Here are some of the key product releases, partnerships and insights that were on stage at UC Expo this year.

UC Today was out in force to speak to as many companies as possible and get the inside story from some exciting developments in unified communications. 

Big news stories from UC Expo 2022 include DTEN’s partnership with Microsoft, the release of the Poly Edge E Series, Callroute’s partnership with Coolwave, Avocor’s CollabTouch launch, and more. 

DTEN Announces Partnership with Microsoft 

DTEN announced its partnership with Microsoft, which Andrew Bisset, Country Manager, UK&I, Nordics & Africa at DTEN, said is “a huge milestone, probably the biggest news we have been able to announce for quite some time”. 

At the same time, DTEN is also pursuing Microsoft Teams certifications for its most popular devices. Bisset told UC Today, “we are already quite far through the process of product certification”. 

UC Today spoke to Bisset about the new partnership at UC Expo 2022: 

 Wei Liu, Founder and CEO of DTEN, said: “As DTEN solutions are increasingly more recognized in the marketplace, demand has steadily grown for cross-platform solutions. 

“To better serve our customers and advance solutions for the hybrid workplace, we are entering the process to certify select DTEN devices for Microsoft Teams.” 

“DTEN is built on the fundamental idea that collaboration should always be natural, immersive and meaningful. 

“We are pleased our signature DTEN experience will be available to more users than ever.” 

The company is currently seeking Teams certifications for its D7X 55” All-in-One Android device for Teams Rooms on Android, Teams Rooms certification for Windows for Teams Rooms on Windows, and Teams display devices. 

RingCentral Talks AI

RingCentral recently released new AI Video features on both RingCentral Video and RingCentral MVP. 

The AI Video features include RingCentral Whiteboard, live transcription, advanced meeting insights, remote desktop control, noise reduction, and reactions. 

UC Today spoke to Amir Hameed, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Solution Sales and Engineering at Ringcentral about the benefits of AI: 

Kira Makagon, Chief Innovation Officer for RingCentral, said: “One of our innovation goals is to make hybrid work simpler by delivering best-in-class video meeting capabilities.  

“Our prior investments in AI, including RingCentral’s 2020 acquisition of Deep Affects, are unlocking new added value for customers and allowing us to deliver new capabilities that can’t be matched.  

“Many of us are spending countless hours in meetings, and both automation and AI have the potential to increase efficiency, support better productivity and collaboration – all while reducing meeting fatigue.”   

RingCentral MVP recently hit five million paid seats and the company has also doubled its strategic partner seats. 

Poly Edge E Series Release 

Three major news items converged for Poly at UC Expo 2022. The first was the launch of its new desk phones, the Poly Edge E Series. 

During the conference, Poly was able to announce that the Poly Edge E Series had received a Zoom Phone certification. 

The company is also expecting its Poly Studio X70 video bar receive a Teams certification in November and the Poly Studio X30 and X50 video bars have been re-certified by Teams. 

Shortly before the news of the Zoom Phone’s certification of the Poly Edge E Series, UC Today spoke to Gavin Sear, Director, Theatre Product Marketing at Poly about the key features of the desk phones: 

Helen Hawthorn, Head of Solutions Engineering, EMEA at Zoom, said: “We are delighted to be adding Poly’s Edge E Series smart desk phones to our growing portfolio of Zoom-certified devices.   

“We are always looking to make a difference in our customers’ hybrid working experience when using Zoom, whether in the office buildings or employees’ home offices.   

“With Zoom Phone certification, companies can easily deploy, manage and use Poly smart devices for maximum productivity outcomes.”   

HP acquired Poly in August this year for $3.3bn to add value and create new growth for HP. 

Callroute Partners with Coolwave 

Shortly before UC Expo 2022, Callroute partnered with Coolwave Communications to offer customers automated provisioning of voice services on UCaaS and CCaaS platforms. 

The partnership enables businesses to connect Coolwave’s SIP trunking to Microsoft Teams and Webex, using Callroute’s Bring Your Own Carrier (BYOC) offering and without the need for any additional physical infrastructure. 

