News

News

• March 27, 2018 27 Mar'18

  Team collaboration app Atlassian Stride adds 20 integrations

  Team collaboration app Atlassian Stride announced 20 new third-party integrations. The vendor is urging HipChat users to switch to Stride, as it concludes an early access program.

• March 23, 2018 23 Mar'18

  Slack still seen as leader in team communication apps market

  Facing growing pressure from Microsoft and Cisco, Slack is expected to remain competitive in the team communication apps market because of its loyal customers and strong reputation.

• March 16, 2018 16 Mar'18

  Twilio Flex provides a customizable cloud contact center platform

  Twilio Flex offers a customizable interface that sits atop the vendor's application development platform. The offering could appeal to large enterprises looking for a flexible cloud contact center platform.

• March 15, 2018 15 Mar'18

  AWS attacks rivals with Amazon Chime pricing

  Amazon Web Services is switching Amazon Chime pricing to a usage model to lure businesses away from rivals Slack, Microsoft Teams and Cisco Spark. The new pricing starts in April.

• March 14, 2018 14 Mar'18

  New Masergy UCaaS feature helps avoid overpayments

  Masergy UCaaS customers can use their human resource applications to automate adding and deleting UCaaS users. The new feature can avoid overpayments.

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• March 14, 2018 14 Mar'18

  Ready for artificial intelligence in speech recognition?

  Artificial intelligence in speech recognition is transforming the technology, but are enterprises ready to employ these new tools within their operations?

• March 14, 2018 14 Mar'18

  Avaya Mobile Experience could lower contact center costs

  The new Avaya Mobile Experience helps contact centers manage incoming calls from mobile phones. Analysts said the latest service could help reduce costs.

• March 14, 2018 14 Mar'18

  Users share team collaboration software strategies

  Many companies are pursuing a team collaboration software strategy to consolidate messaging on one platform to streamline IT and end user communications.

• March 14, 2018 14 Mar'18

  Putting the contact center in the cloud blurs lines with UC

  The line between unified communications and the contact center is blurring as organizations look to bring both technologies together via cloud adoption.

• March 13, 2018 13 Mar'18

  Cisco-BroadSoft cloud PBX to bring telephony to Spark

  Cisco plans to use the BroadSoft cloud PBX to open Spark to the public telephone network. The PBX came with the Cisco-BroadSoft acquisition completed last month.

• March 13, 2018 13 Mar'18

  Team collaboration tools see different adoption strategies

  Team collaboration tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams can be deployed in different ways. The options include focus on end-user choices or greater IT and executive control.

• March 12, 2018 12 Mar'18

  New Microsoft Teams features include Cortana integration

  The latest Microsoft Teams features include foreign language translation of messages, recording of meetings and integration with the Cortana voice assistant.

• March 09, 2018 09 Mar'18

  Enterprise Connect 2018 to showcase latest UC innovations

  The latest UC products will be on display at this year's Enterprise Connect, including mobile unified communications platforms and team collaboration workspaces.

• March 09, 2018 09 Mar'18

  RingCentral Meetings offered as stand-alone web conferencing platform

  RingCentral has expanded its cloud portfolio with the release of RingCentral Meetings, a stand-alone web conferencing platform. Other recent product upgrades should make it a stronger player in the contact center market.

• March 07, 2018 07 Mar'18

  Microsoft Teams guest access made universal

  Microsoft is chasing competitors Slack and Cisco Spark with the expansion of Microsoft Teams guest access. More enterprises are using team chat apps to collaborate with external partners.

• March 07, 2018 07 Mar'18

  Enterprise Connect 2018 conference coverage

  The unified communications industry is seeing significant changes. Read the latest news in our comprehensive coverage of Enterprise Connect 2018.

• March 07, 2018 07 Mar'18

  New vendors, trends crash Enterprise Connect 2018 party

  Slack and Facebook are making their first appearances at the unified communications conference. Plus, contact center technologies could take center stage at the show.

