From the rebuilding of UCaaS platforms to video conferencing from inside a car, here are some extracts from popular news stories this week.
Microsoft Plots Teams Overhaul to Boost Performance – Reports
Microsoft is set to launch a new version of Teams in late March designed to significantly improve its system resource usage, according to reports.
- Microsoft Adds More Viva Engage Features as Yammer Retirement Picks Up Pace
- Microsoft Teams Monthly Users Hits 280 Million
- Microsoft Teams Round-Up: January 2023
The Verge has stated that sources claim the tech giant has started to test the new Teams client inside of Microsoft, and there are plans to roll out a preview to external users next month.
Insiders say the new platform is called Microsoft Teams 2.0 or 2.1 and that the new app should use 50 percent less memory, be less taxing on a device’s CPU and be more forgiving to the battery life on laptops.
These improvements should allow the Teams app to open faster and feel more responsive when a user is deploying key functionalities such as meetings and chat messages.
According to The Verge, Microsoft’s new Teams app moves the platform away from Electron and to Microsoft’s Edge Webview2 technology.
The publication also claims that Microsoft has moved to React, a Javascript library, and as a result, will offer UI improvements in the coming months.
The Verge’s report says that a preview of the new Teams app will be available to customers late next month, with Microsoft adding the option to revert to the current application should a user need it.
Organisations Need to Leverage Collaboration Tools for Hybrid Work – RingCentral
Hybrid working should be a joy and not a challenge, according to Steve Rafferty, VP International, RingCentral.
He made the comment during a chat with UC Today following a RingCentral study which looked into the attitude of UK workers towards hybrid working.
The company surveyed 1,002 UK workers aged between 21 and 65 to look into the productivity benefits of a hybrid working model over jobs based in an office full-time.
Less than one in ten (eight percent) of information workers told RingCentral that they want to be in an office every day, demonstrating the popularity of hybrid working.
As a result, Rafferty has highlighted that organisations need to ensure that they can give their employees a hybrid working environment.
He said: “A lot of organisations bought home working solutions during the pandemic, so there is a lot of pain at the moment around how employees can make the most of their working day whilst they are out travelling.
“There are a lot of challenges around that, and more than half of workers would change industry rather than working from an office.
“This is because of the stress of travelling to the office by braving the commute, which is really challenging in these times.
“Workloads have also gone up due to there being fewer people in the workforce because of the cost-of-living crisis, and there are high expectations on people over the amount of work they can do.
“So we’ve really got to help employers understand that there are solutions out there that make hybrid working a joy, and it shouldn’t be a challenge.”
As Rafferty mentioned, more than half of the workers surveyed (58 percent) said they would change jobs or industries to ensure they could work in a hybrid or remote working environment.
This is a trend he expects to see rise in the coming years, especially as organisations tailor their collaboration tools to suit the modern hybrid workplace.
Zoom and Webex Coming to 2024 Mercedes-Benz E-Class
Drivers of the 2024 Mercedes-Benz E-Class will be able to hold meetings via Zoom and Webex.
The motoring giant has showcased its new “Superscreen”, which combines multiple screens into a single curved glass panel that covers the entire width of the dashboard.
Using its new technology, Mercedes-Benz is allowing users to access third-party apps, including Zoom and Webex.
Video Conferencing from the Car
The details on deploying Zoom and Webex in the 2024 E-Class are slim at the moment; however, Mercedes-Benz did provide some insight into what users can expect.
