NewsUC&C1 Dec 2023 · 4 min read

Big UC News from AWS, Webex, Alianza, Microsoft and 8x8

AWS Announces New Collaborations with Webex and Alianza Webex by Cisco and AWS have expanded their partnership to improve worker collaboration and enhance…

Kieran Devlin

UC news: AWS, Webex, Alianza, Microsoft, 8x8

AWS Announces New Collaborations with Webex and Alianza

Webex by Cisco and AWS have expanded their partnership to improve worker collaboration and enhance the customer experience.

In practice, this means that Amazon WorkSpaces has launched new capabilities, including hosting Webex Contact Center and empowering Webex for Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI).

Webex Contact Center is empowered by the Amazon WorkSpaces Thin Client to streamline and reduce the start-up costs of a customer support agent. Cisco peripheral hardware, including headsets and desk cameras, is also now certified for Amazon WorkSpaces Thin Client. Webex now offers extended support for virtual desktops through a Webex plugin for Amazon WorkSpaces, improving audio and video performance for hybrid meetings and calls.

Muneer Mirza, General Manager of AWS End User Computing, said:

As an industry leader and a trusted AWS partner, Webex Contact Center by Cisco aligns with our vision of the Amazon WorkSpaces Thin Client. With a commitment to seamless solutions, we love the idea that customers can use the Webex platform on the WorkSpaces Family of services to ensure the best experiences possible.”

This week, AWS and Alianza also partnered to help communications service providers (CSPs) to accelerate cloud transformations.

The agreement between AWS and Alianza's CSP cloud platform aims to transform how CSPs deliver and monetise voice and cloud comms services. The ongoing digital transformation catalysed the agreement, with legacy voice infrastructure becoming outmoded. CSPs must decide how best to manage the next generation of voice and comms products as every organisation looks to move to the cloud.

The solution is now generally available in North America and has been deployed by more than 100 CSPs, including national operators Lumen, Viasat and Brightspeed.

Microsoft Seemingly Developing AI Therapist, Retires Microsoft 365 Browser Extension

Microsoft is seemingly developing an AI-powered therapist feature for Windows and a smart emotion-based journaling capability for Teams and Microsoft 365.

Microsoft had initially released a patent earlier this month, filed on November 7, indicating it was working on an emotion-focused therapy Copilot for Microsoft and Windows users.

"A method and apparatus for providing emotional care in a session between a user and a conversational agent," the patent read. "Artificial Intelligence (AI) chatbot is becoming more and more popular and is being applied in an increasing number of scenarios. The chatbot is designed to simulate people’s conversation and may chat with users by text, speech, image, etc."

Last week, Microsoft published another patent outlining its development of an AI-powered emotion-centred journaling feature. The patent for the emotional management system suggests it might be integrated with other Microsoft platforms, including Teams and 365 apps, as well as the Windows operating system.

In other Microsoft news this week, the tech giant is ending support for its 365 browser extension.

The extension, which has been downloaded by over 10 million Microsoft users across the Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome browsers, offers simple access to Microsoft 365 apps and documents through the web. The extension will be retired on January 15, 2024, and will be removed from the Microsoft Edge and Google Chrome web stores as an extension add-on.

Microsoft didn’t offer a reason why the browser extension was ending. However, it’s possible that it is trying to push users towards other ways of accessing 365 apps, such as the Edge sidebar.

Almost Four-Fifths of IT Leaders Now Deploying AI, Study Finds

Almost four-fifths of IT decision-makers are now deploying AI and automation, new research has suggested.

A recent study by 8×8 found that 78 percent of IT leaders are turning to AI and automation to address the current “permacrisis” — defined by the UCaaS and CCaaS vendor as “an extended time of instability and insecurity” — afflicting businesses in the UK.

8×8’s research, named “Permacrisis: The View from the IT Frontline”, asked over 550 IT decision makers of UK enterprises with over 500 employees on their books about how the current permacrisis has affected them and their IT teams. The report states it examines the ongoing impact of businesses functioning in uncertain times and how they are leveraging technology to adapt.

Chris Angus, VP, EMEA Contact Centre Engagement at 8×8, said:

The expectations of customers and employees have also shifted along the way, and digital technology has played a fundamental role in enabling organisations to adapt and show resilience. As companies now have more data and demand for real-time insights, the use of AI will go beyond customer engagement and be deployed to run more efficient businesses and provide better services and offerings."

8×8 said that 91 percent of organisations surveyed stated they were feeling the impact of the permacrisis, with two-thirds saying they had accelerated their digital transformation processes as a consequence. 94 percent of IT decision-makers surveyed said that their business is introducing technology changes to safeguard the future amid the ongoing uncertainty — particularly UCC platforms and services.

rate this story

helps rank stories across uc today

The discussion0 takes · attributed & checked

Does this reflect your experience?

opening the room…

Read nextordered by techtelligence · every pick explained

same beat · UC&C