UC Today spoke to Ewan Haig, CEO of Callroute at UC Expo 2022 to find out more about its BYOC offering: 

 

 

Speaking about its new partnership with Callroute, Ronan Higgins, Commercial Director at Coolwave Communications, said: “Coolwave is very excited to be supporting Callroute in delivering global SIP solutions. 

“Callroute has developed an advanced call routing, number management and user provisioning solution, allowing you to connect any phone system and service provider together, without the need for infrastructure or deep technical knowledge. 

“Together, we are making it simple for all kinds of businesses to optimise and grow their UCaaS, CCaaS and CPaaS platforms with BYOC and automated voice services, helping to accelerate their services for customers.” 

Callroute provides PSTN integration with UCaaS and CCaaS platforms, plus traditional, on-premises telephony equipment. It uses a self-serve portal to automate deployment, which enables customers to get connected in a matter of minutes – or less than two minutes “with dodgy WiFi”, according to Haig. 

Avocor Lauches CollabTouch with Logitech 

Avocor announced its partnership with Logitech, which combines Avocor’s interactive displays with Logitech’s meeting room peripherals. 

The CollabTouch comprises the Avocor E and G series displays and Logitech’s Rally Bar and Rally Bar Mini. The solution can be adapted to seven room configurations, depending on the size of the room. 

UC Today spoke to Rylan Ramakrishnan, Technical Sales Engineer at Avocor about the CollabTouch and its L Series: 

Dana Corey, SVP and GM at Avocor, said: “The current popularity of hybrid working has made team collaboration the foundation of ongoing business success.   

“For this reason, having a meeting room equipped to deliver a great experience for remote and in-person attendees is essential for full participant engagement.   

Our new CollabTouch solution powered by Logitech video collaboration room kits makes choosing the right hardware simple – the individual packages can be customised to any environment, and each works seamlessly with the software application of choice.”    

Logitech describes the CollabTouch as a high-quality out-of-the-box solution which is easy to install and easy to use. 

GoTo Rebrand and Essentials Launch 

In August, GoTo launched its Essentials bundle, which brings together GoTo Connect Standard and GoTo Resolve Standard. The result is an all-in-one unified experience, combining phone, messaging, meetings, and IT helpdesk. 

Earlier on in the year, the company rebranded from LogMeIn to GoTo, which it did around the same time as launching GoTo Connect and GoTo Resolve. 

UC Today spoke to Joseph Walsh, Senior Director, Global Marketing at GoTo about the company’s recent rebrand and how its launch of Connect and Resolve has gone so far: 

Paddy Srinivasan, Chief Executive Officer, GoTo, said: “When we launched GoTo Resolve earlier this year, we knew that it would quickly become complementary to our existing communication product, GoTo Connect. 

“We see both IT support and communications as necessary products to keep a business running and employees and customers engaged, yet no one else is bringing together this functionality in a single experience for SMBs. 

“Earlier this year we introduced a unified admin system and today we are excited to further deliver on our vision by bringing helpdesk ticketing into the GoTo Connect experience at no additional cost. 

“Over time, these two essential products will continue to come together so both end users and IT teams can maximize their productivity in our all-in-one business communications and IT support platform.” 

In August, GoTo appointed a new CEO, Paddy Srinivasan, to accelerate innovation and growth. 

Jabra Showcases Teams Meeting Room System

In August this year, Jabra and Lenovo collaborated to provide a hybrid working meeting room system for Microsoft Teams Rooms. 

The room system is comprised of the Jabra PanaCast 50 and the Lenovo ThinkSmart CoreKit. It is designed to convert conference rooms into hybrid workplaces. 

UC Today spoke to Nigel Dunn, Managing Director at Jabra about its Teams Meetings Room and more. 

Aurangzeb Khan, SVP of Intelligent Vision Systems at Jabra, said: “The typical meeting is not what it used to be, and it’s time for meeting room technology to catch up.  

“We’re delighted to unite the PanaCast 50’s unique capabilities with Lenovo’s innovative solutions to equip offices with solutions to foster inclusive and interactive meetings for everyone, regardless of where they are.  

“The system works at the touch of a button and can connect employees seamlessly whether they’re in-person or connecting from home.” 

Recently, Jabra released earbuds designed for remote working, which expands its Connect line.

 

 



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