunity in enabling frontline workers with Microsoft Teams.
• 80% of the global workforce is classified as frontline, yet many organisations neglect these workers in their Microsoft Teams migrations.
• Frontline workers are often forgotten, given devices not fit for purpose, or left on legacy on-premises systems running in parallel with Microsoft Teams.
• Spectralink's DECT and Wi-Fi solutions, including the Versity smartphone and 8440 feature phone, are designed for challenging environments like healthcare, manufacturing, and retail.
• Unique features include Man Down alerts, pull cord alarms, hot-swappable batteries, disinfectant-resistant builds, and the AMIE cloud management platform.
• Market research highlights massive potential: nearly 2 million frontline workers in UK healthcare, 2.6 million in UK manufacturing, and 7.5 million in German manufacturing.
Thanks to Spectralink, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud.
Sean Gilmour, Principal Lead PM for Advanced Calling Experience at Microsoft, discusses the evolution of the Microsoft Teams Queues app — from its origins as a purpose-built workspace for collaborative calling to the latest capabilities, including shared call history and some of what is coming next.
• How the Queues app was designed for "citizen agents" — workers who handle customer calls alongside their primary roles, from HR and internal help desks to healthcare professionals and financial services
• Supervisor capabilities including delegated admin, monitor, whisper, barge, and takeover — traditionally higher-end contact centre features now available in the native Microsoft Teams experience
• Shared call history: why giving agents and supervisors visibility of all calls across a queue, including missed calls and shared voicemails with lightweight management, is a significant step forward
• How the Queues app fits into the broader Microsoft Teams Phone ecosystem alongside Dynamics 365 and certified contact centre partners through Teams Phone Extensibility
• The role of Copilot and AI in enhancing call queue intelligence, from in-call assistance to proactive insights for part-time supervisors
• Endpoint support across desktop, web, and IP phones, with a mobile-first experience in development for frontline workers
Thanks to Luware, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud.
Christopher Amdi Mark, Senior IT Architect at Novo Nordisk, shares how the global pharmaceutical company transformed its meeting room estate — from traditional Cisco room systems and telepresence to over 2,500 Microsoft Teams Rooms with plans for more
• How the shift from Skype for Business to Microsoft Teams during COVID changed what users expected from meeting rooms
• MTR Windows with Logitech and Lenovo, and the early challenges of scaling too quickly
• Why Cisco's Android-based Microsoft Teams Rooms brought Novo Nordisk back to a trusted partner
• Why BYOD is "Bring Your Own Disaster" — and how that might evolve
• Managing a mixed estate of Cisco MTR Android, MTR Windows, and traditional Room OS devices with Cisco CVI across thousands of rooms
• Replacing Cisco IX5000 telepresence suites with immersive front-row MTR experiences at a fraction of the cost
• Where AI fits in — from intelligent camera framing to Microsoft Copilot Facilitator in the meeting room
Thanks to Cisco, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud.
Alev Tamer, Senior Partner Solution Architect for AI Business Solutions at Microsoft, and Chris Wheeler, Senior Copilot Solution Engineer at Microsoft, break down the rapidly evolving world of Microsoft 365 Copilot agents — from personal assistants to autonomous digital colleagues.
• What agents actually are and the spectrum from declarative no-code to low-code Copilot Studio agents and pro-code solutions in Microsoft AI Foundry
• The frontier firm concept — three levels of AI maturity, from personal AI assistant through team-level agents to agent-operated, human-led organisations
• Real-world agent examples in use today, including career coaching agents, Chris’ pub quiz agent in Microsoft Teams meetings, and autonomous complaint triage in NHS healthcare
• Multi-agent teaming — how chaining specialised agents together is enabling end-to-end workflows like RFP processing without human intervention
• Work IQ explained — how Microsoft Graph data, memory, personalisation, and inferencing combine to ground Copilot responses in organisational context
• Governance, identity, and the challenge of managing thousands of agents with Agent 365 and existing Power Platform controls
Thanks to Jabra, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud.
Chris Styczynski, Service Owner for Unified Communication and Collaboration at Clifford Chance, shares how the global law firm approached their RFP process for migrating from Cisco on-prem telephony to Microsoft Teams.
• How Clifford Chance structured their RFP into six lots for flexibility: telephony migration, switchboard, contact centre, Operator Connect, on-site support, and managed services.
• Why conducting an RFI first helped pre-qualify vendors and identify the right partners for a firm of their size.
• The importance of understanding user requirements before going to market, especially as telephony needs evolve with AI and collaboration tools.
• How to evaluate partners beyond technical skills—considering culture, flexibility, and communication style for an 18-month project.
• Key considerations for global telephony migrations, including regulatory challenges across 20+ countries.
Thanks to Numonix, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud.
MVP Tom Arbuthnot shares all the latest Microsoft Teams and Copilot news and announcements in less than 15 minutes for March 2026.
Many thanks to Ribbon for their continued support.
PowerPoint Deck
Microsoft 365 Copilot Wave 3
Anthropic in M365 Copilot
Copilot Cowork
Agent 365
Microsoft 365 E7
AI Workplace Roadmap
Teams Devices Roadmap
New Teams Certified Devices
Events
Useful Links:
Briefings
- Real AI Use Cases in the Contact Centre with Luware Nimbus - Costs, Risks and Benefits - Marcel Gaufroid, Head of Sales – EU, at Luware
- Microsoft Places in 2026: APIs, Desk Booking, and Copilot Context - Brennan McReynolds, Product Strategy Lead for Microsoft Places
- Pure IP's Platform Strategy that Simplifies Enterprise Communications - Adnon Dow, Chief Strategy Officer at Pure IP
- AI Voice Agents - Sean Keegan, Developer Evangelist for Azure Communication Services at Microsoft
- Tony at NWN Explains How They Deliver Multi-Platform UCaaS at Scale with NUWAVE iPILOT
Teams Insider Podcasts
- CTO of LabourNet on Microsoft Teams Phone and Contact Centre with a Dispersed National Workforce with Mike Love, CTO at LabourNet, Janet Souter-Dantu, Co-founder at ScopServ Integrated Services, and Vanesia Raborethe, Head of Sales at ScopServ
- SharePoint at 25, Past, Present, and AI Future with Microsoft's Jeff Teper
- AI enabling real-time communications with Adam Jacobs, IC3 Principal Program Manager at Microsoft
- Scaling Microsoft Teams Phone and Teams Rooms at BAE Systems with Andrew Wigmore
Other Useful Links
MC1247880 - Anthropic Claude Sonnet is now available in Microsoft 365 Copilot
MC1247634 - Microsoft Agent 365 Generally Available May 1, 2026
MC1248392 - Enhanced issue detection in Teams Rooms on Windows and auto-remediation with Teams Rooms
MC1245225 - Ad-hoc room reservation from Teams Rooms on Windows console
MC1243546 - Channel Agent feature updates
Mike Love, CTO at LabourNet, is joined by Janet Souter-Dantu, Co-founder at ScopServ Integrated Services (Pty) Ltd, and Vanesia Raborethe, Head of Sales at ScopServ Integrated Services (Pty) Ltd, to discuss LabourNet's move to a Microsoft Teams-based contact centre with Landis.
LabourNet, established in 1996, is a large labour law consulting firm with a national footprint in South Africa.
• Why LabourNet standardised on Microsoft Teams as a single communications platform to support time-critical, high-importance client interactions
• How Landis Contact Centre queues, presence-based routing, and reporting improved visibility and support availability-based call distribution across a geographically dispersed workforce
• Lessons learned on adoption, process change, and why senior leaders tested the customer experience daily to drive improvements
• What's next, including better use of contact centre data and a cautious, data-first approach to AI augmentation for agents
Thanks to Landis, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud
Jeff Teper, President of Microsoft 365 Collaborative Apps and Platforms, discusses 25 years of SharePoint — from its humble origins as an intranet product to a cloud platform supporting over a billion users and exabytes of data.
• Origin story: How two separate Microsoft projects merged to create SharePoint, filling a massive need for intranets, document management, and collaboration in one customisable platform
• The cloud transition: From Bill Gates announcing SharePoint Online in 2008 through years of architectural challenges to an elastic cloud service handling billions of requests per second
• From MySite to OneDrive: The feature IT initially rejected that eventually became OneDrive, now serving over a billion accounts on the SharePoint platform
• AI and large language capabilities: How LLMs and reasoning models are enabling zero-shot metadata tagging, AI-assisted site design, and agent capabilities across SharePoint
• What's new: A refreshed design language, reimagined information architecture with five core pillars (Intranet, Build, Publish, Discover, and OneDrive), and AI woven throughout the experience
Thanks to Neat, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud
Adam Jacobs, Principal Program Manager at Microsoft, works in IC3—the real-time communications platform team behind Microsoft Teams. With four years at Microsoft and a decade at Polycom before that, Adam shares insights from the backend of one of the world's largest communications platforms.
• How IC3 supports Microsoft Teams at massive scale, including cost considerations for new features and AI capabilities
• The current state of Cloud Video Interop and why it remains important for some enterprise customers
• Moving transcription to new platforms to support AI and M365 Copilot strategy
• Real-time processing challenges for AI features, including face and voice recognition technologies
• Adam's journey from IT director to Polycom to Microsoft, and the value of understanding both customer and partner perspectives
Thanks to Pure IP, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud.
Andrew Wigmore, Teams Product Owner at defence contractor BAE Systems, shares insights from his 40-year career and the company's journey to Microsoft Teams and the cloud.
• Migrating 45,000 phone numbers from Skype for Business to Microsoft Teams in a single morning
• Managing 65,000 E5 users and doing over a third of a billion minutes of Teams audio annually
• The cultural shift from on-premises infrastructure to evergreen cloud services at a defence company
• Rolling out Microsoft Teams Rooms across 180 meeting spaces, including executive home offices
• Operator Connect telephony across 11 countries, including challenging regions
• Cloud adoption, security, and export control requirements in defence
Thanks to Ribbon, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud.
MVP Tom Arbuthnot shares all the latest Microsoft Teams and Copilot news and announcements in less than 15 minutes for February 2026.
Many thanks to Neat for their continued support.
PowerPoint Deck
- Enhanced M365 Copilot Memory
- Copilot Chat (free) in Outlook with all emails and Calendar
- Ilya Bukshteyn's ISE keynote
- Microsoft Teams Licensing Changes April 2026
- Places Roadmap Updates
- Express voice enrolment
- Meet App Becomes Events App
- Teams Live Events and API are retiring
- Multiple phone numbers on Teams Phone Devices
- Transitioning Teams Android Device Management
- Events
Useful Links:
Briefings:
- Real AI Use Cases in the Contact Centre with Luware Nimbus - Costs, Risks and Benefits - Marcel Gaufroid, Head of Sales – EU, at Luware
- Microsoft Places in 2026: APIs, Desk Booking, and Copilot Context - Brennan McReynolds, Product Strategy Lead for Microsoft Places
- Pure IP's Platform Strategy that Simplifies Enterprise Communications - Adnon Dow, Chief Strategy Officer at Pure IP
- AI Voice Agents - Sean Keegan, Developer Evangelist for Azure Communication Services at Microsoft
Teams Insider Podcasts
- The role AV Distribution play in Microsoft Teams Rooms with Jenny Hicks, Technical Director at Midwich UK
- Logitech's New Rally AI Cameras and Multi-Camera Microsoft Teams Rooms with Henry Levak, VP of Product for Logitech for Business
- Microsoft Places in 2026: APIs, Desk Booking, and Copilot Context Brennan McReynolds, Product Strategy Lead for Microsoft Places
- Microsoft Teams Rooms and Phone Journey at Toyota Financial Services JT Elliott, Unified Communications and Collaboration Manager, at Toyota Financial Services
Mahendra Sekaran, Corporate Vice President at Microsoft, leads product management and data science for IC3 (Intelligent Conversations and Communication Cloud)—the core communications platform powering Microsoft Teams.
• IC3's role as the backbone for Microsoft Teams, supporting 320 million monthly active users and 26 million PSTN users
• How AI is transforming internal productivity at Microsoft, from daily briefings to real-time data insights
• Microsoft's vision for AI-native phone experiences and the future of intelligent call handling
• Why 2026 is the year of scaling agentic AI, with Microsoft Teams evolving into a hub where agents interact with humans
• How AI tooling is changing product management and engineering, from coding agents to AIOps for incident response
• The potential for granular personalisation in user experiences based on AI-driven insights
Thanks to AudioCodes, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud.
Jenny Hicks, Technical Director at Midwich UK, joins the podcast to share insights on AV distribution and the evolving Microsoft Teams Rooms landscape.
