From, quarterly earnings calls to top secret 3D video platforms, here are some extracts from popular news stories this week.

5 Highlights from Microsoft’s Quarterly Results

Microsoft has published its quarterly results amid a period of financial turbulence, beating expectations despite a slowdown in cloud growth.

Sales in the three-month period to 30 September 2022 grew 11 percent to $50.1bn.

However, against a backdrop of uncertainty, the vendor’s cloud unit reported revenue below market expectations. Sales generated from Azure, the heart of Microsoft’s cloud business, saw sales rise 35 percent against 40 percent in the previous quarter.

Guidance given for the current quarter was also considered weak by analysts, leading to a share price drop of six percent after the results were published.

Despite this, Microsoft Teams continues to see impressive growth. The Microsoft exec team picked out several highlights from the quarter to demonstrate the collaboration platform’s continued strength in the market.

However, Microsoft stopped short of releasing solid usage numbers, failing to provide an updated figure on the 270 million monthly active users it revealed earlier this year.

Partnerships and Hybrid Work Innovations Revealed at WebexOne 2022

Cisco has made a host of announcements to its Webex Suite during the WebexOne 2022 event.

Along with updates to the Webex Suite, the company also revealed a new collaboration device and partnerships to help expand its collaboration footprint.

Jeetu Patel, EVP and GM Cisco Security and Collaboration, commented: “Hybrid work is both different and harder than how we worked before.

“Regardless of job function – frontline worker, knowledge worker, IT admin or contact centre agent – people expect and deserve an amazing experience no matter where or how they work.

“This requires a holistic solution that only Cisco can deliver with its integrated platform across collaboration software, devices, networking and security.”

According to Cisco, the innovations have been designed to help customers navigate any challenges they face as offices reopen and give people flexibility over their working patterns.

Google Expands Testing of Top Secret 3D Video Platform

Google has revealed that testing on its Project Starline is set to be expanded through an early access program.

The project is a 3D video chat platform that uses multiple cameras and sensors to build up an image of a participant from different perspectives and present them to another participant.

The company has confirmed that Project Starline prototypes have been deployed in Google offices across the United States of America, with employees using the technology for meetings, employee onboarding and collaborating with colleagues.

Andrew Nartker, Director, Product Management, commented: “As hybrid work expands its footprint, how we work and collaborate continues to evolve.

“We’re continuing to explore ways to bring teams together and facilitate employee connection from afar through technology.

“That’s why last year we announced Project Starline, a technology project that enables coworkers to feel like they are together, even when they are cities apart.

“The technology works like a magic window, where users can talk, gesture and make eye contact with another person, life-size and in three dimensions.”

According to Google, Project Starline can increase employee presence, attentiveness, and productivity compared to traditional video calling solutions, with people describing the experience as a “natural interaction”.

UK Businesses Fail to Invest in Collaborative Office Environments – Microsoft

A Microsoft Surface report has highlighted that UK businesses are failing to invest in new, collaborative office environments that could encourage staff back into the office following the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to the report, more than four in five UK workers (83 per cent) say they find themselves in the same office environment as before the pandemic.

The study also revealed that around one-third (35 per cent) of IT decision-makers had been asked to consider if the IT in their office is fit for the workforce.

Alan Slothower, Surface Business Group Lead at Microsoft UK, said: “Too many UK workers are stuck in the same office spaces as before the pandemic; their organisations have made little investment in building a sociable and collaborative workspace.

“Employees clearly need more enticement back to offices than an employer mandate.

“The question for leaders is clear: Are our offices fit for today’s workforce, and will they really want to come back?”

In the report, less than one-third (31 per cent) of office workers said that their organisation has invested in technology to improve collaboration between colleagues.

Google and Zoom Partner for Interoperability

Google is set to launch embedded bi-directional interoperability on Meet devices and Zoom Rooms later this year.

It means that Zoom Rooms users will be able to join Google Meet meetings, and Google Meet devices will be able to join Zoom Meetings.

According to Google, this will be possible directly from a Zoom Room or a Google Meet device calendar “with the touch of a single button” or by entering a meeting code.

Dave Citron, Director of Product, Google Workspace, commented: “In the hybrid workplace, organisations are struggling to connect their conference rooms to customers, partners, or colleagues in different organisations due to platform interoperability challenges.

“To help overcome this, we’ve been working with our partners to give customers as much flexibility as possible to connect with people within and outside their networks.

“Last year, we launched bi-directional interoperability between Cisco Webex devices and Google Meet devices.

“We continue our support of Pexip for Google Meet so users can seamlessly join Meet meetings from a  wide range of third-party video conferencing solutions.”

As two of the most prominent organisations within the UC and collaboration industry, Google states that the aim is to make communication between users of different platforms more accessible.

 

 



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