Big UC News From Microsoft, AWS, Anywhere365, and Tendfor

Microsoft Claps Back At FTC, Claims It Leaked News Of Antitrust Probe
Microsoft has clapped back against the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) following last week’s report that the regulator was investigating the tech giant, claiming the FTC leaked the news.
Initially reported by Bloomberg before being confirmed by multiple other publications, the FTC is probing Microsoft’s cloud and software licensing operations, cybersecurity services, and AI offerings.
Microsoft has requested that the Federal Trade Commission’s Inspector General look into whether agency management improperly leaked information about its antitrust investigation into the tech business. The tech giant is also urging the investigation’s findings to be made public.
Microsoft’s Corporate Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Rima Alaily, accused FTC management of leaking details about the agency’s antitrust investigation into the company on LinkedIn. She published an open letter on the networking website alleging that the regulatory body had violated its own ethics guidelines and had yet to distribute a copy of the mooted information demand document to Microsoft.
Alaily wrote:
Today, I asked, on behalf of Microsoft, the FTC Inspector General to investigate whether FTC management improperly leaked confidential information about a potential antitrust investigation last week in violation of the agency’s ethics rules and rules of practice. Ironically, almost a week after telling the press about an information demand supposedly issued to Microsoft, we still cannot obtain a copy of this document from the FTC.”
Alaila added that Microsoft “learned of this information demand, like the rest of the world, through the Bloomberg story” and not through the FTC. Alaila also claimed that the FTC, when contacted, wouldn’t confirm if the information letter even existed.

AWS Boosts Amazon Connect Contact Center Productivity With GenAI Upgrades
AWS has announced a swathe of new Gen AI upgrades to Amazon’s Connect Contact Center, intending to boost worker productivity and enhance the customer experience.
Among the new features unveiled at this week’s AWS re:Invent 2024 event are an AI-powered segmentation tool that identifies customers with corresponding interests, a capability that automates customer service task integration between Amazon Connect and Amazon Lex, and AI-powered tools for valuing contact centre performance.
“When we first came out, we were really a voice-only solution that focused heavily on bringing AI to the contact center [with] scalability, security — the things that are our calling cards for AWS,” Pasquale DeMaio, Vice President and General Manager of Amazon Connect at AWS, told TechCrunch. Pretty quickly, we were able to add more features and get to a bigger feature completeness. Now, we offer channels across everything from chat, email — coming out as we speak — and also SMS, WhatsApp, Apple Messaging for Business.”
Launched in 2017, Amazon Connect leverages AI to enhance contact centre operations by assisting agents in responding to customer inquiries, automating support ticket processing, measuring agent productivity, and efficiently managing other related tasks.

Anywhere365 Acquires Tendfor To Bolster CX Portfolio
Anywhere365 is expanding its portfolio of CX capabilities through its acquisition of Tendfor.
Anywhere365, an AI-driven customer experience solution provider and virtual contact centre for Microsoft Teams, has confirmed its acquisition of Tendfor, a provider of premium cloud comms capabilities for mid-market and large businesses.
The terms of the transaction have not been disclosed, and the acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals.
“The whole Tendfor team and I are proud to join one of the largest forces within the Microsoft communications ecosystem,” said Emil Emling, Founder and CEO of Tendfor.
We look forward to further leveraging the three drivers of growth in customer service: adoption of Microsoft and other hyperscale cloud communications; the growth of AI to augment and automate customer service through Agent Assist and autonomous Agents; and the ongoing move to digital, distributed, and hybrid work. We look forward to becoming part of the Anywhere365 family and continuing to delight our customers and partners.”
Anywhere365 asserts that the acquisition of Tendfor further accelerates its mission to ensure that every customer and employee feels heard, understood, and valued.