• What distribution is and the value it brings to the Microsoft Teams Rooms ecosystem
• How the pandemic accelerated UC adoption and shaped hardware preferences
• The rise of all-in-one devices and why refresh cycles have slowed
• Sustainability, ESG reporting and the case for modular systems
• Why Microsoft certification matters and how hardware choices affect long-term support
• AI readiness and future-proofing meeting room investments
Thanks to Logitech, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud.
Henry Levak, VP of Product for Logitech for Business, shares exciting new product announcements ahead of ISE 2026.
• Rally AI Camera Pro: a dual-camera PTZ solution combining optical zoom with a wide-angle digital camera, designed with a shallow profile
• Rally AI Camera: a compact digital-only variant with in-wall mounting options and fabric covers for discrete, design-friendly installations
• Multi-camera support for Microsoft Teams Rooms, enabling up to four cameras on Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows
• Logitech’s native bluetooth headset portfolio
• Logitech Spot: the battery-powered environmental sensor now shipping, with upcoming Microsoft Teams and Places integration
Thanks to Logitech, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud.
Brennan McReynolds, Product Strategy Lead for Microsoft Places, at Microsoft, shares what changed during Places’ first full year in general availability and what is coming next as hybrid work patterns continue to shift.
• How Places supports flexible work planning in Microsoft Calendar and Microsoft Teams, including building and room context
• The evolution of desk booking on maps, location check-in signals, and improving confidence in finding the right space
• Why Places is focused on in-person connection and collaboration, not desk booking for everyone
• How the Places directory and Microsoft Graph APIs enable partners to manage buildings, floors, rooms, desks, and maps at scale
• Three integration patterns: spatial data in and out, occupancy and check-in signals, and extensible experiences like visitor management and digital signage
• How location context feeds Work IQ and future Copilot experiences for planning, scheduling, and room selection
Thanks to Brennan for his valuable insights.
JT Elliott, Unified Communications and Collaboration Manager, at Toyota Financial Services, shares his journey from traditional AV to deploying over 300 Microsoft Teams Rooms with Logitech.
- JT's career path from courtroom AV systems through 7-Eleven to Toyota Financial Services
- The decision to standardise on Logitech Rally Bars and Rally Board 65 for 300+ rooms and plans to deploy 150 more.
- Experience deploying 125 Rally Boards in just six weeks with integration partner AVI-SPL
- Why Toyota chose Android-based MTRs and the flexibility of Logitech's platform
- The importance of observability and reliability in room system operations
- Migrating from Direct Routing to Operator Connect for Microsoft Teams Phone
Thanks to Logitech, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud
MVP Tom Arbuthnot shares all the latest Microsoft Teams and Copilot news and announcements in less than 15 minutes for the first update of 2026.
Many thanks to Landis for their continued support.
Deck
- Microsoft 365 AI Workplace - 2026 Focus Areas
- Microsoft’s continued AI Focus in 2026
- 7 New Microsoft Copilot Roadmap Features
- 26M Teams Phone Users
- 8 Microsoft Teams New Features and Updates
- 7 New Teams Rooms and Devices
- Events
Useful Links:
Briefings
- AI Voice Agents with Azure Communication Services - Sean Keegan, Developer Evangelist for Azure Communication Services at Microsoft
- Microsoft 365 Copilot Agents, Features and Control - Deep Dive with Rolf Tröndle - Rolf Tröndle walks through what’s new with Microsoft 365 Copilot.
- Contact Center Options for Microsoft Teams - Native vs Connect vs Extend vs Unify - Alistair Pidd, Professional Services Director, at Pure IP discusses contact center strategies for Microsoft Teams
Teams Insider Podcasts
- Scaling Microsoft Copilot Adoption 22,000 Diverse Users at Centrica with Bill Compton, Head of Digital Adoption at Centrica
- Copilot and Agent Adoption in the Big Four Professional Services Firms with Mo Khalifa, Workforce AI Specialist at Microsoft
- From PBX to Microsoft Teams and Voca Contact Centre at the Chartered Institute of Housing with Richard Sewell, IT Manager
- Working from Sea: Virgin Voyages Transforms Remote Work with Nirmal Saverimuttu, CEO, at Virgin Voyages, and Michael Levy, CEO, at Numonix
- What Cisco Rooms bring to Microsoft Teams Rooms with Tom Richards, Senior Director, Strategy and Planning at Cisco
Bill Compton, Head of Digital Adoption at Centrica, shares how he's driven Microsoft Copilot adoption across a diverse 22,000-person organisation—from field engineers to call centre agents to knowledge workers.
- Building a strong digital champions network through gamification and peer-led change
- Leveraging the included Copilot Chat to build AI literacy across the entire organisation before scaling premium licences
- Taking a measured approach to Copilot rollout: starting with 25 licences and scaling to 2,000 paid M365 Copilot based on demonstrated value
- Creating hybrid adoption events that reached over 3,000 employees through live streaming and on-demand content
- Gathering real user prompts and use cases to build internal stories and identify champions
- Addressing the challenges of reaching diverse workforces in protected environments like call centres and offshore platforms
Thanks to Luware, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud
MVP Tom Arbuthnot shares all the latest Microsoft Teams and Copilot news and announcements in less than 15 minutes for December 2025.
Many thanks to AudioCodes for their continued support.
PowerPoint Deck
- Anthropic models on by default in Microsoft 365 Copilot
- GPT-5.2 in Microsoft 365 Copilot
- Microsoft Copilot Roadmap
- Agentic AI Foundation
- Microsoft Planner Major Update in 2026
- Express Voice Enrollment in Microsoft Teams
- Teams Meeting Recap and Recording APIs
- Teams Devices Update
- Teams Roadmap
- Events
Briefings
- All the Microsoft Ignite 2025 announcements in 24 minutes - Microsoft MVP Rolf Tröndle gives a comprehensive walkthrough of the news from Microsoft Ignite 2025
- AI Voice Agents with Azure Communication Services - Sean Keegan, Developer Evangelist for Azure Communication Services at Microsoft
- Microsoft 365 Copilot Agents, Features and Control - Deep Dive with Rolf Tröndle - Rolf Tröndle walks through what’s new with Microsoft 365 Copilot.
- Contact Center Options for Microsoft Teams - Native vs Connect vs Extend vs Unify - Alistair Pidd, Professional Services Director, at Pure-IP discusses contact center strategies for Microsoft Teams
Teams Insider Podcasts
- Copilot and Agent Adoption in the Big Four Professional Services Firms with Mo Kahlifa, Workforce AI Specialist at Microsoft
- From PBX to Microsoft Teams and Voca Contact Centre at the Chartered Institute of Housing with Richard Sewell, IT Manager
- Working from Sea: Virgin Voyages Transforms Remote Work with Nirmal Saverimuttu, CEO, at Virgin Voyages, and Michael Levy, CEO, at Numonix
- What Cisco Rooms bring to Microsoft Teams Rooms with Tom Richards, Senior Director, Strategy and Planning at Cisco
- Telcos Moving Into AI With Microsoft Teams and Copilot With Rick Garcia
- Microsoft Teams and AI Powered Workplace, Perspective From Ignite 2025 with Ilya Bukshteyn and Irena Andonova
Mo Khalifa, AI Workforce Specialist at Microsoft, discusses enterprise AI adoption, agent workflows, and Microsoft Copilot strategies with the Big Four professional services firms.
• Personal productivity with Copilot: morning briefings, email summaries, and building the habit of AI-first workflows
• Creating custom agents with Copilot Studio to manage customer information and support team productivity
• WorkIQ and organisational memory: personalising Copilot with company-specific terminology, abbreviations, and context
• The evolution from individual agents to agentic conversations where agents collaborate to complete business processes
• Data sovereignty, compliance, and the EU data boundary—how Microsoft is addressing enterprise concerns around AI data processing
• Adoption strategies: the 28-day habit formation, starting with Microsoft Teams meeting recaps, and making prompts relevant to specific roles
• Data classification with Purview as the foundation for safe Copilot deployment and avoiding oversharing concerns
Thanks to AVI-SPL, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud
Richard Sewell, IT Manager, at the Chartered Institute of Housing discusses the organisation's decade-long telephony transformation, from traditional PBX through hosted VoIP to Microsoft Teams with Voca contact centre.
• The journey from restrictive on-premises PBX systems to flexible cloud-based solutions
• Challenges of hot-desking with legacy systems and how Microsoft Teams solved them
• Why user adoption and training matter more than the technical migration itself
• Managing contact centre users with Voca's presence controls, analytics, and supervisor dashboards
• Lessons learnt about extension numbers, call transfers, and user expectations in Teams
• How visibility and reporting encourage accountability in hybrid working environments
Thanks to AudioCodes, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud.
Nirmal Saverimuttu, CEO, at Virgin Voyages, and Michael Levy, CEO, at Numonix, discuss how Virgin Voyages is pioneering the work from sea movement with unlimited Wi-Fi and innovative remote work packages.
- Virgin Voyages' unique approach to crises —boutique hotel experience, no kids, free Wi-Fi, and no nickel-and-diming
- How Richard Branson's vision for free Wi-Fi for crew and passengers enabled the work from sea programme
- Working remotely from the Caribbean using Microsoft Teams with Starlink connectivity
- How the shift to remote work post-COVID has made working from anywhere, even sea, a reality
For the full video, watch here.
Thanks to Numonix, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud
Tom Richards, Senior Director, Strategy and Planning at Cisco, discusses the evolution of the Cisco and Microsoft partnership and how Cisco Microsoft Teams Rooms brings enterprise-grade management, AI capabilities, and multi-platform flexibility to Microsoft Teams Rooms.
• How Cisco and Microsoft moved from competition to collaboration, delivering full MTR experiences without compromising RoomOS capabilities
• The engineering behind containerising Android and MTR within RoomOS, creating a unified management architecture that scales to thousands of devices
• Distance Zero AI at the edge: intelligent camera framing, microphone beamforming, and background noise removal that adapts in real time
• Multi-platform flexibility allowing organisations to run native MTR mode or RoomOS UI mode with seamless Webex and Zoom integration
• How Cisco devices are evolving beyond collaboration tools into workplace investments, providing occupancy sensors and building data for facilities teams
• The MDEP (Microsoft Devices Ecosystem Platform) initiative and what it means for the future of Android-based Teams Rooms devices
Thanks to Cisco, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud
Rick Garcia, EVP Product & Marketing at Momentum, discusses moving from simple workflows to AI‑assisted experiences in the Microsoft stack, from SMS agents to contextual insights across Teams data.
Find out how ideas proven in tools can translate into Outlook, Power Automate and Copilot, and what's next as Microsoft brings advanced AI capabilities into the platform more quickly.
- Packaging practical AI texting workflows that sales teams can adopt immediately
- Translating "bleeding‑edge" ideas from third‑party automation platforms into Microsoft 365
- Using Power Automate and Azure AI to build real business solutions beyond basic attendants
- Why unified Teams, email, chat and SharePoint data enables true contextual insights
- The path from BI metrics to actionable signals for leaders and product teams
Thanks to Momentum, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud
Ilya Bukshteyn, Corporate Vice President for Microsoft Teams Calling Devices and Premium experiences, and Irena Andonova, who leads the Teams devices product team, discuss the latest in Microsoft Teams and AI Powered Workplace from Microsoft Ignite 2025.
- “Secure, Simple, Smart” - URL protection, domain impersonation detection, and simplified threading and multi-tenant activity feed
- The power of Work IQ and Copilot integration across chats, channels, calls and meetings
- Ambient intelligence in Teams Rooms, including face and voice recognition for proper attribution in meeting transcripts and AI-powered note-taking
- Teams Admin Center AI for policy management using natural language
- AI assistant in Teams Roomos Pro Management Portal for deployment, insights and estate management at scale
- Microsoft Devices Ecosystem Platform (MDEP) partnership to enhance Android device security, management and capabilities
Thanks to Ilya and Irena for their insights.
Listen to Sean Gilmour, Principal Product Manager Lead for Advance Calling - Microsoft Teams, and Pratichi Dash, Product Manager - Dynamics 365 Contact Center Voice and Conversational AI , explain Teams Phone Extensibility (TPE), Unify and how they enable a single, unified phone system across UCaaS and CCaaS.
• What TPE is, how it works with Azure Communication Services, and why the Unify certification matters for a level playing field
• How Dynamics 365 Contact Center uses TPE to reuse existing Teams Phone architecture and Operator Connect carriers
• Coexistence with Azure PSTN/Direct Routing today, with Microsoft recommending TPE going forward
• Practical AI today: agent-assist with summaries, translation and guidance, plus the roadmap towards intelligent IVR and smarter routing
• Seamless call movement between Dynamics agents and Teams SMEs for faster resolutions across the organisation
Thanks to Numonix, this episode’s sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud
Gareth Bleasdale, Senior GTM Manager: Modern Work and AI at Microsoft, explains what Copilot Chat is, how it differs from consumer AI, and practical steps to adopt it safely across your organisation.
