A Magical Week in UC

News Roundup 28th of July to 2nd of August

We're back after yet another amazing week in the world of unified communication and collaboration. July finally came to an end, and it's been a sensational month, marked by countless interesting stories from leading vendors across the industry.

We also announced the winners of UC Awards 2019 - you can watch our digital ceremony on-demand here! www.uctoday.com/awards A HUGE well done to all winners and finalists, so much innovation and industry success!

Here are some of our favourite tales to sink your teeth into if you're whetting your appetite for a thrilling August.

UCaaS Magic Quadrant Revealed for 2019

Gartner, one of the world's leading analysts, recently released their UCaaS Magic Quadrant for 2019. Every year, we comment on this report, exploring the vendors that have been lucky enough to make the cut. As you know, Gartner separates each year's UCaaS vendors into four distinct categories: Leaders, Visionaries, Niche Players, and Challengers.

This year, we can see some familiar faces holding onto the top spots, including RingCentral, Microsoft, 8x8, and Cisco. We've also seen some significant movement in the Challenger and Niche Player segments since last year. Interestingly, Windstream has entered the UCaaS Magic Quadrant for the first time this year, as a niche player, while AT&T seems to have gone missing. There's also no sign of the NTT Group this year. Make sure you check out our latest articles for our view on the companies leading the pack in 2019.

In this year’s report, Gartner made a surprising ‘Strategic Planning Assumption’ whereby they stated that “By 2023, 40% of new enterprise telephony purchases will be based on a cloud office suite — either Microsoft Office 365 or Google G Suite.” If this isn’t enough to wake up the vendors and communications service providers that don’t integrate very well with Microsoft and Google, I don’t know what will…

Introducing the Artificial Intelligence White Elephant

Artificial Intelligence is more than just a gimmick for communications and collaboration companies today. As businesses continue to demand more immersive, intuitive, and intelligent solutions from their UC&C providers, AI could be a must-have for any productive investment. Of course, it takes a lot more than just basic chatbot functionality or fundamental analytics to make a UC vendor stand out as an artificial intelligence expert.

In our latest article on the Artificial Intelligence White Elephant, Patrick Watson discusses the importance of discovering truly innovative ways to access AI and machine learning in communication. As Patrick notes, it's not easy for today's companies to unlock the real power of AI, but we have already begun to see some excellent examples of how this disruptive technology could change the UC landscape forever.

Are Cisco and Microsoft Friends at Last?

In the communication and collaboration landscape, there are plenty of rivals battling it out for the top spot as the ultimate workplace tool. However, many industry experts agree that the decision for enterprise collaboration tools often comes down to a choice between Cisco and Microsoft. As two organisations both chasing after the same consumer base, it's no surprise that Microsoft and Cisco have butted heads once or twice in the past. Cisco's collaborative app even shares the same "Teams" title as Microsoft.

Now, however, it seems as though the two brands could be in the process of burying the hatchet once and for all. Cisco is holding firm to its strategy of "building bridges, not islands" and has begun to offer a range of integrations with Microsoft's suite of productivity tools. Patrick Watson discusses the connection between the companies in one of our latest episodes of the Out Loud podcast. Guest speaker Jonathan George, Digital Collaboration Lead at Adoptt, joins UC Today's Patrick Watson for the conversation.

Microsoft Retire Skype for Business Online

For some time now, Microsoft has been keeping users on edge with the constant promise that Skype for Business will one day be entirely replaced by Microsoft Teams. However, despite this knowledge, most of us have continued to assume that an end to the Skype for Business roadmap was destined to be somewhere far in the distant future. However, news has now emerged that the 31st of July 2021 will be the end of the service data for the Skype for Business Online platform.

Patrick Watson took to the Out Loud Podcast to discuss the concept of the actual end of Microsoft Skype for Business, and what this will mean to today's companies. Our expert guest, Microsoft MVP Tom Arbuthnot, shares his insights too. How do you feel about the fact that Skype for Business Online won't be around for much longer?

Microsoft Teams Rolls Out New Features

When one door closes, another one opens - at least that seems to be the case for Microsoft. Following the announcement of an end-of-life date for Skype for Business Online, Microsoft released a slew of updates to its Microsoft Teams tool - the solution set to replace Skype for Business in the long-term. Microsoft is consistently bringing new features and functionality to the Microsoft Teams roadmap, reassuring users that they're not going to miss out when Skype for Business is no more.

Some of the latest features announced at the end of July 2019 include time-sensitive communications and notifications for priority messages. There's also better support for shift workers on the horizon, and new solutions for IT administrators too. Check out the complete range of updates in our latest news story.

Sleepy August?

Will the industry sleep in August or will we continue to see more big news? Post your predictions below...