• March 05, 2018 05 Mar'18

  Huddle rooms help fuel audio conferencing endpoint market

  Despite recent economic struggles, the audio endpoint market is benefiting from the newest trend of smaller collaboration spaces in enterprises.

• March 02, 2018 02 Mar'18

  Avaya revenue growth depends on success of cloud products

  New cloud products are expected to drive Avaya revenue growth in 2019. Meanwhile, revenues in fiscal 2018 are forecast to be almost the same as last year.

• March 02, 2018 02 Mar'18

  Blue Jeans integrates AI-powered transcription technology

  Blue Jeans has integrated an AI transcription service powered by Voicera's virtual assistant, Eva, while Slack deepened its GitHub integration to support developer collaboration.

• March 02, 2018 02 Mar'18

  Google Hangouts Chat team collaboration app released

  Google is continuing to aggressively target the enterprise market with its release of Hangouts Chat. The team collaboration app will compete with Slack, Microsoft Teams and Cisco Spark.

• March 01, 2018 01 Mar'18

  CEO lays out roadmap for Mitel Cloud after ShoreTel acquisition

  In 2018, Mitel is looking to capitalize on its large install base and a strong mix of public and private cloud offerings. But Mitel Cloud will have to compete with both pure-cloud startups and legacy UC vendors.

• March 01, 2018 01 Mar'18

  Genesys acquires Altocloud sales analytics for contact center cloud

  Genesys acquires analytics vendor Altocloud to help businesses find sales opportunities in online customer interactions. Genesys will integrate Altocloud into omnichannel contact center products.

• March 01, 2018 01 Mar'18

  Avaya Zang upgrades workflow, IoT tools

  Avaya Zang has upgraded its CPaaS platform with new workflow and IoT tools. The vendor is also making it easier to integrate Zang apps with Avaya UC hardware.

• February 23, 2018 23 Feb'18

  Orion Labs releases push-to-talk app for enterprises

  Orion Labs has made its push-to-talk app generally available to enterprises. The voice-powered platform offers benefits beyond the mimicking of walkie-talkies.

• February 23, 2018 23 Feb'18

  Slack competitor Atlassian Stride releases tools for developers

  Atlassian Stride, a Slack competitor, has released an API platform. The ability to integrate with business apps and workflow tools is expected to fuel the growth of the team collaboration market.

• February 22, 2018 22 Feb'18

  Many enterprises need better conference room technology

  Enterprises are taking action to ensure they have the conference room technology necessary to support the latest collaboration tools.

• February 16, 2018 16 Feb'18

  Email collaboration evolves in the modern enterprise

  Messaging apps are great for team collaboration, but bridging the gap between internal and external communication remains a hurdle. That's why vendors are developing tools to improve email collaboration.

• February 15, 2018 15 Feb'18

  Enterprises given clarity on cost of cloud services

  Enterprises are gaining greater clarity about the cost of cloud services for UCC, as many IT departments are discovering that cloud deployments don't usually save them money.

• February 13, 2018 13 Feb'18

  Adopting business messaging apps requires changing corporate culture

  To successfully adopt business messaging apps in the enterprise, organizations must put end users at the center of a messaging strategy crafted to prevent shadow IT and collaboration silos.

• February 09, 2018 09 Feb'18

  Jive acquisition takes LogMeIn into UCaaS midmarket

  LogMeIn plans to acquire UCaaS provider Jive Communications for $357 million. The Jive acquisition, expected to close next quarter, will send LogMeIn into the UCaaS market.

• February 08, 2018 08 Feb'18

  Avaya adds AI voice assistant to desk phones

  Avaya has created an AI voice assistant application for desk phones. AI voice assistant platforms could make mundane tasks easier for office workers.

• February 08, 2018 08 Feb'18

  Mitel products revamped post-ShoreTel acquisition

  In UC news, Mitel's product portfolio has rebranded for the integration of ShoreTel's UCaaS products, while the new Logitech SmartDock accessory supports meeting interoperability.

• February 07, 2018 07 Feb'18

  Automated transcription services could be integral to web conferencing

  Automated transcription services are expected to become a must-have feature for web conferencing. Zoom made its version of that service available to its subscribers on Jan. 31.