- What’s included in the free Copilot Chat with Entra accounts
- Security and governance: enterprise protections, encrypted web queries, audit and e‑discovery
- New capabilities: unified history, memory and personalisation, in‑app chat in Word and Excel, GPT‑5 access
- Adoption playbook for IT, business decision makers and end users, plus Microsoft‑funded programmes and resources
- Where agentic patterns fit: web‑grounded agents on the free tier and pay‑as‑you‑go options for tenant‑grounded workflows
Check out Gareth’s webinar on 17 November 2025
Thanks to Landis, this episode’s sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud
MVP Tom Arbuthnot shares all the latest Microsoft Teams and Copilot news and announcements in less than 15 minutes for November 2025.
Many thanks to Landis for their continued support.
PowerPoint Deck
- Microsoft-OpenAI Partnership Changes
- Microsoft Earnings Numbers (FY26 Q1)
- Teams Mode for Microsoft 365 Copilot
- Teams Channel Agents
- Teams Chat with Anyone
- 1080p 4Mbps Town Halls
- Copilot Researcher with Computer User
- Microsoft Teams Rooms New Features
- Teams Devices News
- Events
Briefings
- Customer and Agent Assist AI Demos in Landis Teams Contact Center and Attendant Console with Preston Martin and Shannon Martin, Account Exexutives at Landis
- Microsoft Teams Pro Management Portal AI: What’s Possible Today and Roadmap with Alvin Tsou, Product Manager at Microsoft and Andrew George, Principal Eningeering Manger at Microsoft
- Understanding Microsoft Teams Channel Agents: Use Cases, Features, Workflows and Demo with Sandhya Rao, Principal Group Product Manager, Teams Core AI at Microsoft
- Copilot Agents, No-Code to Pro-Code Options - Paolo Pialorsi, Senior Developer Advocate at Microsoft
Teams Insider Podcasts
- How IQVIA scaled 650 Microsoft Teams Rooms with Global Standards & Smart Operations with Andre Razzuri, Associate Director at IQVIA
- How Partners can Accelerate Copilot Success – Wesley Budd, Partner Solutions Architect at Microsoft
- The Future of Meeting Rooms with Tormod Ree, Chief Product and Engineering Officer at Neat
- The Importance of Standardisation: Rolling out Microsoft Teams Rooms to 450 Rooms Globally with Andrew Liptrot, Service Owner for AV and Workplace Technology at Haleon
- Making Microsoft Teams Great on Mac, iPad and iPhone with Microsoft Engineering with Hari Krishna Reddy Juturu, Partner Group Engineering Manager at Microsoft and Avinash Prasad, Partner Director of Engineering at Microsoft
Hari Krishna Reddy Juturu, Partner Group Engineering Manager, and Avinash Prasad, Partner Director of Engineering, both at Microsoft, talk through the importance of the Apple Platforms, user experience and new features.
- How the team “sim‑ships” features across platforms while embracing earned, Mac‑native integrations like Menu Bar Extras, AirPods support, and native screen sharing.
- Why day‑zero readiness for new macOS releases matters, and how close collaboration with Apple plus early beta testing protects reliability and performance.
- The update stance: older Teams clients are actively blocked after three versions, with visibility and remediation via the Teams Client Health dashboard for IT admins.
- Advances on iPad including dedicated multi‑window for chats and channels, external monitor support, and keyboard workflows.
- CarPlay improvements for safer commutes: hands‑free replies, notifications that respect system focus modes, and a continued push toward voice‑first experiences as the platform evolves.
Thanks to Crestron, this episode’s sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud.
Andrew Liptrot, Service Owner for AV and Workplace Technology at Haleon, shares how a global estate is moving from traditional video rooms to Microsoft Teams Rooms with clear standards, fewer components, and stronger operations.
- Four room archetypes to match business outcomes: Meet, Create, Engage, and Influence
- Consolidation on a lean set of components, with emphasis on reliability, supportability, and lifecycle
- Internal design capability, visual room design, and partner delivery against agreed standards
- Governance and service maturity across policies, SOPs, and continuous improvement
- Proactive monitoring and the push towards “self-healing” rooms at scale
- Broadening from room uptime to overall digital employee experience, including booking, signage, and workspace tools
In this episode, Tormod Ree, Chief Product and Engineering Officer at Neat, shares his view on where meeting room technology is heading and how Neat plans to differentiate while staying simple and reliable for customers.
- AI across the experience: device-side media understanding, and platform features will move meetings from basic framing to experiences that adapt to the interaction in the room.
- Hybrid work isn’t solved: organisations still struggle to give remote participants equal presence for video, audio and collaboration.
- Rooms must support more than a “video window” and enable local, collaborative and mixed scenarios.
- Neat’s approach to scale: multi‑device architecture for larger and more complex spaces, companion devices like Neat Center, and an App Hub to use devices for more than meetings.
- Platform alignment without losing identity and partnership on Microsoft’s Devices Ecosystem Platform to improve quality, provisioning and integrations, while retaining Neat’s own innovations and simplicity focus.
Thanks to Neat, this episode’s sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud.
Wesley Budd, Partner Solutions Architect at Microsoft, explains how partners are driving real-world impact with Microsoft 365 Copilot.
- The role of partners in readiness, security, adoption and change
- Why agentathons are gaining traction and what they mean for Copilot Studio
- How partners are using AI Builder and Copilot Studio to build tailored solutions
- How the Copilot Jumpstart programme is helping partners accelerate customer success
- Opportunities for partners to unlock business transformation with Copilot
Thanks to AudioCodes, this episode’s sponsor, for their continued support.
Microsoft Teams Monthly Update - October 2025
- Copilot Chat (free) in Office Apps
- Unified Copilot Chat in Teams
- Agent Mode in Excel and Word
- Teams Channel Agents
- Anthropic Claude Models Come to Copilot
- Office Agent (Anthropic)
- Bring Consumer Copilot to Work?
- New Teams Features
- Teams Devices News
- Events
Thanks to Neat, this month's benefactor, for your support of Empowering.Cloud and the community.
Note that this is an audio-only version of the update, so if you would like to see the accompanying slides, please watch the video version on Empowering.Cloud
Andre Razzuri, Associate Director at IQVIA, explains how IQVIA rolled out Microsoft Teams Rooms to 650 rooms globally, creating standards and managing a global environment.
- Why IQVIA standardised on Lenovo Windows 11 MTRs for cost, supportability, remote management and user experience
- Deploying 200 rooms per year with a small core team through strict global standards and robust remote tooling
- Where they partnered with AVI-SPL for boardrooms and global rollouts, and how responsibilities are shared
- Getting leadership buy-in using usage data and trusted internal champions
Thanks to AVI-SPL, this episode’s sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud
Simon Dudley, independent consultant and with extensive former experience at Polycom, Lifesize, and Logitech, examines how customers, OEMs and resellers can navigate the increasingly commoditised video conferencing market.
Simon and Tom discuss:
• Why most video bars are “good enough” and what that means for differentiation
• How ESG, financial transparency, and global distribution are becoming key buying factors
• The importance of understanding your A/B/C brand status as a vendor or reseller
• Why customers should look beyond specs and prioritise reliability, support, and management tools
• Lessons from the PC industry and how they could apply to the future of MTR devices
Thanks to Pure-IP, this episode’s sponsor, for their continued support.
Find Simon’s website here: Excession Events
Irena Andonova, Head of Product for Teams Devices at Microsoft, discusses the evolution of Teams Rooms, Phones and Devices
- AI is transforming physical meeting spaces—supporting speaker attribution, voice isolation, and real-time summarisation, even in unscheduled in-person meetings.
- Voice and face enrolment enables accurate transcript attribution across Windows and Android platforms.
- AI-powered features in Teams Phones
- How AI is being embedded into the Pro Management Portal to support large-scale operations, automate issue resolution, and deliver actionable insights.
- The importance of usage analytics for facilities planning—e.g. identifying underused or overbooked rooms by floor and day.
- Ongoing investment in cross-platform scalability, including Autopilot for Windows and Android, and integration with MDEP (Microsoft Device Ecosystem Platform).
Microsoft Teams Monthly Update - September 2025
- Malicious URL Protection for Teams
- Improved Organization Chart in Profile Card
- Control External Access by Domain for Specific Users and Groups
- 5 Unify Certified Contact Centers
- New Teams Desk Phone Transfer UI
- Touch Console Support for MTRoW Boards
- Browser Support for MTRoW Boards
- Sales, Service, and Finance Copilots now included with Microsoft 365 Copilot License
- Improved Copilot Chat in Office Apps
- Events
Thanks to Ribbon, this month's benefactor, for your support of Empowering.Cloud and the community.
Note that this is an audio-only version of the update, so if you would like to see the accompanying slides, please watch the video version on Empowering.Cloud
Matt Hurst, Senior Director of Strategic Business Architecture at Ribbon, joins Tom Arbuthnot to discuss the significant changes occurring in telco infrastructure with AI, analytics, and automation. Matt clearly explains how Automation, Containerisation and AI work and apply in telco and also large enterprise infrastructure.
The telecommunications industry is embracing containerisation and automation to address competitive pressures, security requirements, and operational efficiency challenges. Traditional hardware deployment models are being replaced by flexible, cloud-native approaches that enable rapid scaling and automated management.
- Containerisation breaks network functions into modular components that scale dynamically based on demand
- Automation reduces manual patching, testing, and configuration whilst improving security compliance
- AI-powered chatbots guide junior engineers through complex troubleshooting using integrated documentation
- Infrastructure as code creates single source of truth for network configurations across multiple sites
- Adoption is being driven by security operations requirements and specialised skills shortages
Thanks to Ribbon, this episode’s sponsor, for their continued support.
Tom Arbuthnot discusses Microsoft 365 Copilot adoption with Karoliina Kettukari, Head of Modern Work at OP Financial Group in Finland.
OP Financial Group has licensed approximately half their workforce for M365 Copilot, with strong support from senior management and eager employee adoption. The organisation also utilises Copilot Chat for an additional 50% of their licensed user base, particularly for roles working primarily in customer systems rather than M365 applications.
- Meeting summaries and note-taking represent the primary use case, delivering immediate time savings
- Organisation uses a tiered approach with basic training for general users and advanced documentation for power users
- Teams-based sharing of use cases within departments proves more effective than organisation-wide libraries
- Agent development shows promise but faces technical barriers requiring Copilot Studio expertise
- Regulatory compliance creates additional approval processes for new AI features in financial services
- Support delivered through Teams channels and Viva Engage communities rather than traditional training methods
The transition from personal productivity use cases to team-based and process automation represents the next phase of their adoption journey.
Thanks to Neat, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support.
Bo Pintea from Huddly talks about the evolution of multi-camera setups and their role in creating more immersive and equitable meeting experiences.
Bo shares insights from his Microsoft journey and current role at Huddly, covering:
- Why IP-based AV and edge AI are critical for scalable multi-camera deployments
- The science behind camera angles, spatial reasoning, and reducing hyper-gaze fatigue
- How AI agents are reshaping meeting dynamics—from intelligent shot selection to real-time transcription
- The future of corporate knowledge, digital twins, and who owns the data we generate
- Why SMBs might leapfrog larger enterprises in adopting AI-first business models
Bo also reflects on the shift from human-centric UC to AI-augmented collaboration, and what it means for the next generation of workplace tools.
Thanks to AVI-SPL, this episode’s sponsor, for their continued support.
Leon Wright, Global Lead for Converged Communications at Microsoft, discusses how AI is transforming Teams Phone, telco partnerships and customer engagement.
- How AI is driving renewed interest in Teams Phone and enabling new productivity use cases
- The evolving roles of SIs and telcos in delivering scale and strategic value
- Why partners integrating AI into Converged Comms are seeing 20%+ growth
- The convergence of Teams and Dynamics in Microsoft’s AI business solutions strategy
- Microsoft’s shift to transparent roadmap sharing and early partner feedback
Thanks to Pure IP, this episode’s sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud.
Prashi Badkur, Senior Product Manager Lead for Teams phone devices at Microsoft, talks about the evolving role of physical desk phones.
Despite predictions that physical phones would disappear, there remains a strong demand for Teams phone devices across various industries, including healthcare, finance, and emergency services. Specific roles value the tactile buttons and instant functionality for high call volumes and efficiency.
- AI features including Copilot-powered call summaries for transfers and voice commands for device navigation
- Enhanced line key capabilities with remote configuration through Teams Admin Centre
- Shared line features with LED indicators and custom ringtones for multi-store scenarios
- Queues app now available on desk phones for agent opt-in/opt-out functionality
- Contact management for common area phones allowing admins to preload emergency contacts
- Microsoft Device Ecosystem Platform (MDEP) support for phones
- Future roadmap
Thanks to Ribbon, this episode’s sponsor, for their continued support.
