Microsoft Teams News

Microsoft Ignite looms on the horizon for November so you might have thought that the new feature updates for Microsoft teams would have slowed through September and October, you'd have been wrong. Microsoft announced five new GA features for the platform in September, and five more to come over the next few weeks. The usual pod team take you through all of the new features and discuss news relating to the Team's Linux client and a rumour about a Microsoft Surface branded Teams speakerphone. Finally the team look ahead to see what will be happening at Microsoft Ignite next month.

September's edition of the Microsoft monthly podcast begins with some further follow up on last month's big news. The podcast covers some previously uncovered areas of the Skype for Business Online retirement date announcement. The team explore how the news impacts, customers and in particular, those that have purchased 3IP Phones. After reviewing the additional Skype info the pod then moves on to the latest Microsoft Teams news. There are the usual host of updates covering additional PSTN connectivity, further info on the new whiteboard capture feature and another new territory for Team's data residency. Lastly the pod looks ahead the next big Microsoft event that is looming in the calendar.

The original podcast for August covered all the latest news from Microsoft's Inspire partner event, the latest updates on Skype for Business Server 2019 and some new announcements for Teams. Then news emerged that Microsoft had announced the retirement date for Skype for Business Online. The 31st of July 2021 will be the end of service date for the platform so a bonus section of the podcast has been added to bring you all of the details and some reaction to the announcement.

This month's edition of the podcast is jam packed with news and feature updates relating to communication and collaboration platform Microsoft Teams. There are a host of new features to discuss including urgent message functionality and channel team announcements. Possibly the biggest revelation from the last month is the news that Microsoft Teams will eventually be absorbing and then replacing Kaizala. Kaizala, Microsoft's phone number based mobile chat application became hugely popular in various geographies but now Microsoft have indicated that Teams will replicate some of its features and eventually replace Kaizala altogether. The usual podcast team also look ahead to upcoming events and review Comms VNEXT which concluded earlier this month.

Pretty big news in this month's Microsoft communication and collaboration podcast. Citrix have announced support for Microsoft Teams video and calling capability within virtual desktop infrastructure environments, which has wide ranging ramifications for many vertical markets. As well as the VDI news there are also updates relating to PSTN options within Teams and some new updates for meeting booking within the Outlook mobile application for Android and iOS. Finally Microsoft have revealed the Teams development roadmap for the next few months so the pod examine some of the impending new features including music on hold, larger group number capacities and a new single tool bar feature.

There are the usual host of announcements relating to Microsoft Teams included in this month's podcast but as a special surprise there are also a couple of Skype for Business news items. The usual suspects review all of the latest updates for both of Microsoft's communication and collaboration platforms including a deadline for IP Phone firmware updates, Information Barriers for Teams and closer Kaizala integration. UC EXPO also looms on the horizon so the podcast looks ahead to see what this year's show might have instore. 

Microsoft have been very busy this year and over the last few weeks we have been showered with new features and updates for the Microsoft Team's platform. Enterprise Connect 2019 took place at the end of March and provided the perfect platform for a host of announcements. In total there were 8 new features announcements for Teams which are summarised and reviewed in this podcast. The pod also looks ahead to the next big event on the horizon which will be UC Expo in May.

The start of 2019 has been incredibly busy when it comes to Microsoft Teams news! Usual expert guest Tom Arbuthnot covers off all the main headlines including a new certified SBC, custom Microsoft Teams devices, Teams support for Safari browsing and bespoke industry vertical Team's templates. As well as discussing all the news items Patrick and Tom also look at the migration timeline for the transition from Skype for Business to Teams. Many people are asking about the deadline date for migration and although there is no definite date set the guys speculate on what the timeline might look like over the next few years.

2018 was a big year for Microsoft Teams and Skype for Business and 2019 promises to be even bigger! To kick off 2019 Patrick and Tom run through all of the latest news items for the platforms. There are some new patches for Skype for Business Server but there are loads more updates for Teams. Microsoft are placing more of a focus on adding specific functions that will make Teams even more suitable for different industry verticals like retail or education. As well as focus areas Microsoft have also now made Teams part of the default installation options on Office 365 Business. Finally the pod discuss the latest pieces of Microsoft Teams hardware that are now available like the range of IP devices.

This is the last episode of the Microsoft monthly podcast for 2018. The usual team examine some of the latest December news for the Microsoft communications and collaboration platforms including some new voice features for Microsoft Teams. Microsoft have also unveiled some new Office application icons which will be on show next year and Patrick reveals his favourite. As well as reviewing all of the other December news the guys look ahead to what might be in store for 2019. Predicting the future isn't easy, but Patrick still tries to tempt Tom into making some outlandish predictions for the development of the Microsoft Teams and Skype for Business platforms.