How to Delete Messages on Slack: Easy Options

Most of us have had a moment that left us wondering how to delete messages on Slack. Maybe you accidentally called a coworker “babe”, sent the wrong information to a client, or just messed up the spelling of a crucial word. It happens – particularly on a fast-paced messaging platform.
The good news? Not only can you delete messages on Slack, but there are multiple ways to do it. You can even just “edit” a message if you don’t want to start from scratch.
Here’s your complete guide to deleting messages on Slack, regardless of whether you’re using the web, desktop, or mobile application.
How to Unsend a Message: The Quickest Option
Let’s start with the quickest and easiest way to get rid of a message you wish you hadn’t sent on Slack. If you send a message to a user and you realize instantly that you’ve spelled something wrong or made a mistake, you only need to hit “Ctrl+Z” on Windows or “Command +Z” on a Mac.
This only works when you’re using Slack a computer, (sorry mobile users), but it should give you an “Unsend” option. Just click on that, and your message will immediately disappear from the chat and reappear in the chat input box. This means you can edit your message, remove any files you don’t want to send, then try again. Alternatively, you can just delete the message.
Notably, there are a few caveats if you use this method to delete messages on Slack. First, it will only work for 15 seconds after you send your message. After that, the “unsend” option disappears.
Additionally, you won’t be able to “unsend” a message if there’s something already in your input box, or you’ve switched over to a different conversation.
How to Delete Messages on Slack
If you were too slow with your “unsend” attempt, or you’re using a smartphone, you can still delete messages on Slack. By default, Slack allows any user to search for a message and delete, or edit it whenever they like. However, admins can remove this permission within the Slack admin center, so if you can’t find a delete option, that’s probably why.
Provided your administrator hasn’t prevented you from deleting messages, all you need to do is hover over the message you want to delete on the web or desktop app, and click the three dots icon. You should see a Delete message option. Click that to delete your message.
If you’re on a mobile, tap and hold the message you want to delete, then click the Delete message option and confirm your selection.
When you delete a message, it’s gone forever. Slack will delete the message for you, and whoever you were talking to in a channel, thread, or DM. However, there’s still a chance someone might have already seen your message (so keep that in mind). Plus, if your message was the first response on a thread, and people have responded, they’ll see a note saying, “This message was deleted”.
How to Delete Messages on Slack in Bulk
If you’ve noticed a bunch of messages you want to get rid of in a Slack thread or channel, you’re out of luck. Slack doesn’t allow individual users to delete bulk messages. However, you can potentially go through your messages and delete them one at a time.
If you’re on a paid Slack plan, you can customize your data retention policies. This means you can ask Slack to delete messages, files, lists, canvases, and other data after a specific time. For instance, if you want to eliminate all the messages about a specific project after the project ends, you can do that. Notably, Slack allows you to delete messages after 90 days and keep messages for a year (without tracking edits or deletions) on the free plan.
However, paid plan users get more options, like the ability to set custom retention policies. To set a policy, click on your Workspace name in the menu, then select Tools & Settings. Click Workspace Settings, followed by Message History, then Expand. Apply your new retention settings, then click Save. Remember, admins can override your retention policies with channel management tools.
The only other way to delete messages in bulk is to delete an entire channel. That’s something only owners and administrators can do from the Settings tab. Visiting the Settings tab for a channel, and clicking Delete channel will delete all of the messages and data in that channel automatically.
Notably, this is permanent, so if you may need to access messages and data again in the future, it might be best to simply “archive” your channel to begin with.
How to Edit Slack Messages
Just because you made a mistake in a message doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll want to delete the whole thing. Maybe you just need to update a spelling or change a word. If that’s the case, the easiest option is to simply edit your message.
Every user on Slack gets the option to edit their message at any time, on any channel, by default. However, just like your admins can remove the option to delete messages, they can restrict users from editing messages too.
If you still have permission to edit messages on Slack, simply find the message you want to edit, hover over it on the web or desktop app, or tap and hold it on the mobile app. On the web or desktop app, select the three dots icon, then Edit message. On the mobile app, you just need to tap Edit message when the menu appears.
Android device users can also double-tap a message to edit it faster. Once you choose to edit a message, it will appear in your chatbot again, and you can make any changes you like. Then select the tick icon or “Save changes” to send the edited message.
How to Stop Slack Users from Deleting Messages
Now we’ve shown you how to delete messages on Slack, you might be wondering how you can prevent staff from deleting or editing their messages as an admin. After all, maybe you want to make sure you can track everything your team members say comprehensively.
If you’re using a Free, Pro, or Business+ subscription plan, and you’re a “Workplace Owner”, you can customize who can delete and edit messages. Click on the workspace name in the sidebar of Slack, then select Tools & Settings, followed by Workspace settings.
Click on the Permissions tab at the top of the page, and click Expand next to the “Message editing & Deletion” section. Under “People who can delete messages,” choose which members you want to allow to delete or edit their messages, and click Save.
Enterprise Grid users can also set organization-level and workspace-level policies for editing and deleting messages. Just follow the steps mentioned above, but when you hit the Permissions tab and click on Message editing & Deletion, click Add policy. Create your policy, and then Save your settings to apply them to your workplace.
Stop Worrying about Message Mistakes
We all make mistakes, but sending the wrong message to someone on Slack can cause a lot of embarrassment and stress. It could even create a security issue, if you share the wrong data with someone who shouldn’t have it.
Fortunately, learning how to delete messages on Slack is pretty straightforward. You can undo, edit, or delete messages in a couple of seconds on virtually any device. Just make sure you double-check that your administrators haven’t restricted your permissions first.

What are Microsoft Copilot Agents? Unlocking Agentic AI

Ready to enter the new age of AI productivity? Microsoft’s Copilot Agents could be the revolutionary tools you’re looking for.
Copilot Agents are just one of the latest intelligent innovations introduced by Microsoft lately. When the company announced its AI vision and introduced “Copilot”, it didn’t just release an AI assistant and call it a day.
Microsoft has constantly built on its AI roadmap. Over the last year, it has introduced different versions of Copilot for specific teams and apps, tools for building intelligent workflows and bots (like Copilot Studio), and more.
However, Copilot Agents, covered at the 2024 Microsoft Ignite event, could mark one of the most impactful updates to the Copilot ecosystem for businesses this year. Here’s everything you need to know about Copilot Agents and Microsoft’s new vision for agentic AI.
What Are Copilot Agents?
Copilot Agents are AI-powered assistants that help users streamline tasks, minimize repetitive work, and unlock valuable insights. These Agents leverage the same technology (like large language models and data processing algorithms) used in Microsoft’s “Copilot” assistant.
The big difference is that Copilot Agents are specially designed to enhance the capabilities of Microsoft 365 Copilot within existing ecosystems, like Microsoft Teams and Dynamics 365. These agents can seamlessly integrate with the tools and workflows relevant to your business, leveraging your existing data and completing tasks across various apps.
For a while now, Microsoft has enabled companies to create custom versions of its Copilot assistant for specific business needs with Copilot Studio. However, at Ignite 2024, the company announced it was introducing new features for Copilot Studio specifically designed to enhance the creation of autonomous agents. Plus, Microsoft unveiled a selection of pre-built “out-of-the-box” agents, too.
Microsoft believes its new Copilot Agents will help businesses abandon legacy business apps and enter a new era of AI-powered productivity.
The Evolution of Agentic AI and Autonomous Agents
Copilot Agents aren’t just standard chatbots designed to complete one specific task at a time. They’re multi-faceted solutions that can work on behalf of a team to complete entire workflows. Microsoft believes these sophisticated agents will revolutionize the workplace. They’ll turn AI tools into flexible “team members” to augment and support teams.
Copilot agents will enhance productivity and efficiency in the workplace by reducing repetitive tasks and giving teams more time to focus on what matters. The agents will also minimize the risk of inaccuracies and errors in tasks that require meticulous attention to detail, such as customer support and project management.
Plus, Copilot agents will give team members more personalized AI experiences, learning from teams to offer suggestions and solutions relevant to each user.
Microsoft isn’t the only company that believes in the power of “agentic AI” as a future workplace trend. Zoom’s leadership team constantly draws attention to potential autonomous agents as productivity and efficiency boosters. Other companies like Google, Salesforce, and even Asana have also begun producing tools to help businesses access agentic AI.
Copilot Agents: Microsoft Out-of-the-Box Agents
Microsoft is taking a unique approach to unlocking agentic AI opportunities for modern companies – offering both an enhanced platform for agent design (Copilot Studio), and pre-built models.
Companies can create or use pre-existing agents to enhance various tasks and operational processes, such as:

Project Management: Copilot agents can summarize progress reports from team members, identify key milestones and potential roadblocks, draft meeting agendas, and assign tasks.
Customer support: Microsoft’s agents can sift through customer information and knowledge bases, draft responses to customer queries, and guide human agents.
Research and development: Intuitive agents can scan through research papers, patents, and industry trends to gather and summarize research, and create comparative reports.
Sales and marketing: Copilot agents can examine client businesses, competitors, industry trends, and clients to craft personalized presentations and sales or marketing strategies.
Human resources: Copilot agents can write and rewrite sections of an employee handbook, identify and suggest HR document updates, and track HR data.

For companies looking to unlock the benefits of Copilot Agents quickly, Microsoft’s pre-built options offer a low-cost and convenient way to experiment with task-oriented, context-aware, and proactive autonomous assistants.
Just some of the pre-built agent options introduced by Microsoft this year include:
SharePoint Copilot Agents
According to Microsoft, companies are increasingly reliant on SharePoint. They use it to upload and manage more than two billion files per day and create over two million sites. Now, every SharePoint site will include access to a pre-built Copilot agent.
These agents can pull project details from work schedules, summarize memos, and find documents for team members. The SharePoint agents can also be customized with additional data and triggers for in-depth workflows.
Facilitator and Interpreter Agents
The Facilitator agent, designed for Microsoft Teams, can add value to meetings, chats, and calls and enhance team productivity. The Facilitator will take detailed notes in real-time from each discussion, capturing every detail, summarizing conversations, and highlighting key discussion points.
The Interpreter agent, also designed for Microsoft Teams, enables real-time interpretations of conversations in nine languages. Participants can even ask interpreters to simulate their speaking voice, allowing for a more “personalized” experience.
Employee Self-Service Agents
The pre-built employee self-service Copilot agents save IT and HR team members time by constantly supporting staff. These bots can answer all kinds of questions and are available within the “Business Chat” section of Microsoft 365 Copilot. They can handle queries about everything from payroll data to vacation allowances.
Team members can even use the employee self-service agents to send requests to HR and IT teams, such as requesting a new laptop or access to an updated camera. Once again, you can customize this agent with Copilot Studio to meet your organization’s specific needs.
Project Management Copilot Agents
The dedicated Project Manager Copilot agent aims to enhance how teams plan, manage, and collaborate on tasks. It can automate the creation of project plans, similar to the AI tools offered by vendors like Asana and Anthropic.
The Project Manager agent can also monitor status reports and project progress. It can send reminders and notifications to team members and assign tasks to employees based on their skills or availability. Plus it can pinpoint roadblocks and opportunities in project workflows.
Dynamics 365 Agents
Microsoft’s range of Dynamics 365 pre-built Copilot agents, introduced in October 2024, address the needs of sales, customer service, and supply chain teams. There are ten Dynamics 365 agents to choose from in total, including options like the:

Supplier communications agent: Built to help companies optimize supply chains, this agent can track supplier performance, predict delays, and minimize disruptions.
Customer intent and knowledge management agents: These two agents are designed to enhance customer care for larger companies. They can work with customer service representatives to create articles based on customer insights. They can also share valuable resources with team members and clients.
Sales qualification agent: This agent helps sellers focus their energy and time on the best lead opportunities. It can offer insights into leads with the most profit potential and guide the creation of personalized outreach messages and emails.

Creating Copilot Agents: Updates to Copilot Studio
Microsoft says its team and customers are already discovering the benefits of pre-built Copilot agents. One of the company’s sales teams has achieved a 9.4% higher revenue per seller using a pre-built sales agent. However, Microsoft isn’t just offering pre-built solutions.
In Copilot Studio, companies can use a range of new tools to create agentic AI.
Copilot Studio already gives business leaders an all-in-one platform for building unique bots with a managed SaaS infrastructure. It comes with a low-code design interface, thousands of pre-built connection options, and instant publishing to Copilot, the web, and existing apps. Now, agentic AI capabilities in Copilot Studio allow all users to create agents within SharePoint, Microsoft 365 Copilot Business Chat, and more.
The Biggest Updates to Copilot Studio
New capabilities in Copilot Studio will allow users to quickly and efficiently create agents capable of completing multi-stage workflows. You’ll be able to build step-by-step workflows for your agents, allowing them to respond to various dynamic triggers. Plus, companies can now create dynamic “agent plans.” The plans allow you to adjust the underlying logic for each path Copilot agents might take with a task. You can examine the key steps, details, and systems involved in a process and edit them as needed.
With Copilot Studio, business leaders can also choose which apps and data stores to connect their Copilot Agents to. Plus, they can track agent actions in real time through an integrated activity tab to boost accountability and transparency. Business leaders can even manage all their Copilot agents with centralized controls within Copilot Studio.
Beyond all that, Microsoft gives businesses access to a library of agent templates to build agents in Copilot Studio for specific tasks. Users will also be able to upload images to Copilot Studio and ask multimodal AI systems questions about visual files.
Developers can even build comprehensive “trusted agents” for multiple channels using a new SDK that combines tools from Copilot Studio, Azure AI, and Semantic Kernel. They’ll be able to deploy these agents instantly across multiple channels, from Microsoft 365 Copilot to Teams and web platforms.
Maintaining Privacy and Security with Copilot Agents
Autonomous agents may be the future for many businesses. They give companies access to more sophisticated AI solutions that can boost team efficiency and productivity on a broader scale. However, there are risks in giving AI bots too much “autonomy”.
Microsoft is preserving its focus on responsible, secure, and ethical AI as it expands its agentic AI roadmap. For instance, organizations will have access to enterprise data protection tools and features that help them minimize agent risks. You’ll be able to implement data encryption, data loss prevention measures, and guardrails.
The data sources your Copilot Agents draw from will be protected by strict security measures and controls you can manage through your Microsoft admin center. Businesses will be able to implement comprehensive, personalized strategies for protecting sensitive information and oversee the lifecycle and use of agents across the organization.
Get Started with Copilot Agents
If you’re ready to explore the benefits of the new Copilot Agents, you have two options. Using one of Microsoft’s pre-built agents is the easiest way to dive in. You can find them within the app store for Microsoft Teams, other Microsoft 365 apps, or Dynamics 365.
Just head to the app store, click “Get Copilot Agents,” and browse through pre-built options. Remember that you will still need the right Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, and Copilot licenses to use some of these agents.
Alternatively, to create a customized solution, you can dive into Microsoft Copilot Studio and start building agents yourself. Learn all about getting started with Copilot Studio on Microsoft’s dedicated webpage here.