Alexander Ivanov, Senior Product Manager, Microsoft Teams explains how the Technology Adoption Programme (TAP) helps shape Microsoft Teams Android devices and drive quality.
- How TAP enables customers to test features early and influence product development
- The role of customer feedback in shaping Teams device experiences
- Why TAP is more than a preview—it’s a partnership with customers.
- Insights into certification, firmware updates, and the importance measuring satisfaction
If you are interested in participating in the Technology Adoption Program, you can fill in this form here to be considered: aka.ms/TeamsDevicesTap
Thanks to Logitech, this episode’s sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud
Microsoft Teams Monthly Update - August 2025
- Microsoft Q4 2025 Earnings In-Car Teams Video Calls
- Trigger workflows using emoji reactions
- On-Behalf-Of Outbound Teams Phone Calls Change
- First Unify Certified Contact Center
- No more Paid Teams Metered APIs
- GPT-5 is here in M365 Copilot and more
- Summarise Email with Copilot Chat
- Improved M365 Copilot in Word
Thanks to Logitech, this month's benefactor, for your support of Empowering.Cloud and the community.
Note that this is an audio-only version of the update, so if you would like to see the accompanying slides, please watch the video version on Empowering.Cloud
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Jim Gaynor, Editorial Vice President at Directions on Microsoft, reflects on the evolution of Microsoft Teams and its shifting role in Microsoft’s strategy.
- How Teams evolved from a Slack competitor to a central productivity platform
- The impact of the pandemic on Teams adoption and scale
- Why Teams Premium is becoming the home for advanced features
- Microsoft’s pivot to Copilot and what it means for Teams
- How customers are approaching Copilot adoption, ROI, and data governance
- Jim’s perspective on Microsoft’s long-game approach to AI and platform strategy
Thanks to AudioCodes, this episode’s sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud.
Neil Milliken, Global Head of Accessibility at Atos, looks at how accessibility is evolving in the enterprise—driven by AI, inclusive design, and upcoming regulation.
Neil shares insights from over two decades in assistive technology and accessibility, including how mainstream tools like Microsoft 365 are increasingly embedding features that benefit everyone—not just those with disabilities.
- The growing role of AI in assistive tech and how it’s improving productivity and inclusion
- How features like captions, voice input, and personalisation are becoming everyday tools
- The impact of the European Accessibility Act and what it means for private sector organisations
- The convergence of enterprise audio tech and hearing support, including innovations from Jabra and others
- Why accessibility is a business imperative, not just a compliance checkbox
Neil also discusses how organisations can prepare for the European Accessibility Act (EAA), the importance of inclusive design in product development, and how accessibility features are increasingly used by a wider audience—including those with temporary or situational needs.
For more on this, check out Neil’s podcast
Thanks to Jabra, this episode’s sponsor, for their continued support.
Mark Herbert (https://www.linkedin.com/in/herbertmark/), co-founder of Call2Teams (at Qunifi, acquired by Dstny) and now launching Haptap Call Manager, explores how partners are enabling Microsoft Teams Phone for SMB and mid-market.
Mark shares industry insights from his Teams journey and working with UCaaS vendors and partners to bridge SIP trunks into Teams. He gives a demo of Haptap Call Manager (https://www.haptap.com/), a cloud-hosted management tool for simplified management of Microsoft Teams phone services.
- The evolving Teams Phone opportunity in SMB and mid-market • How AI and Copilot are driving interest in Teams Phone
- The challenges partners face managing voice at scale
- Haptap’s approach to multi-tenant Teams Phone management
- Why Dstny backed Haptap as an innovation-led startup within the group
Dave Hatz, VP of Machine Intelligence at CTI, a major AV integrator and events company, shares his journey from AV programming into AI leadership.
- How AI is reshaping the AV integrator’s role, from hardware-centric deployments to software-driven, experience-focused solutions
- The shift from complex, bespoke AV setups to scalable, software-upgradable Microsoft Teams Rooms and how this enables sustainability and innovation
- The growing importance of AI features like intelligent cameras, transcription, and meeting recap, and how AV professionals can support these capabilities
- From personal productivity tools to organisational workflows, Dave discusses how CTI helps clients integrate AI
Thanks to Neat for sponsoring this podcast episode and for their ongoing support.
Callum Moore is an Enterprise Product Manager for Microsoft Teams at a global organisation supporting nearly 400,000 users. Drawing on his experience across professional services, healthcare, retail, and banking, Callum shares practical insights into managing Teams at scale.
• Client Health and Admin Tools: New Teams Admin Center dashboards are available for monitoring client version compliance, crashes, and update failures. These tools offer a more accessible way to identify issues that may otherwise go unreported and influence user perception.
• User Experience and Communication: The benefits of promoting smaller, user-focused features—such as keyboard shortcuts—and using tools like Viva Engage or Copilot to support internal communications. Callum encourages creating informal spaces for users to explore features at their own pace.
• AI and Copilot Integration: The conversation touches on how AI is influencing product management and organisational structures. Callum notes the growing need for concise, actionable information to keep pace with Microsoft’s evolving roadmap.
• Feedback and Community: Emphasising the importance of two-way dialogue, Callum encourages organisations to share feedback with Microsoft and engage with peers to surface common challenges and influence product direction.
• Troubleshooting and Network Testing: The episode also explores upcoming features like silent test calls and remote log collection
Thanks to Landis for sponsoring this podcast episode and for their ongoing support.
Microsoft Teams Monthly Update - July 2025
- Microsoft FY26
- Skype for Business Server Subscription Edition GA
- Summarise transferred calls in Teams with Copilot
- Teams client health dashboard
- Teams client Silent Test Calls
- Teams Rooms Pro Portal Al
- Researcher and Analyst Agents GA
- Real-time voice is coming in M365 Copilot Events
Thanks to Pure IP, this month's benefactor, for your support of Empowering.Cloud and the community.
Note that this is an audio-only version of the update, so if you would like to see the accompanying slides, please watch the video version on Empowering.Cloud
Mary Jo Foley, celebrated tech journalist and current Editor in Chief at Directions on Microsoft, joins the podcast to delve into the rise of AI and Copilot at Microsoft and the ever-increasing pace of change.
- Mary Jo's journey from tech journalism to leading content strategy at Directions on Microsoft
- Insights into how enterprise organizations are navigating Microsoft's swift AI advancements
- The impact and challenges of Microsoft's Copilot and agent offerings on enterprise licensing and strategy
- Challenges understanding the complexities of Microsoft's pricing and licensing models, particularly regarding new AI services
Thanks to AudioCodes, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support.
David Renfree, Manager of UC Sales Specialists at Colt Technology Services, and Jason Wyatt, EMEA Marketing Director at AudioCodes, discuss evolving operator services and how Colt is innovating in enterprise connectivity through their partnership with AudioCodes.
- Strategic Partnership: Colt utilizes AudioCodes Live Platform to enhance enterprise voice services and efficiency
- Award-Winning Cooperation: Colt recognised by AudioCodes for excellence as Live Platform and Service Provider of the Year
- Tailored Solutions: Offers flexible, multi-vendor integration to meet diverse enterprise requirements
- Advanced UC Management: Provides comprehensive service management for both cloud and on-premise environments
- AI and Business Impact: Focuses on AI-driven solutions for superior business outcomes beyond traditional telecom
Thanks to AudioCodes, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support
Mehryn Corrigan, Microsoft Global Channel Sales lead, Microsoft Teams Rooms, discusses the evolution of Teams Rooms and AI and the future of meeting spaces.
- AV and IT Convergence: Exploring the integration of AV and IT in meeting room setups and how partners are evolving their roles
- AI in Meeting Rooms: Enhancements such as speaker recognition, AI assistants, and Copilot are transforming meeting experiences
- Simplifying Room Deployments: Efforts to streamline setup and management are making modern meeting rooms more accessible
- Future Opportunities for Partners: With the addition of Microsoft Places and AI, partners are poised to expand their service offerings beyond hardware
Thanks to Jabra, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support.
Dan Root of ClickShare by Barco offers insights into their new Microsoft Teams Rooms solutions and use of Microsoft Devices Ecosystem Platform
- ClickShare's new Android-based modular compute systems supporting Microsoft Teams Rooms and BYOD experiences
- How ClickShare integrates with existing ecosystems, providing flexibility and compatibility for diverse meeting room needs
- Insights into the partnership with Microsoft using the MDEP platform and how it supports enhanced security and management
- Announcement of partnerships and certified bundles
Thanks to Dan Root for sharing his expertise and to Landis, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support
Olly Henderson, VP of Product at Jabra, discusses the evolution of meeting room technology and what Jabra is focused on based on customer feedback and insights.
- Launch of Panacast 40 VBS: A new Android bar for enhancing small huddle rooms with affordable, high-quality AV solutions.
- Role of Edge AI: Utilising edge AI for optimal performance and less cloud reliance in Jabra's video solutions.
- Future of BYOD: Jabra enables adaptable BYOD experiences, allowing easy upgrades to native conferencing systems.
- Strategic Collaborations: Leveraging MDEP integration and partnerships to enrich Jabra's enterprise solutions.
- Streamlined Deployment: Reducing costs with zero-touch setup and Jabra Plus management platform improvements.
Thanks to Jabra, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support.
Microsoft Teams Monthly Update - June 2025
- Microsoft 365 Leadership Changes
- New Microsoft Teams 'Thread" Layout for Channels
- Teams Phone extensibility - Public Preview
- Remote collection of diagnostic logs from users' Teams clients
- Operator Connect Updates
- Immediate SBA Upgrade Required
- Microsoft Retiring Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel
- Teams Devices News from InfoComm
- Events
Thanks to Landis, this month's benefactor, for your support of Empowering.Cloud and the community.
Note that this is an audio-only version of the update, so if you would like to see the accompanying slides, please watch the video version on Empowering.Cloud
Ritika Gupta, Microsoft Group Product Manager, delves into the power of AI in Microsoft Teams, focusing on recording, transcription, and intelligent recap.
- Ritika highlights the shift of recording and transcription from convenience to essential for AI capabilities like intelligent recap and Copilot.
- Overcome language barriers with Interpreter Agent
- Real-time transcription challenges and AI improvements for more accurate language processing and cultural understanding.
- Compliance controls and policies for IT to ensure secure and effective use of recording and transcription.
Thanks to Luware, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud
Chris Johnson, Senior Director, Android Product & Engineering for MDEP at Microsoft, sheds light on the intricacies of Android and the Microsoft Devices Ecosystem Platform (MDEP)
- MDEP's objective to deliver a secure, manageable Android OS tailored for enterprise environments
- How Microsoft collaborates with chipset vendors and OEMs to support device innovation and reduce fragmentation
- The importance of regular updates and patches in maintaining security, and how long-term support works
- Looking ahead to new developments, including upcoming features in Android 15 and MDEP’s continued evolution
Thanks to Chris Johnson for offering great insight into MDEP and the devices landscape.
Big thanks to Jabra for sponsoring the podcast
Exploring Teams Phone Mobile with Virgin Media O2's Duncan Finlay
- Duncan discusses his extensive telecom experience and current role at VMO2, sharing insights into the integration of fixed and mobile technologies.
- We explore the significant benefits of Teams Phone Mobile, focusing on its seamless integration with Microsoft ecosystems to enhance corporate communication strategies.
- The conversation highlights potential cost and operational efficiencies, offering a new vision for businesses tackling legacy technology transitions.
- We delve into VMO2's innovative deployment solutions with Microsoft and PingCo, which simplify the setup and management process for enterprises.
Thanks to Luware, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support and for helping to make content like this possible.
Microsoft Teams Monthly Update - May 2025
- Microsoft Earnings FY25 Q3 – M365 Highlights
- Microsoft 365 news from Microsoft Build
- Office 365 / Microsoft Teams EU antitrust update
- 9 Microsoft Teams Roadmap Highlights
- Operator Connect and Teams Phone Mobile updates
- Microsoft Teams Rooms on Android updates
- Teams Devices updates
- Events
Thanks to AudioCodes, this month's benefactor, for your support of Empowering.Cloud and the community.
Note that this is an audio-only version of the update, so if you would like to see the accompanying slides, please watch the video version on Empowering.Cloud
Kevin Kieller, EnableUC and Craig Durr, The Collab Collective, discuss their perspectives with Tom Arbuthnot live from Comms vNext, exploring how AI is reshaping workplace collaboration.
- Comparing AI developments across UCaaS platforms, Microsoft's Copilot, Zoom's AI companion, and Google's Gemini.
- How AI is evolving from a tool to a teammate, with discussion on platforms integrating AI to enhance meeting and workflow effectiveness.
- The role of trust in AI adoption and how reliable AI interactions can increase productivity and streamline work processes.