• February 02, 2018 02 Feb'18

  How Apple Business Chat could change contact-center market

  The Apple Business Chat release comes as many businesses are rethinking the role of the contact center, which could turn the platform into a market disruptor.

• February 01, 2018 01 Feb'18

  Spoken acquisition the highlight of Avaya Engage 2018

  The standout announcement at Avaya Engage 2018 was the acquisition of contact-center-as-a-service provider Spoken Communications, which will bolster Avaya's cloud strategy.

• February 01, 2018 01 Feb'18

  Microsoft Teams updates streamline search, sharing features

  In UC news, new features in Microsoft Teams look to improve how users share and access information, while Verizon and Ribbon Communications partner for virtual SBC services.

• January 31, 2018 31 Jan'18

  Smartphone push-to-talk apps poised for enterprise growth

  Smartphone push-to-talk apps are a viable option for enterprises because of the improved reliability of 4G and LTE networks. Their automation and integration tools could be key to future growth.

• January 30, 2018 30 Jan'18

  Private Slack shared channels look to boost security, admin controls

  With the addition of private shared channels, Slack looks to broaden its external collaboration tools. However, interoperability issues still nag team collaboration apps.

• January 26, 2018 26 Jan'18

  PGi releases GlobalMeet 5.0, as demand for web conferencing grows

  PGi has revamped its flagship virtual meeting platform with the release of GlobalMeet 5.0. Many enterprises now prefer web conferencing over traditional dial-in calls.

• January 26, 2018 26 Jan'18

  Cloud, mobility, telephony to fuel UCC market growth, report says

  In unified communications news, one industry report issues a bullish outlook, a new group messaging platform has launched and Plantronics expands its headset offerings.

• January 22, 2018 22 Jan'18

  Midmarket enterprises push UCaaS platform adoption

  Cloud communications is growing in popularity among midmarket enterprises. UCaaS providers and enterprises must work together for successful adoption and deployment.

• January 22, 2018 22 Jan'18

  Avaya UC headed for SMB product bundles

  Avaya plans to grow its customer base with SMB-friendly technology. The bundles will include Avaya UC and other features from the company's enterprise portfolio.

• January 11, 2018 11 Jan'18

  Businesses slow to embrace products like Samsung Flip board

  Samsung hopes to heat up the tepid digital whiteboard market, but the new Samsung Flip board will face tough competition from small vendors, as well as Cisco, Google and Microsoft.

• January 05, 2018 05 Jan'18

  Unified communications vendors continue consolidation carousel

  Several unified communications vendors rang in the new year with mergers and acquisitions, as Star2Star merges with Blueface and Polycom picks up Obihai Technology.

• December 29, 2017 29 Dec'17

  Video conference tools spread among buyers and sellers

  With the help of cloud-based technology, video conference vendors can roll out more options for potential buyers, who now face a mounting array of use cases.

• December 22, 2017 22 Dec'17

  UC trends revealed in top news stories of 2017

  Take a look at the top UC news stories that affected the industry in 2017 -- from the growth in the team collaboration market to vendor mergers and acquisitions.

• December 21, 2017 21 Dec'17

  Many challenges ahead following Avaya bankruptcy proceedings

  With the Avaya bankruptcy proceedings over, the company will need strong sales, marketing and customer service to win deals in a highly competitive market.

• December 19, 2017 19 Dec'17

  Microsoft Teams calling, Cisco Spark security get updates

  New Microsoft telephony tools put some pressure on Skype for Business users to switch to Teams. Meanwhile, Cisco Spark security gets a key certification.

• December 14, 2017 14 Dec'17

  Free phone service could boost Dialpad's UCaaS status

  UCaaS provider Dialpad is offering a free cloud telephony service that integrates with G Suite, while a new partner program offers Workplace by Facebook support.

• December 08, 2017 08 Dec'17

  Alexa for Business sounds promising, but security a concern

  Amazon's enterprise virtual assistant connects Echo devices and voice commands to conference rooms and business applications as the service looks to ease meeting complexities.