Introducing Philips ScreenShare for Wireless Content Sharing

Philips Professional Displays (PPDS) has launched Philips ScreenShare for wireless content sharing in classrooms and meeting rooms.
According to the professional displays and digital signage solutions provider, Philips ScreenShare enables secure and seamless wireless content sharing, which transforms teaching and meeting spaces without requiring any additional hardware.
The all-in-one presentation software solution has near-universal compatibility and helps to solve various challenges and limitations often associated with the technology.
Frank Trossen, Global Business Development Director Education and Corporate at PPDS, explains how the solution bolsters meeting equity: “With Philips ScreenShare, we have removed all obstacles to ensure every single person in the room has an equal voice and opportunity to contribute, whether that’s in a classroom, a meeting room, or the boardroom.
“Even the quietest person can enjoy their share of voice and present with confidence with Philips ScreenShare.”
Trossen continued: “Philips ScreenShare, paired with our evolving range of Philips Collaboration displays, and requiring no costly additional hardware or networks, creates what we believe to be one of the most secure, cost-efficient and feature-rich propositions in the current market.
“We are incredibly excited about the opportunities Philips ScreenShare will provide current and future generations.”
Philips ScreenShare: Key Features
Key feature of Philips ScreenShare includes universal compatibility, sharing controls, engagement features, shared content saving, ‘Connect as a Teacher’, whiteboard, and annotation mode.
Universal compatibility: Philips ScreenShare make it possible to Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) so that the presenter and more than 100 participants can simultaneously share content on the main display through their own device.
Moreover, the software supports content sharing from any device, connections to any network, and will also run on all operating systems.
Sharing controls: A full range of control and management features are available adjust what, when and who can share content. The presenter is also able to manage and present lesson plans of all file types via the Philips Professional Display from anywhere in the room.
Engagement features: To increase engagement, moderator mode allows teachers and presenters to connect to specific devices and individuals at any time, allowing them to wirelessly present and broadcast their screens.
Students and teachers can also interact with one another more easily thanks to GridView and an extended GridView, which lets up to nine devices connect and broadcast together.
Saving shared content: Content can be saved for connected users to upload u sing the shared items folder.
‘Connect as a Teacher’: Connect as a Teacher lets teachers invite connected students to share their screen.
Whiteboard: Philips ScreenShare doubles up as a whiteboard, bringing a powerful teaching tool to improve the overall learning experience.
Annotation mode: Presenters can also use annotation mode on their devices to make notes on top of the content already on display.
The fully GDPR-compliant solution was developed alongside DisplayNote. Its software has been utilised by more than 300,000 classrooms and enabled over 15 million screen shares in 2023 alone, PPDS observes.
Siddarth Gopal, Global Director Software Solutions at PPDS, commented on the inclusivity of the solution: “Technology should be open to all, with no individual left behind.
“At PPDS, we work hard to remove all the complexities and restrictions experienced by some of the other solutions in the market, ensuring maximum inclusivity and productivity, whatever the environment.
“With Philips ScreenShare, we are facilitating the freedom for people to present how they want, and for participants to broadcast their views instantly and securely.
“With twenty-eight languages and extensive controls and other capabilities, collaboration is made simple or effective.”
Last month, PPDS launched a plugin to connect the Q-SYS platform with its displays.
As a result, Philips digital signage, interactive displays, and All-in-One LED walls designed on Android SoC can now be integrated into the Q-SYS platform` via the plugin.
Also in November, the historic Nenuphar restaurant and hotel selected Philips Professional Displays (PPDS) to replace its paper-based posters with digital communications.

