Microsoft announced a new service called Operator Connect to help Teams users integrate traditional telephony services from managed service providers. The new service launches next quarter with several major telecom providers. This is one of several new services announced at its virtual Microsoft Ignite event, including also new features for Teams users and a first look at a potential hologram platform for meetings called Microsoft Mesh.
Teams Calling already allows organisations to integrate their phone service in the Microsoft platform. Operator Connect is a new operator-managed service for bringing PSTN calling to Teams. It allows customers to keep their preferred operator and contracts, with the managed service provider handling all the telephony systems and SBCs. Customers can connect quickly and assign phone numbers to users right from the Teams Admin Center and benefit from direct peering powered by Azure for enhanced reliability.
Qualified operators participating in Operator Connect will be displayed in the “Operators” tab in the Teams Admin Center, for customers to choose their provider. The service will start in preview next quarter with the initial wave of partners, including BT, Deutsche Telekom, Intrado, NTT, Nuwave, Orange Business Services, Pure IP, Rogers, Swisscom, Tata, Telenor, and Verizon. Several will also support the optional service Operator Connect Conferencing, which uses the same administrator interface to add operator dial-in numbers to a Microsoft Audio Conferencing bridge.
More Calling plan markets
Microsoft is also expanding availability of Teams Calling Plans to eight new markets beginning in April and completing by the end of June. The new markets are New Zealand, Singapore, Romania, Czech Republic, Hungary, Finland, Norway, and Slovakia, bringing the plans to 26 markets across the globe.
It's also expanded the list of supported SBCs for direct routing, with six new products certified in recent months. Direct Routing call minutes have grown 8-fold over the past year, and more than four times as many organizations are using Direct Routing to enable PSTN calling in Teams, the company said.
SIP Gateway solution for legacy phones
Microsoft also introduced a preview of a SIP Gateway solution, which will enable core Teams calling functionality on legacy phones from Cisco, Poly, Yealink and AudioCodes. Capabilities may include inbound and outbound calls, call transfer, dial in/out to meetings, device-based do not disturb and voicemail indicators.
Two new phones, the Yealink MP52 and AudioCodes C435, will be generally available by early April. These new form factors provide a simplified Teams phone experience with core calling functionality, at a more affordable price point.
Several new user features for Teams were also announced at Ignite. These include Microsoft Teams Connect, to collaborate with people outside the organisation on Teams and allow them controlled access to data and information, and new options for presentations, such as PowerPoint Live and a range of Presenter modes. Teams users can also now hold interactive webinars for up to 1,000 participants, while viewers only can scale up to 10,000 and by year-end, 20,000 people.
Call encryption coming
To further address our customer security and compliance requirements, Teams will get end-to-end encryption for one-to-one Microsoft Teams calls. IT managers will have full discretion over who can use the full encryption in the organization. the service will be available to commercial customers in preview in the first half of this calendar year, Microsoft said.
Hologram meetings with Microsoft mesh
To show where it sees virtual meetings going, Microsoft also demonstrated the new platform Microsoft Mesh during the conference. The mixed-reality platform powered by Azure and its HoloLens VR headsets allows people in different physical locations to meet and collaborate in the same space as holograms. Cirque du Soleil co-founder Guy Laliberte, filmmaker James Cameron, and Niantic CEO John Hanke 'holoported' to the same stage to show off the new system and potential applications like seabed researcgh and a Pokemon Go session. Microsoft said it aims to extend the technology so it works also on other VR headsets, smartphones and PCs, so anyone can join a Mesh meeting.