• November 30, 2017 30 Nov'17

  Third-party E911 services expand call management tools

  In UC news, organizations are deploying third-party E911 services for additional call management capabilities, while Genesys announces a chatbot integration with Amazon.

• November 10, 2017 10 Nov'17

  Level 3-CenturyLink merger could open doors for UC partners

  In UC news, business partnerships are in question after CenturyLink's merger with Level 3. Meanwhile, RingCentral announces third-quarter revenue.

• November 03, 2017 03 Nov'17

  Avaya, Talkdesk dial into contact center AI technologies

  Bots, analytics and artificial intelligence tools are booming. Contact center AI, in particular, could enhance employee productivity and improve customer service.

• November 02, 2017 02 Nov'17

  Cisco Spark app to get voice-powered virtual assistant

  A voice-powered assistant will soon be available in the Cisco Spark app. Early next year, the company plans to offer the virtual helper to a limited number of customers.

• October 31, 2017 31 Oct'17

  New RingCentral app integrations include Google, Slack, Alexa

  Application integrations are becoming almost mandatory offerings among many cloud-based communications providers, and RingCentral just unveiled a bunch of them.

• October 30, 2017 30 Oct'17

  Genband, Sonus merge to become Ribbon Communications

  After finalizing a merger, Genband and Sonus will become Ribbon Communications. The combined company will focus on security and real-time communication tools.

• October 27, 2017 27 Oct'17

  Microsoft Teams roadmap introduces telephony, interoperability

  New Microsoft Teams features, ranging from telephony to advanced meeting tools, are coming down the pipeline, as Microsoft prepares for the migration from Skype for Business Online.

• October 26, 2017 26 Oct'17

  Cisco UCaaS gets more complicated with BroadSoft buy

  After the BroadSoft acquisition, Cisco UCaaS will have overlapping products that will need sorting and services that could cause conflict with service providers.

• October 20, 2017 20 Oct'17

  UCaaS market share report details industry's upswing

  In UC news, RingCentral extends its UCaaS market share lead, Fuze introduces a web-based collaboration tool, and Vidyo releases a VP9 codec for real-time video communications.

• October 13, 2017 13 Oct'17

  Arkadin unveils Cisco integrations for cloud telephony

  In UC news, Arkadin announces integrations with Cisco Spark and WebEx that support cloud-based telephony, while Box unveils machine learning tools to digitize and automate workflows.

• October 10, 2017 10 Oct'17

  Symphony collaboration takes on Teams, Slack team messaging

  Symphony Communication Services says it's ready to compete with Cisco, Microsoft and Slack. Experts point to security as a strength of the Symphony collaboration platform.

• September 29, 2017 29 Sep'17

  Facebook, IBM, Microsoft collaboration developments released

  Microsoft opting to swap Skype for Business for Teams topped this week's collaboration news. But Facebook, IBM and Zoho also had noteworthy product developments.

• September 29, 2017 29 Sep'17

  New Skype, Microsoft Teams integrations focus on video

  Microsoft Ignite yielded a slew of partnership announcements focusing on Skype for Business and Microsoft Teams integrations based on video support and interoperability.

• September 28, 2017 28 Sep'17

  Could Microsoft Teams replace Outlook and Yammer?

  For years, workers have lived in Microsoft's Outlook email as a primary communications tool. But with the emergence of Microsoft Teams, it could replace Outlook.

• September 27, 2017 27 Sep'17

  Zoom video meetings get Facebook Workplace integration

  Zoom video meetings can now be streamed to Facebook Workplace. Zoom announced the integration this week, along with a new transcription service for video recordings.

• September 27, 2017 27 Sep'17

  Microsoft Teams deployment to reshuffle UC strategies

  Microsoft Teams deployment will force enterprises to rethink how they want to restructure their current unified communications strategies. Executive buy-in will be crucial.

• September 26, 2017 26 Sep'17

  Cisco, Microsoft take diverse tacks for virtual reality collaboration

  Microsoft demonstrated its virtual reality collaboration technology and mixed-reality workflow app, used by Ford, this week at Microsoft Ignite. Cisco invited customers to experiment with Cisco Spark in VR.