Humly Workspace Solutions Review: Simple Office Management

Managing the modern workplace is far from simple, particularly in a world of hybrid and flexible work, where the dynamics of your office can change from one day to the next. Tools like the “Humly Workspace Solutions” portfolio aim to address the challenges modern business leaders face.
From providing employees with apps they can use to reserve desks and meeting spaces, to enabling access to intuitive wayfinding, floor planning, and visitor management tools, these applications help businesses to optimize resource allocation, and improve workplace experiences.
The question is, how does Humly stack up against the countless other platforms companies can access with similar features and capabilities? We put this platform to the test, to uncover the pros and cons of using Humly for enhanced workspace coordination.
Quick Verdict: Pros and Cons
Humly’s workspace solutions combine intuitive hardware and software into a single package businesses can use to better coordinate their work environments. The easy-to-use ecosystem is ideal for companies experimenting with various flexible work scenarios, from hot-desking spaces to office neighborhoods.
Although Humly stands out for its intuitive software and hardware packages, it does fall behind some alternatives in certain areas. For instance, the package includes limited reporting features, no AI-powered tools to help with scheduling, and no help-desk or ticketing tools.
Pros:

Easy to use and convenient software
Exceptional hardware, suitable for all office spaces
Excellent interactive floor plans and wayfinding capabilities
Convenient integrations with platforms like Microsoft Teams
Integrated visitor management

Cons:

No transparent pricing structure
No integrated AI capabilities for scheduling
Limited reporting features

Humly Workspace Review: Overview and Key Features
Humly is a simple platform designed for comprehensive workspace management. It combines tools for desk and room reservations with visitor management applications, wayfinding tools, and floor plans. Plus, Humly offers access to various intuitive hardware solutions for the modern office, such as booking devices and room displays.
The company aims to give businesses of all sizes the tools they need to optimize resource allocation and improve workplace coordination. Let’s take a closer look at the key components of Humly’s workspace management portfolio.
The Hardware: Room Displays and Booking Devices
While most workspace management software can integrate with a host of devices from other third-party vendors, Humly is one of the few companies to offer a range of proprietary solutions. The Humly room display, for instance, is a streamlined and convenient screen that can instantly show users all the information they need to know about a room or space.
Using Humly’s software, business leaders can configure the display to showcase availability, capacity, amenities, and more. The solution even comes with built-in protections and security features to help improve compliance in the office environment.
Alongside its display, Humly also offers access to an intuitive “booking device.” This slimline system can be connected to a desk or meeting room, giving users an easy way to reserve a space or check in to a room in seconds. It’s ideal for hot desking spaces and office neighborhoods, where team leaders need to keep track of the availability of environments in real time.
Humly Reservations: Desk and Room Booking
Like most of the workplace management solutions we’ve reviewed in the past, Humly comes with a comprehensive “Reservations” app, which allows any users to book a room, space, or desk, either directly through Humly’s web app, the booking device, or Microsoft Teams.
Administrators can use the built-in control panel to highlight which spaces are available to users at any given time, and team members can choose from a range of booking options. For instance, you can book a space for an hour, a day, or a week.
Every user gets a comprehensive overview of all bookings and can make adjustments easily through the app. Plus, business leaders can integrate the system with their active directory and add guest users to the system whenever they like.
We would have liked to see some AI capabilities built in here, similar to the Copilot features in Microsoft Places, which suggest spaces to users based on their needs and available coworkers. On the plus side, Humly’s reservations app is very easy to use, even without AI support.
Humly Wayfinding and Floor Plans
According to Humly, office workers spend an average of 15 minutes each day just looking for the spaces they need. The company’s Wayfinding app helps to address that issue, making it easy for users to see exactly where meetings are taking place, and where they need to go.
The app automatically displays booked meeting spaces chronologically, showing you which meetings and spaces you need to attend first. Tapping on an upcoming booking will reveal information about the meeting subject and organizer, available desks, and the name of the meeting room. It also shows users exactly where the space is, with building and floor names and directions.
Plus, there’s an included QR code, so users can share their directions with friends, and instantly “check in” to spaces when they arrive.
Humly’s interactive floor plan application further enhances this wayfinding system. Business leaders can create fully three-dimensional maps that provide visitors and employees with all of the information they need about a given space. You can see occupancy and availability levels in real time, track where amenities are located, and instantly book any space with a single tap.
Visitor Management and Tracking
For companies with many regular visitors, Humly offers a convenient “Visitor” app. This app makes it easy for visitors to register their details with your company and ensures business leaders can track exactly who is in a building, which rooms they’re accessing, and more.
The straightforward application allows businesses to create custom “check-in ” workflows with terms and conditions that visitors can sign upon arrival. You can even connect the system to a badge printing solution and send SMS alerts to employees when relevant visitors arrive.
With Humly Visitor, all visitor flows are stored in a simple log, with contact details, and clear overviews of which amenities and spaces they used. Notably, though, there aren’t any included tools for collecting feedback from visitors through surveys or reviews.
Integrations and Analytics
As mentioned above, Humly is a little limited from an analytics perspective. It does give businesses a central control panel where they can track things like visitor activities, and which desks or spaces employees are booking most often. It can also offer insights into office usage statistics, and enable companies to set up real-time notifications and alerts for teams.
However, there aren’t any integrated tools for tracking employee engagement, collecting survey feedback from visitors or staff, or using AI for resource allocation suggestions. You also don’t get any in-built ticketing tools for keeping track of potential room and device issues, like you would with an alternative like Eden Workplace.
On the plus side, Humly integrates seamlessly with platforms like Microsoft Teams, Google Workspace, Office 365, and various calendar systems. It also has an Open API available for third-party integrations with things like workforce management platforms.
Humly Workspace Review: The Pricing
One of Humly’s biggest issues, from our perspective, is that the company doesn’t share any direct pricing details for its products and solutions, so it’s difficult to know exactly how much you’ll pay for the platform.
Every company interested in using the platform needs to contact an official Humly reseller and request a demo based on their specific needs. From there, Humly’s partner network will create a custom quote, generally combining hardware and software.
The good news is that if you are wondering whether Humly might be the right option for you, the company does offer access to an “ROI” calculator. This basically asks you for a few details about your workspace and calculates how much money you can potentially save by using Humly.
Humly Ease of Use and Customer Support
Overall, both Humly’s hardware and software solutions are very easy to use. The hardware is robust and reliable, and the software is designed to be incredibly intuitive, regardless of how much experience you have using workplace management tools.
It takes very little time to set Humly up for your business, and adding details about rooms, creating floor maps, and designing wayfinding systems is all very straightforward. Plus, there’s plenty of step-by-step guidance available on Humly’s help center to guide you through various steps.
For instance, you can find guides teaching you how to integrate Humly with your other workspace apps, configure your control panel, and customize displays. Plus, Humly’s cloud system makes it easy to leverage the exact bandwidth and computing power you need to manage your new software and hardware with almost no restrictions.
Unfortunately, Humly doesn’t offer a lot of direct “customer support” to end-users themselves. Instead, they rely on their network of partners to offer technical and configuration guidance. This means the level of customer support you’re going to get will depend heavily on the partner you choose.
Humly Review: The Verdict
Humly is a user-friendly, and convenient platform for managing office spaces, desks, meeting rooms, and visitors. It works seamlessly with the platforms many businesses use, like Microsoft Teams, and takes very little time or effort to set up.
However, compared to other workplace management solutions, which offer built-in AI assistants, advanced reporting and analytics tools, and even solutions for help desk and ticket management, Humly may seem a little basic.
It might not be the ideal option for larger companies searching for advanced systems to improve resource allocation and office coordination. But it could be the right choice if you’re looking for a simple system to help you manage the hybrid workplace.