- Future AI developments including agent orchestration and the integration of multiple AI systems
Thanks to Kevin Kieller and Craig Durr for their insightful contributions and to SCB Global for sponsoring podcasts at Comms vNext
Patrick Burke from Gong shares insights on how they are using AI to maximise RevOps and how they use Numonix TRaaS to pull insights from Microsoft Teams meetings.
- Gong's evolution into a revenue AI platform, how it helps sales teams improve performance by integrating insights directly into CRM systems.
- Integrations with platforms like Microsoft Teams, Salesforce, and HubSpot allow seamless data gathering and analysis to refine and support data-driven sales strategies.
- Media capture and compliance capabilities enabled by Gong's partnership with Numonix, ensuring secure and efficient use of call data for business insights.
- Patrick offers a glimpse into the future of AI in sales, including potential chat centric integrations
Thanks to Patrick Burke for sharing his expertise and to Numonix for sponsoring this insightful discussion.
Tom Arbuthnot talks with Reto Schadegg, Global IT Infrastructure Manager at SCOR, about how they rolled out 200 Microsoft Teams Rooms across 35 countries in just 90 days.
- SCOR's delivered a rapid global deployment by leveraging prior standardization and planning.
- Neat Bar Pro was selected after hands-on testing, becoming the core device for most rooms.
- The rollout achieved a 40% reduction in operational costs and six-figure savings overall.
- A streamlined support model now manages 200 rooms with just 1.5 FTEs on second-line support.
- SCOR's shift to Teams Phone continues, aiming to phase out desk phones and reduce telecom costs.
Thanks to Neat, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support and for helping to make content like this possible
Tom Arbuthnot chats with Michael Levy, CEO of Numonix, about what it really takes to deliver compliance-grade recording in Microsoft Teams.
- Compliance recording is centrally managed, encrypted, and built to meet regulations like GDPR and MiFID II.
- Microsoft certification requires rigorous audits, financial commitment, and ongoing platform alignment.
- Vendors must continuously adapt to Teams updates to maintain compatibility and compliance.
- Numonix powers advanced features like filtered recording, native Teams app support, and AI integration.
Thanks for listening to this deep dive into compliance recording and how it’s evolving with Microsoft Teams.
Microsoft Teams Monthly Update - April 2025
- Teams clients older than 90 days will be blocked
- General Channel is back
- Detect sensitive content screen shared in meetings
- Share PowerPoint control with all presenters
- New Unify Contact Center to Microsoft Teams Integration model
- Enforcement of Teams Phone license checks for Extend Contact Centres and Attendant Consoles
- M365 Copilot Chat will be pinned by default in Teams and Outlook
- Teams Devices Updates
- Roadmap Watch
Thanks to Neat, this month's benefactor, for your support of Empowering.Cloud and the community.
Note that this is an audio-only version of the update, so if you would like to see the accompanying slides, please watch the video version on Empowering.Cloud
Tom Arbuthnot is joined by Microsoft’s Evie Grimshaw to dive into bookable desks in Microsoft Teams and how they fit into the broader solution with Microsoft Places.
- Bookable desks work with existing Teams devices and software—no new hardware or installs are needed.
- Bookable desks supports end-to-end booking, from remote reservations to automatic in-office check-ins.
- Employees maintain control over location visibility with flexible opt-in privacy settings.
- Admins get actionable insights into desk usage via integrated analytics in Teams and Places.
- Upcoming updates will expand desk booking options and enhance intelligent peripheral mapping for admins.
Thanks to Pure IP, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support and for helping to make content like this possible
Tom Arbuthnot speaks with Adam Holtby, a Principal Analyst at Omdia, about the evolving landscape of Teams Phone Mobile, mobile UCaaS integration and its strategic impact on organizations.
Discussion Points:
- Challenges: Tom and Adam discuss the slow adoption of mobile UCaaS, highlighting the need for better integration between cellular networks and collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams and Cisco WebEx
- Opportunity: The opportunity for telcos to become key integrators of advanced communication solutions, enhancing their business value.
- Strategic Benefits for Enterprises: A centralized approach to managing mobile and fixed collaboration tools can significantly reduce costs and improve operational efficiency for multinational companies
- Security and Compliance: Benefits for regulated industries like financial services, where secure and compliant communication is essential.
Thanks to Ribbon, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support and for helping to make content like this possible
Matt Peers, the Global COO of Pinsent Masons, shares his insights on the adoption of modern work technologies, particularly AI and Microsoft's Copilot, within the legal sector.
- Matt discusses his professional journey, including his experiences as both a CIO and COO in prominent legal and professional services firms. He focuses on how he's led efforts to modernize workplaces through technology.
- How the legal sector is embracing AI—not as a replacement for lawyers, but as a tool to augment their capabilities. AI enables legal professionals to deliver higher-quality work and respond to clients more quickly.
- How AI has become an important tool in legal operations, helping streamline tasks like meeting notes, summarizing conversations, and managing workloads more effectively.
- Matt highlights the importance of continuous training, storytelling, and leveraging early adopters to drive the adoption of Copilot and AI technologies within organizations.
Thanks to Pure IP, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support and for helping to make content like this possible.
In this episode, we’re joined by Greg Baribault, who leads the HP business and brings a 26-year legacy from Microsoft, offering unique insights into the evolution and future of collaborative technology.
- Greg reflects on his transition from Microsoft, where he worked across Exchange Server, Skype for Business, and Microsoft Teams, to leading hardware innovation at HP.
- He discusses the evolution of Skype Room Systems to Microsoft Teams Rooms and the importance of seamless, instant meeting starts.
- Greg shares how HP is integrating technologies from Polycom, Plantronics, HP, and now Vyoppta to create a cohesive, user-friendly experience in both physical and virtual meeting spaces.
Thanks to Landis, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support and for helping to make content like this possible
Scott Plette, Partner Group Program Manager for Teams Calling and Premium shares his insights into how the Queues app is offering new capabilities and value to customers.
- How Queues App is enhancing team collaboration, managing customer calls, and providing reporting and insights
- Upcoming features include shared call history, integration with Microsoft Shifts, and enhanced mobile capabilities
- How the integration of AI, including Copilot features, will provide intelligent insights, automate call recaps, and enhance customer interaction analytics.
- Advanced call monitoring features coming soon include barge, whisper, and monitor functionalities
Thanks to Ribbon, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support and for helping to make content like this possible
Microsoft Teams Monthly Update - Enterprise Connect Special - March 2025
- 10 Teams Client Updates
- Live Web Chat
- Interpreter Agent Demo
- 8 Meetings and Events Updates
- Facilitator Agent on MTR
- 9 Teams Rooms and Places Updates
- Teams Phone Extensibility Explained
- 9 Teams Phone Updates
- Events
Thanks to Pure IP, this month's benefactor, for your support of Empowering.Cloud and the community.
Note that this is an audio-only version of the update, so if you would like to see the accompanying slides, please watch the video version on Empowering.Cloud
Tom Garland, Global Service Delivery Manager at Willis Towers Watson shares an insight to the journey from traditional PBX systems to Skype for Business, and then to Microsoft Teams.
- Key considerations and challenges in implementing such large-scale telephony changes across a diverse global workforce
- The importance of aligning projects with business requirements and managing user expectations to prevent operational complications
- Specific regional challenges, and experience in implementing Operator Connect in countries like India
- The importance of adhering to compliance requirements through sophisticated call recording systems and practical approaches for managing call data efficiently
Thanks to Pure IP, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support.
Ally Ward, M365 Global Service Owner at a major legal firm, unravels the complexities of managing Microsoft 365 change, sharing effective strategies for handling frequent updates and ensuring seamless IT operations.
- Ally's role in managing Microsoft 365 changes, focusing on assessing the impact of updates and determining necessary actions for adoption or compliance
- How change information can be distributed through Teams channels and how to alert relevant subject matter experts to the appropriate information
- Balancing the need for awareness with the risk of information overload in terms of end-user communication
- The value of investing in resources to manage Microsoft 365 change effectively
Thanks to Ribbon, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support.
Sarah Miller, Senior Product Marketing Manager - Microsoft 365 Copilot at Microsoft, dives into practical applications of Microsoft Copilot Agents
- The concept of Copilots and the journey organisations take to adopt and integrate this AI technology effectively
- Real-world use cases, including how Pets at Home are using AI agents to improve operations and efficiency
- Importance of enterprise security in AI adoption
- The concept of AI agents, their functions and business value across different industries
- How Copilot Dashboard and Success Kit can assist organisations in measuring AI impact and managing AI deployment
Many thanks to Crestron, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support.
Matt Sheldrick, M365 Product Designer at Kingfisher, a multi-national retail group with renowned brands including B&Q and Screwfix, shares how the organisation has embraced Microsoft Teams to revolutionise collaboration.
- How Kingfisher deployed video capabilities in all meeting rooms and even stores
- The importance of quick, efficient and robust room setups
- The transition to Teams Phone and streamlining communication, focusing on flexibility and local presence
- AI adoption and automation enhancing productivity
Thanks to Logitech, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support.
Mansoor Malik, Principal Group Product Manager - Microsoft Teams at Microsoft, explores the world of Microsoft Teams Premium, a significant focus for Microsoft in 2025.
- Teams Premium enables organisations to better manage communications and advanced workloads efficiently in a hybrid workplace.
- Headline features include Intelligent Recap, Queues app and Microsoft Places
- Find out about lesser-known but still valuable features
- Realising the ROI for Teams Premium
Thanks to Logitech, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support.
Microsoft Teams Monthly Update - February 2025
- Microsoft Teams Rooms Express Install
- ISE News and New Devices
- MDEP – New OEMs and ODMs
- MTRoW Boards + Edge WebApps
- MTRoW Multiple Camera View
- Microsoft Teams Super Resolution
- New Teams Phone Mobile Provider
- Roadmap
- Events
Thanks to Ribbon, this month's benefactor, for your support of Empowering.Cloud and the community.
Note that this is an audio-only version of the update, so if you would like to see the accompanying slides, please watch the video version over on Empowering.Cloud
In a podcast crossover, Tom Arbuthnot joins friends Randy Chapman, Mark Vale, and Shawn Harry in episode 65 of the UC Status Podcast, where they discuss all things Microsoft Teams, AI, and future innovations.
- What were the big Microsoft Teams features of 2024, and a look at the Roadmap for 2025
- The impact of Teams Premium on user experiences and how businesses are leveraging its features, including branding, intelligent recaps and integration with external platforms
- The increasing support of BYOD rooms
- Copilot's future trajectory and how AI will impact contact center
Chandra Chivukula, Vice President of Engineering for Microsoft Teams, talks to Tom about the engineering strategies behind Microsoft Teams and how moving all users to the new client in 2024 has enabled more efficient and agile collaboration and a foundation for future innovation.
- Evolution of Microsoft Teams and Architecture
- How Microsoft successfully transitioned over 320 million users to the new Teams client
- The goal of consistency of Teams features across different platforms, including Windows, Mac, iOS and Android
- Release management, internal rings and the TAP program
Thanks to Landis, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support.
Olly Henderson, Head of Video Product Management and Portfolio at Jabra, discusses the evolution of meeting room technology and how Jabra is redefining enterprise audio and video conferencing solutions.
- Launch of Panacast 40 VBS - a new Android bar designed for small huddle rooms
- The Role of Edge AI in Jabra's video solutions for optimal performance and reduced cloud dependency
- The Future of BYOD in Meeting Rooms
- Jabra's partnerships and collaborative efforts to enhance their product offerings, including the integration of the Microsoft Device Ecosystem Platform (MDEP)
- Simplifying the deployment process and reducing costs with features including zero-touch deployment and Jabra Plus management platform advancements
Thanks to Jabra, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support.
Chris A. Johnson, Municipal Cyber Center Manager at the City of Independence, Missouri, shares their journey from an old analog phone system to a modern cloud-based communication infrastructure using Microsoft Teams and Five9 with the help of AVI-SPL.
- The transition from an outdated Avaya phone system to modern cloud platforms
- Collaborating with AVI-SPL accelerated the transformation timeline from a multi-year to a 2-year project
- Automating processes, improving contact center capabilities and better resident satisfaction
- Enabling hybrid work flexibility, improving job satisfaction and retention
Thanks to AVI-SPL, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support.
Kathie Anderson, IT Change Manager at Derby City Council, shares the experience of transitioning to Microsoft Teams and meeting the unique challenges faced by local authorities.
- How Derby City Council transitioned from PBX to Skype for Business and then to Microsoft Teams during the pandemic, condensing the six-month rollout into just six weeks to facilitate remote working
- Integration of Luware's contact center solution into Microsoft Teams, improving flexibility and efficiency
- The significant positive impact on essential services, ensuring critical calls are not missed and enabling rapid response
- The power of Luware's Power BI reporting allows Derby City Council to gain valuable insights into call patterns and performance
Thanks to Luware, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support.
Brad Hintze, EVP Global Marketing at Crestron, shares customer stories about how Crestron enhances customer meeting room experiences.
