Immersive Teams Meetings on the Way with Microsoft Mesh, Microsoft Changing Teams’ SIP Certification

Microsoft’s Teams-integrated immersive meetings offering Mesh will launch in public preview in October.

Initially announced in May at Microsoft Build, users can try out Mesh’s XR spin on Teams meetings in only a few weeks.

Users can join immersive spaces using either Teams or a custom immersive space in Mesh. Immersive spaces will be accessible initially through a PC or Meta Quest VR headset.

Nicole Herskowitz, Vice President of Microsoft Teams, wrote in an accompanying blog:

Microsoft Mesh is not merely another innovation, but a solution that enables your distributed workforce to connect like never before in a 3D immersive space, helping virtual meetings and events feel more like face-to-face connections.”

Mesh for Teams capabilities include digital avatars, pre-made 3D environments, meeting participants being able to choose seating positions, spatial audio and audio zones, and interactive activities for participants.

In other Teams news this week, Microsoft is changing Teams’ SIP certificate at the start of October.

Teams is being switched to the new MSPKI Certificate Authority (CA). After two successful tests on September 5 and 19, Microsoft will make the final switch to the new CA on October 3, beginning at 10 a.m. UTC.

The switch encompasses Microsoft Teams Direct Routing and Azure Communication Services Direct Routing SIP certificates. If an organisation’s Session Border Controllers (SBCs) aren’t aligned with the new CA, incoming and outgoing Direct Routing calls won’t go through.

All Microsoft SIP endpoints will be gradually switched to use certificates where the certificate chain will align with the “DigiCert Global Root G2” CA.

Meta Spends Millions to Scrap London Office

Meta has paid £149 million to end the lease on a London office, further signalling big business’s accommodation of hybrid work as high-profile companies cut down on office space.

Meta’s decision arrived two years after the tech giant committed to the 310,000 square feet of office space owned by commercial landlord British Land. Based at 1 Triton Square near Regent’s Park, the office space had undergone major redevelopment before Meta’s commitment was confirmed in 2021.

Meta had yet to move into the office space and had announced last December that it had been looking to sublet it.

The news broke after British Land had raised the point in a trading update, indicating that it would experience a short-term hit on earnings as Meta had broken the lease for one of two buildings the Facebook owner rents in the same development.

Amazon Partners with Anthropic to Bring Generative AI to AWS Customers

Amazon has announced a strategic partnership with Anthropic to open up its AI models to AWS’s customer base.

The collaboration seeks to utilise both companies’ expertise to generate safer generative AI, accelerate the development of Anthropic’s future foundation models, and make the models accessible to AWS customers. Amazon is investing $4 billion in Anthropic and will have a minority ownership position.

Andy Jassy, Amazon CEO, said:

We have tremendous respect for Anthropic’s team and foundation models and believe we can help improve many customer experiences, short and long-term, through our deeper collaboration.”

AWS and Anthropic are contributing resources to help AWS customers get started with Anthropic’s foundational models Claude and Claude 2 on Amazon Bedrock through the AWS Generative AI Innovation Centre. This centre includes teams of AI experts who will aid customers of all scales in developing new generative AI-powered solutions to transform their businesses.

Anthropic has been an AWS customer since 2021 and has become one of the world’s leading foundation model providers. Claude excels at holistic tasks, such as mature dialogue, elaborate content generation, complex reasoning, and detailed instruction.

Ericsson and Google Cloud Partner on Cloud RAN

Ericsson and Google Cloud have expanded their partnership to produce an Ericsson Cloud RAN solution that operates on Google Distributed Cloud.

The Ericsson Cloud RAN (Radio Access Network) product will include automation and orchestration functionalities.

“This partnership enables us to deepen and expand our valuable collaboration with Google Cloud, and it opens new opportunities for operators to utilise the benefits of cloud-native solutions and automation,” said Mårten Lerner, Head of Product Line Cloud RAN, Ericsson. “Ericsson remains committed to ensuring the adaptability of its Cloud RAN applications on diverse cloud infrastructures.”

The solution utilises Google Cloud’s artificial intelligence and machine learning to offer communication service providers (CSPs) faster delivery of services, increased efficiency, and greater flexibility and optimisation opportunities in their networks.



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