UC Trends – Top 10 Predictions

Watch on YouTube.
It’s time for the 2025 UC Trends! Today, we are showing you our top ten expert opinions for 2025.
UC Today introduces ten leading experts in UCaaS and collaboration solutions who make their big predictions for the unified communications market in 2025.
Our contributors include the following:

Mike Wilkinson, Akixi
Patrick Kelley, Zoom
Jon Arnold, J Arnold & Associates
Gauthier Renard, Barco
Sandhya Rao, Microsoft Teams
Josh Blalock, Jabra
Brad Hintze, Crestron
Melody Brue, Moor Insights & Strategy
Paul Holden, CallTower
Craig Durr, Collab Collective

Thanks for watching, if you’d like more content like this, don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel.
You can also join in the conversation on our  Twitter and LinkedIn pages. Get involved by using the hashtag #UCTrends25.

Microsoft Teams on iPhone Carplay Updates: How to Chat with Colleagues Using Siri

Do you think you’re safe from Microsoft Teams meetings and alerts in your car? Think again. For some time now, Microsoft Teams on iPhone CarPlay has allowed users to make calls, join meetings, and even look up information within Teams using Siri, Apple’s smart assistant.
Now, Microsoft has upgraded this feature, as well as introducing new “Android Auto” options to enable anyone to join meetings, make calls, or even chat with team members on the move.
We recommend using this capability with caution. Don’t join a meeting or start sending messages to colleagues if it will distract you from what’s happening on the road. However, if you’re looking for an easy way to stay connected with your team and dictate messages during your commute, here’s how to take advantage of the feature.
Microsoft Teams on iPhone CarPlay: The Basics
Users have been able to interact with Microsoft Teams on iPhone CarPlay for a while now (since September 2021). However, Microsoft has made a few updates to the feature over the years and has taken advantage of new Apple CarPlay updates.
In 2023, Microsoft announced it was working on an update that allows users to join a Teams call directly from their vehicle using Siri and the CarPlay platform. The company also shared that it would be leveraging the new “Calendar View” feature in the Apple application to allow users to manage notifications within their Activity feed.
In 2023, Microsoft also shared that users would be able to dial into calls on Teams through the Android Auto platform, so you don’t necessarily need an Apple device to dive in anymore. Now, in 2024, there are a handful of ways you can communicate with your colleagues through Microsoft Teams on iPhone CarPlay (and Android Auto).
Notably, you still won’t be able to see video feeds on your dashboard – which is a good thing – you don’t want to be distracted by your colleagues moving around while driving.
How to Use Microsoft Teams on iPhone CarPlay
First, you will need a Microsoft Teams account, and access to the Microsoft Teams app (the latest version) on your smartphone. You’ll also, obviously, need a car that actually supports Apple CarPlay, and access to the app on your dashboard.
To start using Microsoft Teams on Apple CarPlay, connect your phone to your car using either a USB cable or Bluetooth. We recommend choosing the “wired” option to minimize the risk of connection issues when contributing to chats and calls.
Once your device is connected, you should see the screen on your car’s display with a range of compatible “CarPlay” apps.
Configuring Siri
Before you tap the “Teams” app to join a meeting, call, or send a message, you’ll want to ensure Siri is set up correctly. After all, using Siri is how you stay “safe” when communicating with colleagues through your car. You don’t want actually to have to look at your device and type.
The default setting for using Siri should allow you to use CarPlay with Microsoft Teams. However, administrators can apply configuration settings to profiles for MS Teams that block access to Siri.
If access to Siri is blocked, you’ll need to go to the Devices section on Microsoft Teams, click Configuration Profile, then select your profile, and click Properties. Choose Configuration Settings then Built-in Apps and turn off the option to block Siri.
While you’re doing this, make sure you’re allowing data transfer to any apps on your smartphone too. You can do this by clicking on Apps in your Teams dashboard, then App Protection Policies followed by your specific app protection policy.
Click on Properties, then Data Protection, and enable the option to send organization data to all other apps.
How to Make a Call, Join Meetings, and Chat with Siri
Once you have your device connected to your car, and Siri is set up, you can make calls, join meetings, and chat on Microsoft Teams through iPhone CarPlay.
Joining a Meeting with Microsoft Teams on iPhone CarPlay
You have two options to join a meeting in Microsoft Teams. First, you can manually tap on the Microsoft Teams app on your car’s dashboard screen and select the Meetings tab to view and join any meetings you have scheduled for the day.
The dashboard won’t show you any all-day meetings (unless you configure this in advance), but it will show you a progress bar for any meeting you want to join that has already started. Tap on the meeting you want to attend, and you can join instantly.
Alternatively, you can use Siri to join a meeting. All you need to do is tap and hold the side button on your phone and say, “Hey Siri” then something like “Join my next Microsoft Teams meeting”.
Placing Calls via Teams with Apple CarPlay
Again, there are two ways to place calls through Microsoft Teams on iPhone CarPlay. The easiest (and probably safest) option is to use Siri. You can activate Siri by tapping the Teams app on your dashboard or smartphone. Alternatively, you can navigate to the Calls tab on your display and select the option to Ask Siri to Make a Call.
Say the name of the contact you want to call, or you can use Siri’s voice commands to help you. For instance, you could say, “Use Teams to look up my most recent call,” then ask Siri to call the same contact again.
You can select the Speed Dial option to access a list of contacts on the Microsoft Teams dashboard app and choose the person you want to call manually. There’s also the option to tap the History button to see all the recent calls you’ve made and received. You can tap on any of the calls in the list to contact the same person again.
How to Send Messages with Siri on Microsoft Teams
The ability to send messages (or chat with colleagues) in Microsoft Teams on iPhone CarPlay with Siri is a relatively new feature. This just gives you another form of hands-free communication you can use if you don’t want to risk making calls or joining meetings.
To chat in Microsoft Teams using Siri and Apple CarPlay, just activate Siri after you connect your phone to your car and use a voice command. You can say, “Send a Teams message to [contact name] to initiate a chat. Or you can give Siri more instructions like “Send a Teams message to [contact] name saying [your message].
It’s worth noting that while Siri is an excellent, intelligent assistant, it might not always understand your message perfectly. If you’re surrounded by noise, for instance, your message could become a little garbled before it reaches your recipient.
Notably, Siri can’t read messages from Teams to you. So, you won’t be able to double-check if you’ve sent the right information (without any mistakes). Obviously, you shouldn’t do this until you’re done driving for safety reasons.
Will You Be Using Microsoft Teams on the Move?
The updates to Microsoft Teams on iPhone CarPlay mean anyone can now send messages, join meetings, and make calls directly from their vehicle. On the one hand, this is a handy feature, particularly if you need to connect with colleagues during your commute.
On the other hand, it’s important to remember that texting, calling, or doing anything that will distract you from the road isn’t a good idea. If you place calls and send messages with Siri on Microsoft Teams, make sure you’re in a safe place.
Siri ensures you can keep your eyes on the road. But it’s not worth putting yourself at risk if you think you won’t be able to manage your vehicle effectively when you’re in a meeting.