- Examples from Puma, Fortuna Entertainment Group and Blue Water Financial Services
- Crestron's wide array of solutions cater to diverse meeting room setups from small huddle rooms to large boardrooms
- The growing significance of AI features such as transcription in meeting spaces
- The importance of superior audio quality when it comes to AI
- Developments coming in 2025, including advancements in visual AI, multi-camera systems
Thanks to Crestron, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support.
Tim Albright, President of AVNation Media, shares his insights into the convergence of AV and IT and the evolving landscape of meetings and video conferencing.
- Origins of AVNation, an online media platform dedicated to the audio-visual sector
- The critical role of video conferencing in today's hybrid work models and the importance of standardized solutions
- How Microsoft certified devices drive quality and consistency in user experiences
- Emerging trends such as multi-camera setups and the role of AI in enhancing video conferencing
Thanks to AudioCodes, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support
Microsoft Teams Monthly Update - January 2025
- SMS in Teams
- Teams Web chat widget
- Transcripts on by default
- Meeting Recap share link
- Mandatory Android Updates and AOSP
- MTR Captions additional languages
- MTR Windows 10 EOL
- Queues App Roadmap
- Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat
- Events
Thanks to Logitech, this month's benefactor, for your support of Empowering.Cloud and the community.
Note that this is an audio-only version of the update, so if you would like to see the accompanying slides, please watch the video version over on Empowering.Cloud
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
- Enhancements in Microsoft Teams BYOD experiences, including automatic audio device selection
- Auto-association for managing shared devices
- Future BYOD developments and recommendations for organisations in BYOD scenarios
Thanks to Logitech, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support.
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 companies are choosing between Teams Phone Mobile, Direct Routing and Microsoft Teams Operator Connect
Thanks to AVI-SPL, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support.
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 traditional phone system requirements with new AI opportunities
- The importance of maintaining robust, reliable fundamentals in Teams Phone and ensuring service stability
- How AI is being integrated into Teams Phone
Thanks to Logitech, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support.
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 the NBA bubble games
- The challenge small-medium businesses face with integrating Teams Phone
- How AI can be leveraged to improve use and admin experience, particularly in contact centers
Thanks to Neat, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support.
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 insights into network performance to help pinpoint and resolve issues efficiently
- Ribbon's innovative approach to cloud architecture, enabling flexibility, security and operational efficiency
Thanks to Ribbon, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support.
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 considerations and how AI is streamlining productivity and innovation
- Managing fast-paced changes in Microsoft 365 environments whilst ensuring compliance and operational efficiency in the finance industry
- The future of digital workplace technologies in optimising collaboration and business operations
Thanks to Logitech, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support.
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 combat 'ghost meetings'
- Future innovations in Logi product offerings, including insights and analytics
Thanks to Logitech, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support.
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 practices for managing complex deployments
Thanks to Pure IP, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support.
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, this episode's sponsor, for your continued support.
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 key features
- Future Roadmap for Teams event and AI integration
Thanks to Landis, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support.
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 SMB markets
- AI is set to transform contact centers
- Look out for Cavell Enable London in December
Thanks to AudioCodes, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support.
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
- Barriers to adoption including IT administration, cyber security concerns and organizational readiness
Thanks to Landis, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support.
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 meeting platforms is crucial in enterprise environments
Thanks to Luware, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support
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 platform interoperability is becoming essential as organizations use multiple platforms
- Explaining Pexip Secure meeting solutions and where they meet a need in regulated industries and the public sector
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
- Sustainability is a key consideration in workplace technology
Thanks to Crestron, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support.
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 workflows
- The potential of AI to revolutionise education
Thanks to AVI-SPL, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support.
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 balancing innovation and maintaining a consistent user experience for organisations
- Impact of AI in meetings including transcription and multi-camera capabilities
- Factors beyond technical specifications to consider when choosing devices
Thanks to Numonix, this episode's sponsor, for your continued support and for helping to make content like this possible.
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
- Microsoft Teams Rooms & Devices News
- Microsoft 365 Copilot News
- Events
Thanks to Neat, this month's benefactor, for your support of Empowering.Cloud and the community.
Note that this is an audio-only version of the update, so if you would like to see the accompanying slides, please watch the video version over on Empowering.Cloud
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 Teams Rooms
- The importance of daily system checks to ensure reliability in high-stakes environments
Thanks to Landis, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of the community.
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 organizations
- Widespread adoption may take time due to the complexity of integrating with different mobile operators
- Security and compliance are important considerations for organizations, and Teams Phone Mobile can help
Thanks to Ribbon, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of the community.
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 adoption
- Importance of standardisation across different room sizes and configurations in the airport's SkyCenter to ensure efficiency and ease of maintenance
- Hot desking solution enabling flexibility for employees to reserve and use spaces efficiently with real-time location tracking
- Tampa Airport's outdoor parking lot video wall offering up-to-date flight information to help manage traffic and improve customer experience
- The importance of innovative solutions and strong vendor relationships
Thanks to AVI-SPL, this episode's sponsor, for your continued support.
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 and change management in Copilot implementation
- Managing content freshness and organizing content with labels in Copilot
- Building a Copilot community with Viva Engage and Viva Insights' potential to enhance governance and adoption efforts
Thanks to Neat, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support and for helping to make content like this possible.
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 considerations
- The future of chatbots and multi-lingual support
Thanks to Logitech, this episode's sponsor, for their support of Empowering.Cloud and the community.
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 developing chipsets and then progressing to gateways and SBCs
- The impact of partnering with Microsoft on AudioCodes success, from Lync to Microsoft Teams
- Challenges and opportunities during market disruptions caused by technological advancements and the pandemic
- The transition from hardware to SaaS platforms
- The future vision for AudioCodes, leveraging conversational AI to enhance products and solutions
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
Thanks to Pure IP, this month's benefactor, for your support of Empowering.Cloud and the community.
Note that this is an audio-only version of the update, so if you would like to see the accompanying slides, please watch the video version over on Empowering.Cloud
Taimoor Husain, Global Telco M365 GTM Strategy Lead at Microsoft, discusses the Microsoft Teams telephony landscape, the rise of Operator Connect and the future of Teams Phone.
- The transition from Skype for Business to Teams and the resulting changes in operators' business models
- The growth of Microsoft Teams Operator Connect
- Teams telephony options including Microsoft Calling Plans, Direct Routing, Operator Connect and Teams Phone Mobile
- How Copilot is set to revolutionize telephony by enhancing productivity and support
- The SMB and mid-market opportunity
- Future developments in telephony, including new tools, APIs, features and incentivised partner programs
Thanks to Numonix, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of Empowering.Cloud
Brett Johnson, Microsoft 365 Copilot GBB (Global Black Belt), shares his personal and customer experience of how Copilot in Microsoft Teams and beyond is streamlining meetings, communications and workflows.
- Examples of Copilot for driving efficiency in customer operations
- How Copilot is revolutionising data handling
- The future of Copilot, including agent-based capabilities and customer Copilots
Thanks to Jabra, this episode's sponsor, for supporting the community and for helping to make content like this possible.
Mahendra Sekaran, Corporate Vice President, Teams Phone, M365 at Microsoft discusses the journey of Microsoft Teams, his role, Understanding IC3 (Intelligent Conversations and Communications Cloud) and ACS (Azure Communication Services) and how they related to Microsoft Teams and leveraging AI in development.
- The Microsoft Teams journey and Mahendra's perspective
- Understanding IC3, ACS and Microsoft Teams PSTN connectivity
- Thoughts on Teams Phone Mobile
- The importance of reliability, security and customer feedback in driving improvements
- Future developments include leveraging AI to enhance communication experiences and simplify telephony adoption
Thanks to Neat, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support.
Alan Ross, Partner Group PM Manager, Dynamics 365 Contact Center at Microsoft delves into Dynamics 365 Contact Center and the role of Copilot in improving agent productivity and customer experience.
- Features and capabilities of Dynamics 365 Contact Center
- Decoupling from Dynamics 365 customer service
- How Copilot enhances the agent experience by providing context-aware suggestions, knowledge search and conversation summaries
- How Dynamics 365 Contact Center relates to/integrates with Microsoft Teams
- Customer success stories and future developments in Dynamics 365 Contact Center
Thanks to Ribbon, this episode's sponsor, for your continued support and helping to make content like this possible.
Sherri Pipala, Senior Director Global Alliances at Neat, and Tyler Troutman, Strategic Market Development Team at Shure, discuss the partnership between Neat and Shure and their collaboration which addresses challenges faced in larger rooms with complex audio requirements and the need for seamless integration between Neat and Shure devices.
- Neat and Shure have partnered to provide audio and video solutions for Microsoft Teams Rooms
- Challenges faced in larger rooms with complex audio requirements
- Seamless integration between Neat and Shure devices is essential for a seamless user experience
- Importance of audio quality
- Options available for customers include table arrays, ceiling arrays and wireless microphones
- The value of proof-of-concept programs and testing in your specific environment
Thanks to Neat, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support.
Shawn Harry, Microsoft 365 Solutions Architect, shares his journey in the Microsoft Unified Communications space. Tom and Shawn talk about the evolution of the UC landscape and the challenges of managing and deploying Microsoft Teams in enterprise environments.
- Shawn's early experiences in the Unified Communications space
- The shift from on-premises solutions to cloud
- Complexities and challenges of managing Microsoft Teams in enterprise environments
- The role of a Teams and Microsoft 365 Product Owner
- Maximising the full potential of your Microsoft 365 investment by staying on top of the constant changes
Thanks to AudioCodes, this episode's sponsor, for your continued support.
Dan Hall, Global IT Collaboration Solution Owner at a large manufacturing company gives us a view on using Android-based Phones and Rooms for Microsoft Teams and support timeline considerations.
- The impact of an upcoming Microsoft infrastructure change on older Android phones and Teams Rooms
- The need for organisations to understand the support timelines of Android-based devices
- The importance of working closely with OEMs to understand their devices, chipsets and support timelines
- Considering using SIP phones for common area phones and BYOD
Thanks to Luware, this episode's sponsor, for your continued support.
Microsoft Teams Monthly Update - August 2024
- Microsoft Earnings FY24 Q4 Modern Work Insights
- Multiple Teams Client Improvements
- Custom Emojis and Reactions
- Copilot Dashboard for all M365 Copilot users
- Speaker recognition for all Teams Rooms on Windows
- Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows 5.1.24.0
- Microsoft Teams Devices updates
- Android Teams Room and Teams Phone support date changes
- Teams Displays end of support September 2025
- Roadmap Watch
Thanks to Ribbon, this month's benefactor, for your support of Empowering.Cloud and the community.
Note that this is an audio-only version of the update, so if you like to see the accomapnying slides, please watch the video version over on Empowering.Cloud
Chandranshu Singh, Program Manager for Microsoft Teams SIP Gateway discusses the evolution of SIP Gateway from initial release to today, and its value in reducing infrastructure complexities, supporting various devices and enhancing customer hardware investments.
- Evolution of SIP Gateway from basic call support to supporting a range of endpoints and scenarios
- Understanding the strategic partnerships with OEMs to maintain compatibility and security
- Licensing and support for SIP Gateway devices
- The customer-centric approach driving SIP Gateway's development
Thanks to Pure IP, this episode's sponsor, for your continued support.
Recorded live at Commsverse 2024, Gunnar Meyer, Head of IT Service Delivery at DERTOUR Suisse, the second largest tour operator in Europe, shares their Microsoft Teams journey and how they have successfully integrated Landis Contact Center to enhance their communication and service delivery.
- The transition from traditional PBX (Avaya) to Microsoft Teams
- Leveraging Landis Contact Center for real-time reporting and agent management
- The benefits of adopting granular permissions and delegating control
- Insights on the future of AI in call center operations
- How AI can enhance both back-office processes and customer-facing interactions
Thanks to Landis, this episode's sponsor, for your continued support and for helping to make content like this possible.
James Robinson, Director & Principal AV Consultant at AVenture Audio Visual, shares his extensive previous experiences with deploying Microsoft Teams Rooms at scale at BT.
- James' transition from BT to an independent AV consultancy
- BT's journey from one of the biggest Lync and Skype for Business deployments to Microsoft Teams
- The complexity of standardizing AV equipment across managing office locations and deploying 1200 Microsoft Teams Rooms
- Mixing BYOD, Surface Hub and Teams Rooms
- Real-world challenges such as integrating and managing different AV devices
- How to evaluate and select AV solutions based on organizational needs
Thanks to AudioCodes, this episode's sponsor, for supporting the community and for helping to make content like this possible.
Yoav Barzilay, Microsoft Senior Product Manager, explains the Microsoft Devices Ecosystem Platform (MDEP) and how it fits in the Microsoft Teams devices ecosystem.