• September 25, 2017 25 Sep'17

  Microsoft Teams to replace Skype for Business Online

  Over the next couple of years, Microsoft will gradually replace Skype for Business Online with Teams, which will become the communications client for Office 365.

• September 21, 2017 21 Sep'17

  UCaaS Magic Quadrant shows maturing, fragmented market

  The latest Magic Quadrant for UCaaS shows a maturing market with capabilities that exceed on-premises UC and UCaaS providers with greater global reach.

• September 14, 2017 14 Sep'17

  8x8 and Atlassian integrate team collaboration tools

  In UC news this week, 8x8 and Atlassian integrate their team communication tools, while AeroFS and Redbooth merge on collaboration and task management software.

• September 14, 2017 14 Sep'17

  New Slack shared channels, Microsoft Teams adds guest access

  New Slack shared channels and Microsoft Teams' guest access features, introduced this week, provide collaboration tools for workers in different companies.

• September 08, 2017 08 Sep'17

  Intermedia expands UCaaS platform with AnyMeeting acquisition

  In UC news, Intermedia gains web conferencing and webinar technology with its AnyMeeting acquisition, while VOSS adds features to its UC analytics service.

• September 07, 2017 07 Sep'17

  Atlassian Stride UCaaS product marks the end of HipChat

  Atlassian Stride, a new UCaaS product, is expected to eventually replace the Atlassian HipChat team messaging application. The new product is expected to compete with Cisco, Microsoft and Slack.

• August 31, 2017 31 Aug'17

  Streaming video platforms see surge in healthcare market

  Analysts discuss streaming video's important role in healthcare organizations, the positive effect of AI capabilities on customer service, and how to evaluate mobile devices.

• August 25, 2017 25 Aug'17

  Cloud unified communications use drops amid large enterprises

  Large enterprises still favor on-premises services over cloud-based UC, according to a recent study. Meanwhile, Vyopta launches a UCC monitoring service to optimize the user experience.

• August 22, 2017 22 Aug'17

  Cisco Spark app gets features for regulated organizations

  The Cisco Spark app now includes better content protection and control. Enterprises also have the option of having an on-premises version of the Spark encryption key server.

• August 17, 2017 17 Aug'17

  Avaya bankruptcy damage to haunt vendor in UC market

  The Avaya bankruptcy has hurt the vendor's standing in the UC market. Reversing the harm depends on building strong sales, marketing and partner operations.

• August 17, 2017 17 Aug'17

  Microsoft Exchange Online UM drops third-party PBX support

  Some Microsoft customers must quickly re-evaluate their UC strategy after the vendor announced its intent to end third-party PBX support for Exchange Online Unified Messaging in 2018.

• August 15, 2017 15 Aug'17

  Top UC providers widen their lead in Gartner Magic Quadrant

  Unified communications vendors Avaya and Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise stumble in the latest Gartner Magic Quadrant, as Cisco, Microsoft and Mitel extend their market lead.

• August 10, 2017 10 Aug'17

  ShoreTel acquisition boosts Mitel's CPaaS, SMB portfolio

  Analysts discuss how a Mitel-ShoreTel merger fuses two complementary portfolios that could create a stronger competitor against Cisco, Microsoft and Avaya.

• August 04, 2017 04 Aug'17

  AVST, Collab9 partner on UC platform for governments

  In UC news, AVST and Collab9 announce a partnership for FedRAMP-authorized cloud services, while two surveys find corporate email isn't going away anytime soon.

• August 02, 2017 02 Aug'17

  Level 3 offers Amazon Chime cloud collaboration tool as a service

  Level 3 has launched Amazon's Chime cloud collaboration tool as a managed service. The move could help Amazon compete with Microsoft and Cisco in the team collaboration market.

• July 28, 2017 28 Jul'17

  Mitel eyes hybrid UC with ShoreTel acquisition

  Mitel expects the ShoreTel acquisition to double its cloud business and help accelerate customers' migration to hybrid UC services.

