The curtain has risen on the 2023 edition of Microsoft Ignite, unveiling numerous innovations for organisations using Microsoft Teams for collaboration and communication.
Here is a summary of the key announcements to remember regarding Teams Phone.
• User interface improvements for Teams phone devices
User interface optimisations for Teams-certified phone devices, making it easier than ever to manage incoming calls, transfer and redirect calls, send incoming calls to voicemail, and configure busy-on-busy settings directly from your device.
- Busy-on-busy settings
- Predefined speed dial for the technical assistance centre (TAC)
- Sending calls to voicemail.
• Private line
Private line is a new feature for Teams Phone that allows you to enable a second private phone number for a selected set of users, so they can receive incoming calls directly, bypassing delegates, administrators or assistants. Calls to the private line are distinguished by a unique notification and ringtone. Private line will be available later this year.
• Voice isolation
With voice isolation, Teams recognises your voice and suppresses other noise to ensure that you are the only one heard during unscheduled calls and meetings. After a brief enrolment process, the AI in Teams will begin recognising your voice. While other solutions mask background noise, this is the only solution that also filters out other voices, making yours the only one that will be heard. Voice isolation will be added to Teams Phone and Teams Meetings and will be available in early 2024.
• Click to call
Now in public preview, the "Click to Call" feature for Teams Phone allows customers to easily reach your organisation, such as sales and support teams, directly from your website or application with a single click. Your developers can add, customise, and configure the widget to connect customers to a specific Teams user, a call queue, or an auto attendant, and the call recipient will receive the call directly in Teams.
• Shared calls
With shared calling, a single phone number and calling plan can be shared by a group of users, whether a team of 10 people in a small office or 10,000 users in a corporate department. Administrators can easily authorise users to make and receive calls in Teams, saving time during deployment and management, as well as reducing costs associated with the proliferation of lines. Shared calling is now available with Teams Pay-As-You-Go calling plans and participating third-party operator plans.
• Copilot with MS Teams calls
Copilot in Teams Phone harnesses the power of AI to enable you to work more flexibly and intelligently, automating important administrative tasks from a call, such as capturing key points, task owners and next steps, so you can stay focused on the discussion. Teams Phone supports both VoIP calls and PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) calls and is now generally available as part of the Copilot for Microsoft 365 licence.
For moments when you want to refer back to previous conversations, whether you are looking for additional details or nuances you may have missed at the time, you will soon be able to revisit past calls and query Copilot. Post-call support will be available later this month.
• Support for shared devices on Teams for Android mobile devices is now available
The Teams Shared Device licence now supports Android mobile devices, enabling frontline workers to make and receive calls via shared Android mobile devices. Advanced calling features, such as call queues and auto attendants, group call pickup, call park and resume, are supported when mobile devices are configured as common area phones.
• Shared Line Appearance enhancements
Enhanced shared line appearance features to deliver a more personalised experience for delegates and delegators. Available today, users benefit from a streamlined interface within the Calls application, and delegates and delegators can join active calls when permitted to do so.
Description here:[Microsoft Teams] Improvements to the call delegation feature for mobile clients
• Teams Phone Mobile offer expansion
Teams Phone Mobile removes the barrier that once existed between your phone's native dialer and your Teams environment, through a single professional phone number that works on both your mobile phone and your Teams application. This brings together communication and collaboration for a true definition of productive mobility. Teams Phone Mobile coverage now includes support in Liechtenstein via Swisscom and will soon support Telia customers in Norway. This is in addition to the list of available markets and operators: Canada (Rogers Business), Denmark (Telia), Germany (Deutsche Telekom), Sweden (Telia), Switzerland (Swisscom), United Kingdom (BT), United States (Verizon).