- Microsoft Devices Ecosystem Platform (MDEP) is a distribution of Android Open Source Platform (AOSP) from Microsoft
- MDEP aims to provide a unified platform OEMs can choose to build on for collaboration devices
- MDEP focuses on security and manageability
- MDEP can be used as an OS for collaboration apps in addition to Microsoft Teams
- The future of MDEP includes expanding into other use cases
Thanks to Jabra, this episode's sponsor, for your continued support of Empowering.Cloud and the community
John Bailey, Senior Vice President of Technology and Innovation at AVI-SPL, discusses industry changes and the convergence of AV and IT.
- The industry is experiencing a convergence of AV and IT
- The need to focus on reliability and stability in meeting room solutions.
- The current and future role of AI in optimizing the AV and meeting experience
Thanks to AVI-SPL for their support of Empowering.Cloud
Jeremy Dalton, Head of Immersive Technologies at PWC and Cathy Moya, Mesh Senior Customer Success Program Manager at Microsoft, dive into Microsoft Mesh adoption and use cases and how virtual reality and virtual worlds can enhance collaboration and communication.
- Mesh features include avatars and immersive spaces within Microsoft Teams meetings, enabling more engaging and interactive meeting experiences
- Virtual reality and virtual worlds, private conversations and a greater sense of togetherness when collaborating remotely
- Mesh use cases: training, cultural events, learning and development
- Future AI integration to create and enhance virtual worlds
Thanks to AudioCodes, this episode's sponsor, for your support of the Empowering.Cloud community.
Microsoft Teams Monthly Update Briefing - July 2024
- EU issues 'Statement of Objections' to Microsoft - What does this mean for Teams?
- Important Microsoft Teams Rooms and Phone update (MC804766)
- Dynamics 365 Contact Center now GA - Pricing and Options
- Teams Phone Resource Account changes
- Copilot for Sales Teams plugin
- Microsoft Teams Bookable desks GA
- Skype for Business Server Subscription Edition
Thanks toLogitech, this month's benefactor, for your support of the community!
Note that this is an audio-only version of the update, so if you would like to see the accompanying slides then you can watch the video version on the Empowering.Cloud platform here.
Craig Durr, Chief Analyst and Founder of The Collab Collective explores the evolution of meeting room technology, AI's impact and multi-camera solutions.
- Craig's launch of The Collab Collective
- The evolution of Microsoft Teams rooms and devices
- Benefits and challenges of AI agents in meetings
- Multi-camera solutions in high-impact rooms
- The proliferation of video bars in the market, is it sustainable?
Thanks to Neat, this episode's sponsor, for supporting the Empowering.Cloud community.
Craig Cothern, National Director of IT Delivery at Century Communities, a top 10 home builder in the US, and Oli Lifely, Head of Sales at Luware UK, discuss Century Communities' Microsoft Teams journey and how Luware Nimbus addressed their unique communication challenges.
- Century Communities' transition from traditional telephony to IP phone solutions, to Skype for Business and then to Microsoft Teams
- Specific communications needs addressed by Luware Nimbus, including detailed call reporting and metrics, simplified call queue configurations and advanced routing options
- How Luware was deployed and the benefits of Luware Nimbus on sales team operations for customer experience at Century Communities
Thanks to Luware, this episode's sponsor, for supporting the podcast
Chris Fitzsimmons, Senior Solutions Architect at AVI-SPL and MVP Tom Arbuthnot explore Copilot and AI in Microsoft Teams Rooms and BYOD, what is available today, what is coming, and the value it brings
- Intelligent Meeting Recap and Copilot
- Intelligent Speakers and speaker recognition in MTR and BYOD
- Intelligent Camera and identity recognition in the meeting room
- Hardware considerations for optimising AI experiences.
- The dilemma of AI progress and user preferences
Thanks to AVI-SPL, this episode's sponsor, for your continued support of the Empowering.Cloud community.
Microsoft Teams (and Dynamics 365 Contact Center and Places) Monthly Update Briefing - June 2024
- New Dynamics 365 standalone "Copilot" Contact Center
- Microsoft Places Public Preview
- Team Copilot and Custom Copilot Agents - Copilot gets proactive!
- New Teams Devices
- 9 Teams Roadmap Updates
Thanks to AudioCodes, this month's benefactor, for your support of the community!
Note that this is an audio-only version of the update, so if you would like to see the accompanying slides then you can watch the video version on the Empowering.Cloud platform here.
Robert Skyrme, BT/EE Technical Pre-Sales Consultant and Tom Arbuthnot explore everything Teams Phone Mobile, including its benefits and real-world use cases for field workers, sales teams and engineering teams.
- Teams Phone Mobile is an integration of the mobile identity with Microsoft Teams, eliminating the need for separate telephone numbers and voicemails
- It allows users to make and receive calls from Teams on various devices, seamlessly migrating calls between the native mobile dialer and Teams
- The integration is done at the network level, allowing users to take advantage of Teams features for every call, including compliance recording.
- The service is currently available through select mobile operators
- Use cases for Teams Phone Mobile include field workers, sales teams, engineering teams, and those focused on compliance or CRM integration
Thanks to Landis, this episode's sponsor for helping to make content like this possible!
Jamie Wheeldon, Chief Architect at Symity and MVP Tom Arbuthnot dive deep into the impact of generative AI on the Modern Workplace. Listen to their discussion around the challenges and opportunities that adopting AI technologybrings, and the need for organisations to educate employees on using AI tools effectively to drive meaningful change.
- Potential for AI to solve productivity and information overload challenges
- Ethical considerations including data security and intellectual property
- Microsoft's role in AI adoption including Copilot tools across Microsoft 365, GitHub and Power BI
- The need for a structured approach to adopting AI and continuous learning to leverage AI tools effectively
- The potential for AI to revolutionise education
Richard Barrett, Microsoft 365 Technical Specialist and Tom Arbuthnot discuss the power of meeting recording, transcription and AI tools in Microsoft Teams, and how organisations balance the importance of explicit consent, controls and policies.
- How explicit consent for recording and transcribing meetings works
- The ability to control access and also easily share recordings where appropriate
- Importance of controls and policies regarding transcripts for industries dealing with sensitive data such as law firms and financial services
- The value of AI-powered features such as Copilot and Intelligent Recap in saving time and enhancing productivity
Thanks to Luware, this episode's sponsor, for your continued support of the Empowering.Cloud community!
Randy Chapman, Microsoft MVP and Solutions Engineer at Logitech, shares his views on the current state of meeting rooms and BYOD, including manageability of devices at scale and the increasing importance of sustainability for customers when selecting room solutions.
- Different options for bring-your-own-device (BYOD)
- The challenges of updating and managing BYOD devices at scale
- Importance of hardware quality and reliability when choosing room collaboration devices
- A growing emphasis on sustainability in the industry
Fellow MVP Adam Ball, Co-founder of Cloud Revolution and Tom Arbuthnot discuss the role of AI in contact centers, and the trends in cloud phone migration and meeting room technology.
- The potential of AI to disrupt the contact center industry
- The growing trend of cloud to cloud migration for Phone
- What customers really want from meeting room technology
- Optimising project efficiency and cost-effectiveness through large scale, fast and concurrent deployments
Thanks to AudioCodes, this episode's sponsor, for your continued support of the Empowering.Cloud community and helping to make content like this possible.
May Microsoft Teams Update -all the news and updates you need to know in 15 minutes!
- Microsoft Teams Rooms 5.0 - new client, QR code join, Autopilot and more
- 'Follow a meeting' in Outlook
- Teams voice isolation GA
- GA Multi-tenant organization capabilities in Microsoft 365
- New hardware - Neat Bar Gen2 and DTEN DCR200 Bar
- Neat and Shure Incorporated partnership
Thanks to Neat, this month's benefactor, for your support of the community!
Note that this is an audio-only version of the update, so if you would like to see the accompanying slides then you can watch the video version on the Empowering.Cloud platform here.
Recorded live at Comms vNext, Luke Kannel, Product Specialist at Neat and Tyler Troutman, Market Development Specialist at Shure discuss Neat's and Shure's new integration and use case. Luke also gives an overview of Neat's newly released products.
- New Neat and Shure partnership
- Neat's latest innovations: Bar Generation 2, Pulse and Center
- Shure's integration with Neat: Enhancing audio in large spaces
- Shure's diverse portfolio of microphone solutions for Teams Rooms
Thanks to Neat, this episode's sponsor, for their support of the Empowering.Cloud community and helping to make content like this possible!
Richard Trestain, Product Marketing Manager at Jabra and MVP Tom Arbuthnot discuss the research conducted by Jabra on hybrid work and the preferences of Gen Z employees. They cover current trends in hybrid work, the expectations and challenges faced by Gen Z workers, and the role of technology in creating an inclusive and engaging work environment.
- Hybrid work is becoming the norm, with around 6% of people working fully remote and 43% working fully in the office.
- Gen Z employees value flexibility and demand it in their jobs, with 89% of them having jobs that allow full flexibility.
- Gen Z workers have a different mindset about work, seeing it as a sandbox where they can do what they like, rather than a pre-constrained task like Tetris.
- Technology plays a crucial role in creating an inclusive and engaging work environment for Gen Z employees, with high expectations for audio and video quality.
- Companies need to focus on providing personal connection and engagement opportunities for Gen Z workers to prevent burnout and retain talent.
Thanks to Jabra, this episode's sponsor, for your continued support of the Empowering.Cloud community.
Jason Moulden, Global Alliances Technical Lead at Crestron and Tom Arbuthnot explore the changing dynamics of the AV industry and the impact of UC and AV increasingly coming together.
- The continuous interplay between AV and UC/IT domains as they converge with modern workspace
- Adaptation of AV technology in office spaces
- The trend of Android-based solutions for simplicity in setup and integration
- How Crestron address diverse customer needs across room sizes
- Role of cloud computing and advancements in self-configuration
Thanks to Crestron, this episode's sponsor, for your continued support of the Empowering.Cloud community!
Freshly back from Enterprise Connect, Kevin Kieller, Co Founder of enableUC and Microsoft MVP Tom Arbuthnot dive into the current state of AI in the UC and discuss its future impact on UC and how Microsoft Teams might play a central role for many organisations.
- Thoughts on Enterprise Connect 2024
- Understanding AI terminology
- Importance of user adoption and training in driving the value of AI in UC
- Role of IT Pros in AI landscape
- Potential for AI to disrupt the Contact Center space
Thanks to Pure IP, this episode's sponsor, for your continued support of the Empowering.Cloud community.
The Microsoft Teams Monthly Update for April 2024 is here, covering the Microsoft Teams news from Enterprise Connect and all the usual updates.
- Microsoft unbundle Microsoft Teams globally
- Teams Phone service level agreement 99.999% uptime
- Survivable Branch Appliance enhancements
- Intelligent call recap (Premium)
- New operators for Teams Phone Mobile
- Operator Connect Updates
- Queues app
- Voice isolation
- Microsoft Device Ecosystem Platform (MDEP) RTM
- Microsoft Teams Rooms Updates
Note that this is an audio-only version of the update, so if you would like to see the accompanying slides then you can watch the video version on the Empowering.Cloud platform here.
In this podcast episode, Jason Waite, Digital Technology Specialist at Microsoft, discusses the features, benefits and use cases of Microsoft Teams Premium.
- 3 main use cases for Teams Premium: intelligent meeting recap, governance, advanced webinar and advanced virtual appointments
- Value of intelligent recap in Teams Premium for summarizing meetings using generative AI
- The benefits of applying sensitivity labels to meetings
- Importance of broad adoption and proper deployment to maximize the value of Teams Premium
Thanks to Pure IP, this episode's sponsor, for your continued support of the Empowering.Cloud community.
In this podcast, Tom Arbuthnot interviews Michael Levy, the CEO of Numonix, who offers a Microsoft-certified compliance recording solution but can do much more with the media collection bot.
- Numonix offers media acquisition solutions for AI platforms, allowing customers to record calls and meetings for analysis and insights using either third-party or in-house solutions.
- Numonix's bot-as-a-service solution offers simplified maintenance, certification with Microsoft
- Leverage AI capabilities with call and meeting data.
- Numonix's commitment to Azure ensures secure and compliant data storage while also allowing it to take advantage of Microsoft's diverse AI capabilities.
Special thanks to Numonix for being a supporter of Empowering.Cloud
MVP Kevin McDonnell, Copilot Strategy and Modern Workplace AI Lead, Avanade, and MVP Tom Arbuthnot dive deep into Copilot! They discuss its various applications, potential for transforming modern workplaces.
- Understanding Microsoft Copilot
- Data Protection and Privacy in Copilot
- Licensing of Copilot
- Copilot Real-world Use Cases and Applications
- Challenges and Opportunities
Microsoft MVP Eric Marsi and Tom Arbuthnot discuss the intricacies of E911 regulations and requirements and strict compliance requirements with Microsoft Teams.