How Might Trump’s Mooted Tariff Plan Impact UC And Collaboration?

US President-Elect Donald Trump has repeatedly cited new tariffs as critical to his plan to reform the US economy.
He has outlined plans to introduce a blanket tariff of 10 percent to 20 percent on all imports, with additional tariffs of 60 percent to 100 percent on goods brought in from China. Trump has proposed that the goal is to identify a new source of revenue for the US government, potentially offsetting losses from reducing or eliminating certain income taxes while also extracting funds from rival governments.
However, several economists have highlighted that while this might offset the losses incurred from proposed tax cuts, the knock-on effect will very likely be price hikes on everyday goods. This is especially relevant for technology, where many hardware devices or components are manufactured overseas, including in China.
With that in mind, what impact might this proposed tariff plan have on UC and collaboration—for vendors, resellers, and the technology’s business users? With budgets being compiled ahead of 2025, what impact would significant price hikes for software and especially hardware have on tech budgets, deployments, and maintenance? And what would be the broader knock-on effects of those price hikes?
This remains hypothetical for the moment, as it’s always possible that Trump will either amend or retract this policy entirely. However, we can make several likely predictions and outcomes from this tariff plan.
Hardware Price Hikes
Many UC hardware devices, such as IP phones, headsets, video conferencing systems, and other peripherals, are either manufactured in China or depend on Chinese components. Higher tariffs—especially if they indeed land between 60 percent and 100 percent—would lead to increased production costs, which manufacturers would presumably pass on to consumers.
Due to the blanket 10 percent to 20 percent tariffs, even devices from other countries would see price increases. This could make enterprise technology procurement significantly more expensive.
What About Cloud And Software Subscriptions?
While import tariffs do not directly affect software, the hardware infrastructure required to support cloud services traditionally depends on servers, networking equipment, and components produced or assembled abroad. Increased costs for this hardware could indirectly raise subscription fees for UC and collaboration services.
Consequently, cloud platforms that run UC and collaboration software, such as Zoom Workplace or Microsoft Teams, might increase prices for their software subscriptions to offset higher hardware and operational costs, especially for data centres.
How Might Organisations Navigate This Challenge Aside From Higher Prices?
Vendors might shift their sourcing and supply chain strategies to avoid passing on the price hikes to consumers and the inevitable fallout that would accompany them too significantly.
Enterprises might try to move sourcing to non-Chinese manufacturers to avoid the higher tariffs, which could reduce dependency on China over time. However, such transitions take time and often involve higher initial costs. Meanwhile, alternatives to China, such as Vietnam or India, may not offer the same economies of scale, still culminating in overall higher prices.
What If Vendors Try To Absorb (At Least Some Of) The Extra Tech Cost?
UC and collaboration tech vendors might absorb some costs to remain competitive, which would likely squeeze their margins. Smaller vendors may struggle more than the more prominent, more established players. Tariff-imposed profit reductions and tighter margins could lead to what they frequently do: layoffs and restructuring.
To avoid just that scenario, however, the most likely outcome is that business users of the technology would likely bear the brunt of these tariffs via higher pricing for both hardware and subscriptions, which could impact IT budgets and delay tech upgrades.
What Potential Impact Could The Bigger Picture, Long-Term Picture Of The Tariffs Have On UC And Collaboration?
To reiterate, this is speculation about the likely scenarios rather than declaring with any certainty what will happen. It is possible that Trump doesn’t fulfil his tariff promise, and even if he does, it isn’t entirely sure that this is how it will go down.
However, historically, widespread tariffs typically contribute to inflation, which could further exacerbate price increases for enterprise tech solutions. Higher costs might prompt enterprises to extend the lifecycle of existing technology or reduce spending on IT.
What Are More Detailed Potential Strategic Adjustments Enterprises Could Adopt?
End-user enterprises can adopt strategic adjustments to mitigate the financial strain of tech price hikes.
Shifting to software-first solutions that minimise reliance on physical hardware, such as softphones and virtual collaboration tools, can reduce exposure to hardware price surges. Businesses may also extend the lifecycle of existing hardware through upgrades or refurbishment programs, delaying costly replacements.
Another strategy could be to explore partnerships with vendors that already source components from regions less impacted by tariffs or from within the US (with the major caveat of whether the devices or components are manufactured in the States). These partnerships could help manage procurement costs while leveraging volume purchasing or multi-year contracts to secure more favourable pricing.
Additionally, if business users haven’t already, transitioning to cloud-based UC and collaboration platforms can reduce upfront infrastructure investments. Enterprises could also prioritise budget planning, identify critical technology investments, and align them with long-term goals to optimise resources.
Finally, fostering vendor relationships that emphasise cost-sharing and innovation should enable enterprises to maintain competitiveness despite market disruptions.

