Microsoft to Decouple Teams and Office Worldwide, Aims to Greatly Expand User Control Over Teams Notifications

Microsoft has confirmed that it will sell Teams and Office separately around the world.

The news comes six months after Microsoft first unbundled the products in Europe, intending to avoid an EU antitrust fine. That threat followed a 2020 complaint by collaboration competitor Slack, and the European Commission soon began a formal investigation of possible antitrust practices. While the antitrust ruling is yet to be declared, Microsoft clearly aspiresto get ahead of the curve.

After unbundling the products – first brought together in 2017 – in Europe, it cited “feedback” from the European Commission in its decision to make the move global.

According to Reuters, a Microsoft spokesperson said:

To ensure clarity for our customers, we are extending the steps we took last year to unbundle Teams from M365 and O365 in the European Economic Area and Switzerland to customers globally.Doing so also addresses feedback from the European Commission by providing multinational companies more flexibility when they want to standardize their purchasing across geographies.”

Globally, Microsoft will launch a new lineup of commercial Microsoft 365 and Office 365 packages that don’t include Teams – as well as a new standalone Teams solution for Enterprise customers.

In other Microsoft Teams news, the tech giant looks set to greatly enhance user control over notifications and chats within its Teams platform and across its suite of 365 apps.

According to a patent the Redmond-based vendor recently published, Microsoft is developing a system that manages which notifications and conversations are shown on users’ devices. This capability intends to support workers in focusing on urgent tasks and boosting productivity.

The level of control users will have over notifications and conversations will be determined by the message category, the category of each user device and the time when messages are received. The patent highlights the tech will be compatible with different portable devices, including laptops, desktops, mobile phones, tablets, gaming consoles, and AI-powered digital assistants like Copilot.

Cisco, Microsoft and Google Launch AI Upskilling Consortium

Cisco, Microsoft, and Google are among the companies leading the creation of a consortium to address AI’s impact on the technology workforce.

Cisco, along with Accenture, Eightfold, Google, IBM, Indeed, Intel, Microsoft, and SAP, spearheads the AI-Enabled ICT Workforce Consortium. This collaborative effort aims to evaluate AI’s impact on technology jobs and devise skill development pathways for roles vulnerable to AI.

“AI is accelerating the pace of change for the global workforce, presenting a powerful opportunity for the private sector to help upskill and reskill workers for the future,” said Francine Katsoudas, Executive Vice President and Chief People, Policy & Purpose Officer at Cisco. “The mission of our newly unveiled AI-Enabled Workforce Consortium is to provide organisations with knowledge about the impact of AI on the workforce and equip workers with relevant skills.”

The AI-Enabled ICT Workforce Consortium aims to address the urgent need for AI-skilled workers across business operations. Leveraging its members and advisors, the Consortium aims to promote inclusive reskilling and upskilling programs for various stakeholders, including students, career switchers, IT professionals, employers, and educators.

These initiatives are designed to scale up workforce skills for the AI era, fostering widespread engagement with AI technologies.

AT&T Unveils Cloud Voice With Microsoft Teams Phone Mobile

AT&T has announced AT&T Cloud Voice with Microsoft Teams Phone Mobile, a new mobile-first, AI-powered UC solution to empower the mobile workforce.

This solution seamlessly integrates an AT&T business mobile number with Microsoft Teams Phone, creating a single, flexible business identity for mobile, desk, and Teams. Users can work flexibly and securely from any location or device.

“We know that work now happens everywhere,” said Mike Troiano, Senior Vice President of Product & Pricing at AT&T. “AT&T Cloud Voice with Microsoft Teams Phone Mobile empowers workers both in and out of the office and puts quality of service, user experience, and enhanced security at the forefront, making communication not just easier, but smarter and future-ready.”

The solution intends to tackle the challenges of today’s digital landscape, prioritising scalability and mobility in communication tools. Addressing issues such as siloed phone systems, high costs, and complex vendor management, a modern UC offering like AT&T Cloud Voice with Microsoft Teams Phone Mobile aims to offer seamless integration and enhanced flexibility for businesses in the age of 5G and AI.

Brightspeed, RingCentral Partner on Premium Enterprise Comms Solution

Brightspeed has partnered with RingCentral to launch Brightspeed Voice+, a premium unified communications solution for enterprises.

Brightspeed Voice+ is powered by RingCentral’s business cloud communications offering to offer Brightspeed’s Voice+ customers AI-powered integrated messaging, video, and voice features from almost any device.

Jeff Lowney, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer, Enterprise & Wholesale at Brightspeed, said:

We are investing in creating a future-proof network and offering our customers the technology they need for their businesses to thrive in today’s highly connected world. RingCentral’s innovative solutions complement our suite of services and will allow our enterprise customers the ability to create a more efficient work environment for their employees.”

Leveraging UCaaS offerings alongside Brightspeed’s connectivity, RingCentral facilitates seamless modernisation of business communications and fosters workforce collaboration. Its robust suite of APIs covering voice, SMS/MMS, team messaging, video, fax, data, and configuration empowers businesses to revolutionise communication by enabling extensive custom integration with diverse applications.



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