- Understanding E911
- E911 Laws and Regulations
- E911 in Microsoft Teams Phone
- Determining User Location for E911
- Dynamic Emergency Calling in Teams
- E911 Microsoft Teams compatible Service Providers
Thanks to AVI-SPL, this episode's sponsor, for your continued support of the Empowering.Cloud community.
Stephen McClellan, Associate Solutions Engineering Director, Conferencing at AstraZeneca, and Tom Arbuthnot discuss the technology journey at AstraZeneca, deploying over a thousand Microsoft Teams rooms.
- The journey from full Cisco to Microsoft Teams
- Impact of COVID-19
- Evaluation and Deployment of Microsoft Teams Rooms
- Challenges and Successes in Implementing Microsoft Teams Rooms
- Exploring the Future: AR/VR Scenarios and Mesh
Thanks to Ribbon, this episode's sponsor, for your continued support of the Empowering.Cloud community.
Greg Jeffreys, co-owner at Visual Displays is back for a second podcast with Tom Arbuthnot, to discuss a holistic approach to room design.
- The role of user experience in room design
- The importance of standards in designing meeting spaces to maintain the quality and repeatability of the design process
- Considering room attributes including lighting and acoustics
- Performance standards as a guideline to achieve quality and consistent results
- Current and future trends in room design including multi-camera setups and spatial audio
Thanks to Jabra, this episode's sponsor, for your continued support of the community.
Tim Banting, Practice Leader, Digital Workplace at Omdia and Tom Arbuthnot discuss key trends in digital transformation, including generative AI, BYOD strategy and the persistence of PBX.
- The increasing role of AI in meetings and communications
- The shift in device usage towards mobile phones
- Persistence of traditional PBX systems in the face of UCaaS
- Challenges and opportunities relating to hybrid working models
Many thanks to Landis, this episode's sponsor, for your continued support of the Empowering.Cloud community.
The Microsoft Teams Monthly Update for January 2024 is here! Covering the following and much more in only 13 minutes!
- Teams and Microsoft Apps on Apple Vision Pro
- Shared Calling now in Teams Admin Center
- Teams 2.1 Client New Bulk Installer
- Improved Copilot in Teams and in Windows
- Microsoft 365 Backup Public Preview
- Android 9 and Android 10 Device Certification Extensions
- Pexip bringing a "Teams-like experience" to CVI
- Thanks to this month's sponsor Luware for your continued support of the community
Note that this is an audio-only version of the update, so if you would like to see the accompanying slides then you can watch the video version on the Empowering.Cloud platform here.
Philipp Beck, co-founder of Luware and Tom Arbuthnot discuss key developments in the world of Microsoft Teams and Contact Center.
- The journey of Luware from on-premises to the cloud
- The importance of SOC2 Type 2 Attestation for data security
- New Luware Nimbus features and omnichannel capabilities
- Adoption of power platform for line of business automation
- Impact of AI in the contact center space and training and implementation considerations
Thanks to Luware, this episode's sponsor, for your continued support of the Empowering.Cloud community!
Zach Bennett, Principal Architect at LoopUp and Tom Arbuthnot discuss Teams Phone options for complex and global organisations.
- Different options and challenges with Teams Phone deployment
- Migration from legacy PBX systems to cloud telephony
- The complexity of certain countries like Dubai, China, and LATAM
- Usage of analog devices and methods to integrate them with cloud-based solutions,
- Importance of selecting the right Operator Connect provider based on specific requirements
Tom Arbuthnot and Mark Licinio, Service Owner of Video Conferencing & Teams devices at BP dive deep into Marks' experience with Microsoft Teams Rooms and Digital Workplace.
- Discussion of transitioning to Microsoft Teams from Skype for business
- The journey to enabling Microsoft Teams in the meeting room
- Mark speaks about managing and operating multiple OEMs, BYOD, Android, and Windows.
- BP's approach to testing, operations and deployment
- How their teams evaluate and select equipment and OEMs
- The significance of community engagement and networking which eases their decision-making process in the UC realm.
Thanks to Neat, this episode's sponsor, for your continued support of the Empowering.Cloud community.
The Microsoft Teams Monthly Update for January 2024 is here! Covering the following and much more in only 13 minutes!
- Copilot for Microsoft 365 is now available to all user accounts, including business plans, with no seat minimum. This is a big unlock for small businesses and E plans.
- Copilot Pro is launched for Microsoft 365 personal and family plans, offering AI assistance integration into Office apps.
- Teams Android Auto integration is coming in February, offering a full Teams client experience for Android users.
- Microsoft has made improvements to the Teams invite interface, making it clearer and easier to use.
- Thanks to this month's sponsor Pure-IP for your continued support of the community
Note that this is an audio-only version of the update, so if you would like to see the accompanying slides then you can watch the video version on the Empowering.Cloud platform here: https://app.empowering.cloud/briefings/328/Microsoft-Teams-Monthly-Update-January-2024
- Rohan Milne, CEO at Switch Connect and Tom Arbuthnot discuss the impact and role of AI in the workspace, with a focus on its potential and limitations in different applications
- The importance of understanding experience or voice and PSTN within the Managed Service Provider (MSP) community
- Strategies for optimizing Microsoft Teams as a collaboration platform rather than just a PBX
- Impact of AI in the contact center space and its potential to disrupt current models
- Examples of challenges of implementing Teams Calling in government and enterprise settings due to existing contracts and siloed operations are highlighted
- Limitations of AI in areas like the order of actual execution of tasks
- Potential for AI to evolve to a state where it can provide real-time insights and analytics for businesses
- How Teams can be leveraged for an ROI rather than being seen as an expense for businesses
Thanks to Ribbon, this episode's sponsor, for your continued support of the Empowering.Cloud community.
- Greg emphasizes the importance of thinking critically about each component of a room and using standards as a guide
- The importance of standards and proper room design for Microsoft Teams rooms and technology-enabled spaces
- The real-world challenges of room design, the need for audio quality and the opportunity for improvement in remote experiences
- The ROI of investing in technology-enabled spaces
Thanks to Crestron, this episode's sponsor, for your continued support of the community and for helping to make content like this possible.
- Damian Lewis is a digital workplace specialist at a global enterprise responsible for Teams telephony, Microsoft Teams Rooms, and other Teams-related projects.
- Tom and Damian discuss the challenges of migrating legacy telephony into Teams, especially the porting of numbers, which can be unpredictable and time-consuming.
- An ideal operational model for telephony in Teams is still being defined, including allocating responsibilities between the network team and the collaboration/digital workplace team.
- Damian's organization has established a weekly Microsoft Message Center review board to stay on top of updates, assess their impact, and communicate them to users through a "did you know?" communication.
- Keeping track of Message Center updates is crucial to avoid surprises and ensure smooth operations, especially for significant changes like the retirement of Stream Classic or introducing new features.
- Damian recommends following the YouTube channel "365 Message Center Show" hosted by Daryl Webster and Daniel Glenn for additional insights into Microsoft updates.
Thank you to Numonix, this episode's sponsor, for your continued support of the community.
In this podcast episode, Tom Arbuthnot speaks to Vandana Thomas, Microsoft Teams Phone Mobile Product Leader about what we've seen in Teams Phone Mobile throughout 2023 and what we can expect to come in 2024.
Thanks to Luware for sponsoring this episode, check out their Microsoft Teams Contact Center solution here: Luware | Contact Center and Routing Solutions
- Teams Phone Mobile has launched in nine countries with six operators.
- There are plans to expand the market coverage, aiming for 10 more markets next year.
- The integration of AI features, such as CoPilot, in Teams Phone Mobile is a big focus.
- We discuss features planned in the future.
In this Microsoft Teams Insider Podcast episode, Micah Singer, CEO of Kurmi Software, and Tom Arbuthnot discuss a range of topics around the future of Enterprise IT:
- potential impact of generative AI on software development
- shift towards remote work and how it's driving demand for more IT infrastructure
- role of AI in IT security
- the rise of low-code and no-code applications
- monetisation of cloud infrastructure
- the need for greater automation in IT management
- Michael Tressler is a Senior Solutions Consultant at Jabra, focusing on pre-sales technical support for Jabra products, including audio and video devices.
- In this podcast Michael explains his journey from early coding, to IT roles to Microsoft and then to Jabra
- Jabra has also recently launched an Android-based video bar, providing an all-in-one solution for video conferencing.
Thanks to Jabra, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of the community and helping making content like this possible.
In this podcast episode, Tom Arbuthnot and Sam Kennedy, discuss Crestron's product Automate VX for outside-in camera views in meeting rooms. The multi-camera solution aims to provide a more equitable meeting experience by intelligently selecting the best camera angle for each moment during a meeting. The Automate VX has also recently been Microsoft Teams certified, making it the first multi-camera solution to have been certified by Teams.
Thanks to Crestron, this episode's sponsor, for their continued support of the community and helping to make this podcast possible.
In this podcast episode, Tom Arbuthnot and Chris Goodwill discuss the impact of AI on contact centers and the opportunities it opens up for innovation and improvement in content centers.
- AI will have a significant impact on contact centers in terms of driving efficiencies and improving customer experience.
- Quick wins in the B2C space include using chatbots for simple tasks like waste collection or ordering recycling bins.
- Digital transformation is essential for contact centers to drive better customer experiences and satisfaction.
- The use of AI in contact centers can lead to cost savings, skill changes, and job opportunities in different areas.
- Microsoft has introduced Dynamics Contact Center platform and Digital Contact Center platform (DCCP) to provide contact center solutions.
- Dynamics Contact Center platform is tightly integrated with Dynamics CRM and offers voice and omni-channel capabilities.
- Partners and customers need to understand the options available, leverage the best solutions, and stay open to the evolving contact center market.
Thanks to Ribbon, the sponsor of this episode, for your continued support and making it possible for us to produce content like this.
In this podcast, Tom Arbuthnot interviews Alistair Pidd from Pure IP, discussing the maturity and scale of Microsoft Teams in the enterprise market.
Thank you to Pure IP, the sponsor of this episode, for helping to make this podcast possible.
- Microsoft Teams has undergone significant changes and improvements in the last year, such as the introduction of SIP gateway, shared calling with auto-attendant administration, and the migration away from 3PIP devices.
- Managing the scale and complexity of Teams deployments in large enterprises requires careful planning and change control to ensure stability and minimize disruptions to service.
- Responsibilities for managing Teams deployments in enterprises often involve multiple teams, including network, voice, applications, and meeting room teams.
- Automation and outsourcing services, such as managed SBCs, are becoming more common as enterprises seek to simplify their Teams deployments and reduce the complexity of managing phone systems.
- Reporting and analytics capabilities in Teams, especially for call queues and support desks, remain an area where improvements are needed to provide better visibility and insights.
In this podcast episode, Tom Arbuthnot interviews Michael LaMontagne, a Microsoft Teams expert and the creator of TeamsBoss. TeamsBoss a cloud voice admin and voice operations solution for Microsoft Teams that helps organizations simplify and manage their Teams phone and meeting room operations. It eliminates the need for complex PowerShell commands and allows users to easily manage phone numbers, policies, profiles, and resource accounts for Teams.
Thanks to Numoix, the sponsor of this episode. Check out their Teams recording solution Microsoft Teams Recording | Cloud Compliance Recording | IXCloud (numonix.cloud)
- Michael LaMontagne is an independent consultant and principal product manager for TeamsBoss.
- TeamsBoss a cloud voice admin and voice operations solution for Microsoft Teams.
- It offers features like phone number management, profile creation for users based on policies, bulk management of user configurations, and resource account management.
- The service aims to simplify and automate tasks that are challenging with PowerShell or the Teams Admin Center.
- TeamsBoss is Azure-based and can be procured from the Azure Marketplace.
- It uses delegated permissions and does not store tokens or credentials,
In this pod, Vandana Thomas, Product Leader for Microsoft Teams Phone Mobile gives us insight into what Teams Phone mobile is and how it has been going in market
I really enjoyed this conversation. Chul-Young, Product Manager, Collaboration Platforms & Services at Parexel, takes us through his and their Microsoft Teams journey.
- Rolling Microsoft Teams out to 20,000 users in 50 countries in 4 weeks
- Keeping things as standard as possible
- How is Team creation and lifecycle managed?
- With great power comes great responsibility
- Experience rolling out Teams Phone and reducing the number of Phone users
- Looking at this year and Microsoft Viva
Aaron Steele, Microsoft Technical Program Manager takes us through what is Network Device Interface (NDI) and how can it be used to broadcast Teams meeting content, and how organizations like the NBA and Christie's have used the technology for their events.
More about Teams and NDI:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/broadcasting-audio-and-video-from-teams-with-ndi-and-sdi-technology-e91a0adb-96b9-4dca-a2cd-07181276afa3
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/use-ndi-in-meetings