Teleporting Into the Future – 2025, The Year of Seamless Migration?

Watch on YouTube.
UC Today’s David Dungay speaks to Mark Bunnell, COO at Nuwave.
In this session, we discuss the following:

The current migration landscape
Why some industries are lagging on their migration journey
How Teleport is bringing automation to the migration journey

For more information visit Nuwave.
Thanks for watching, if you’d like more content like this, don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel.
You can also join in the conversation on our  X and LinkedIn pages.

Still Stuck in UC Migration Hell?

Legacy systems aren’t just outdated—they’re draining your budget and holding your business back. Discover why staying with PBX could be costing you more than you think and how Nuwave’s Teleport is transforming the migration journey.
Key Takeaways:

The hidden costs of staying with legacy systems.
How Nuwave’s Teleport streamlines your move to modern UC.
Why automation is the key to reducing downtime and complexity.

Don’t let migration challenges stop your progress. Read the full story here: UC Migration Hell: Why Legacy Systems Are Costing You More Than You Think

Microsoft Ushers in the Agentic Era – ‘We’re Leaving Behind the World of Apps

At Cavell Enable 2024, Microsoft’s Taimoor Hussain, Global Business Manager, electrified the audience with a bold vision for the future of work, declaring, “We’re building an agentic world.” It’s a future where AI agents seamlessly collaborate with humans, reshaping productivity and connectivity at every level.
Agentic AI: Collaboration Reimagined
Microsoft’s roadmap is crystal clear: AI is no longer just a tool—it’s a collaborator. Central to this transformation is Copilot, the “UI for AI,” set to revolutionise how we work and interact. Whether it’s summarising conversations, managing tasks, or running Teams meetings, Copilot Facilitator is designed to keep teams on track and boost productivity.
The introduction of AI-powered Interpreter Agents takes things further. Imagine speaking English in a Teams meeting while your colleague in Japan hears you in real-time, in Japanese. Star Trek tech? It’s here, and it’s coming to Microsoft Teams next year.
The Future of Microsoft Teams
The latest round of updates announced for Microsoft Teams are nothing short of impressive:

Active Meeting Protection: Enhanced AI safeguards to keep sensitive information secure.
Live Transcription in 50+ Languages: Breaking down barriers for global teams.
Copilot in Teams Admin Center: Streamlined manageability, from provisioning call queues to automating complex administrative tasks.
Teams Manageability at Scale: Granular control through Admin Units, empowering organisations to delegate administration like never before.

Copilot as a Multiplier
Copilot doesn’t just enhance workflows; it amplifies them. From telephony to meetings, Microsoft positions Copilot as a multiplier for service providers, unlocking deeper business relationships and enabling richer AI-driven insights. By integrating telephony signals into the Microsoft Graph, Copilot provides a 360-degree view of interactions, weaving emails, meetings, and calls into a cohesive narrative.
Beyond Apps: The Agentic Revolution
Taimoor envisions a future where traditional apps take a backseat to AI-driven agents.

“We’re leaving behind the world of apps”

He explained. Instead, agents will act as our personal assistants, eliminating friction in workflows and connecting seamlessly with underlying services.
This isn’t a pipe dream. From booking a ride to scheduling meetings, Taimoor believes Copilot’s agentic interface will dominate both personal and professional lives, marking the end of app overload.
What It Means for Service Providers
For service providers, this agentic world presents both opportunities and challenges. With AI underpinning every aspect of work, Teams’ telephony capabilities will play a crucial role in creating the “full picture” that organisations crave. Providers must pivot quickly to leverage Copilot’s AI ecosystem, integrating its capabilities to offer transformative value to customers.
The Takeaway
Microsoft is betting big on AI as the cornerstone of the workplace, and service providers have a clear mandate: embrace the change or risk being left behind. With innovations like Copilot Facilitator, Interpreter Agents, and Admin Center AI, the tools are there to thrive in this new era.
The agentic world is here. Are you ready to build it?

Dive Deeper: Full Event Round-Up from Cavell Enable 2024
Want the full story from Cavell Enable 2024? Check out my detailed round-up, covering all the big moves from Microsoft, Cisco, and Zoom as they reshape the enablement market.
From groundbreaking AI advancements like Copilot Facilitator and Interpreter Agents to the rise of BYOC marketplaces and multi-UC strategies, the event was packed with actionable insights for service providers.
Top Highlights:

How AI is becoming the backbone of the future workplace.
Why customer experience is the new battleground for differentiation.
What the Big Three are doing to dominate in 2024 and beyond.

Don’t miss out—read the full event round-up here: Microsoft, Cisco, Zoom: The Big Three Power Up at Cavell Enable 2024