• July 28, 2017 28 Jul'17

  Broadview unites meeting room systems with desktop, mobile users

  In UC news, Broadview Networks released a service that connects video meeting rooms regardless of location and system type, while InFocus released display wall processors for 4K screens.

• July 27, 2017 27 Jul'17

  Comcast takes Business VoiceEdge to Microsoft Office 365

  Comcast is providing integration between its cloud phone service, Business VoiceEdge, and Office 365. The extension lets users make phone calls from the Microsoft cloud-based applications.

• July 21, 2017 21 Jul'17

  Infrastructure, endpoints to drive UC tech budget boom in 2018

  UC budgets are expected to rise in 2018 as organizations look to update aging voice infrastructure, promote user adoption and extend UC into contact centers.

• July 20, 2017 20 Jul'17

  Unify OpenScape Cloud UC platform to rival Cisco and Microsoft

  Unify's OpenScape Cloud unified communications platform combines OpenScape Voice and Circuit in an attempt to rival UC products from Cisco, Mitel and Microsoft.

• July 14, 2017 14 Jul'17

  Microsoft partnerships boost Skype for Business capabilities

  Microsoft partnerships highlighted new products and services at its Inspire conference. Several partner companies had a keen focus on improving Skype for Business capabilities.

• June 30, 2017 30 Jun'17

  Avaya customer engagement platform melds omnichannel and APIs

  In UC news, Avaya announces a platform that combines Oceana and Breeze for omnichannel customer engagement, while a credit union deploys Vidyo for video-banking services.

• June 28, 2017 28 Jun'17

  Microsoft Stream lacks key video content management tools

  Despite its name, Microsoft Stream currently does not offer live streaming. The enterprise video service, launched last week, also lacks API support and analytics tools.

• June 22, 2017 22 Jun'17

  Zoom Connector takes video conferencing service to Cisco hardware

  Zoom is offering its cloud-based video conferencing service on Cisco hardware through its integration app, Zoom Connector. Zoom's service competes with Cisco WebEx.

• June 14, 2017 14 Jun'17

  Polycom camera focused on audio and visual innovation

  A Polycom camera has won this month's Network Innovation Award. The EagleEye Director II enhances video meetings with picture-in-picture technology and data analytics.

• June 13, 2017 13 Jun'17

  IBM collaboration portfolio boosted by XCC acquisition

  Analysts discuss IBM strengthening Connections by acquiring an intranet platform, Mitel's IoT and collaboration application, and the growing need for cloud-based security services.

• June 06, 2017 06 Jun'17

  Jive-Cisco partnership offers cloud voice services

  In UC news, Jive Communications and Cisco partner to bring cloud voice services to Cisco handsets, while Oblong expands its suite of immersive visual collaboration products.

• June 02, 2017 02 Jun'17

  Microsoft makes Skype messaging more competitive

  The latest Microsoft Skype messaging features bring needed improvements to the consumer app. But analysts say Skype for Business is unlikely to get the same attention this year.

• May 31, 2017 31 May'17

  Cost of collaboration systems unknown for many IT pros

  In UC news, two surveys find that IT pros are facing several collaboration challenges. Plus, Brightcove looks to extend its cloud video platform across the enterprise.

• May 26, 2017 26 May'17

  Genband-Sonus merger spotlights real-time communication tools

  In UC news this week, Genband and Sonus are set to merge; Polycom and Zoom combine forces; and Genesys updates its contact-center platform with artificial intelligence tools.

• May 25, 2017 25 May'17

  8x8, RingCentral tie for top spot in UCaaS providers report

  In UC news, 8x8 and RingCentral tie as leading UCaaS providers in an IHS Markit report, while RingCentral announces a new webinar service that supports up to 3,000 attendees.

• May 19, 2017 19 May'17

  Toshiba deal reflects Mitel's UCC market strategy

  As it acquires Toshiba's unified communications assets, Mitel says it is keenly focused on the UCC market, expanding its customer base and moving organizations to the cloud.