Welcome to the July edition of What’s New! This month, we are going through the rich feature updates from Microsoft Teams & Cisco Webex. With the goal of making meeting experiences more efficient and engaging for all collaboration users, find out how these new updates will impact you! We have lots of news from hot-desking to new meeting boards & e-sign approvals plus more.

Meetings

Multi-language meeting invite control

Multi-language Teams meeting invite control enables administrators to display the join information in meeting invitations in up to two languages across all email platforms. With this feature, you can customise meeting invites to include the languages with which your users are most familiar and comfortable. Administrators can apply a new policy in their admin portal by enabling the MeetingInviteLanguages parameter in the CsTeamsMeetingPolicy at the user or group level, or for the entire organisation.

Multitasking panel for meetings on iPad

iPad users will have an updated Teams mobile meeting experience via a multitasking panel. Users will see a collapsible right panel during meetings, which enables richer experiences such as chat alongside the ongoing meeting, faster roster views, and more.

Meeting Chat Bubbles on iOS and Android

Chat bubbles are now available for iOS and Android users. When chat bubbles are enabled, chat messages appear on the mobile screen where you can preview the two most recent messages. You no longer need to manually open the chat window within a meeting to see what participants are typing. You can temporarily turn them off in the current meeting by tapping on the snooze icon. Otherwise, you can also turn them off permanently by tapping on Don’t show chat bubbles on the More Actions (…) menu.

Give and Take Control for Teams on VDI for VMware and Azure Window Desktop 

Give and Take Control for Microsoft Teams is now available on VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure) for VMware and Azure Window Desktop. Give and Take Control allows a meeting participant to control the presenter’s shared content during screen-sharing. A presenter can give control of the shared content to another meeting participant to take actions such as present or modify files. Both the presenter and the meeting participant have control of the sharing. The presenter can take back control at any time.

A meeting participant can request control while another participant is sharing content. The participant sharing content can approve or deny the request. When the requester has control, they can make selections, edit, and make other modifications to the shared screen.

Devices & Teams Meeting Rooms

Yealink MeetingBoard 65”

The Yealink MeetingBoard 65” collaboration display, now certified for Microsoft Teams Rooms, effectively facilitates digital collaboration by combining everything in the room, from the computing unit to a wide 65-inch touchscreen display, 4K camera, microphones arrays, speakers, and built-in Teams Rooms on Android. By simply connecting the power cable, users can quickly and easily enjoy video conferencing and whiteboard collaborating, with remote integrated management capabilities for those working from home or off-site.

Poly Studio R30

The Poly Studio R30 USB video bar is certified for Microsoft Teams Rooms on Windows for focus and small meeting rooms. The R30 includes Poly DirectorAI technology which offers a dynamic camera experience that keeps everyone in frame at all times. Enjoy rich audio that filters out background noise so each participant is heard clearly.

Poly Studio P21

Poly Studio P21 personal meeting display is now certified for Microsoft Teams. Poly Studio P21 features an enterprise-grade display dedicated for Teams meetings, with a 1080p webcam, stereo speakers, and a microphone all built into one device that connects to a PC via USB cable. Additional functionalities include touch-control ambient lighting, a built-in wireless charging pad, a touch control bar, and the Teams button for answering or ending calls.

Chat & Collaboration

Microsoft Teams chat embedded within Dynamics 365
Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Teams work together to keep everyone engaged through a comprehensive suite of productivity tools. By embedding Teams chat within Dynamics 365, Teams users can now seamlessly exchange ideas and collaborate directly and in context right in the workflow. You’ll be able to link existing or new chats to your Dynamics 365 records, such as sales opportunities and service cases, for convenient access for all participants.

Open and edit PDF files in Teams

You can view and edit Adobe Acrobat PDF files right in Teams, removing the need to open another window which disrupts your workflow. This setting is in private preview and IT administrators can set Adobe as a default setting through the Teams admin center.

Updates app in Microsoft Teams

Updates in Teams is an out-of-the-box app that enables users to create, submit, and review all their updates, check-ins, and reports in the flow of work. These can be recurring processes that happen on a regular basis, like a weekly update, store opening, or facility inspection. They can also be in the moment updates that might be needed at any time, like a shift handoff, maintenance request, or incident report. Updates makes it easy for people to manage these all-in-one place. Users can also use the templates in the Updates app to get started and configure them for specific business or team needs.

Reimagined Workspaces

Personalised hot desking for everyone made possible by the new Cisco Video Phone 8875

Finally, a desk phone capable of adapting to everyone, with QR code registration to personalise shared workspaces. The all-new Cisco Video Phone 8875 is powered by Webex’s audio intelligence to remove background noise and amplify the user’s voice, and it offers calendar integration for a modern hot-desking experience.

Immersive Hybrid meeting experiences with People Focus – camera intelligence

In July, we are extending our People Focus camera intelligence with the release of our new camera mode, Frames, allowing for inclusive views in ANY meeting – whether that be Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, or any other third-party meeting vendor.

Immersive hybrid meeting experiences with People Focus – Webex App intelligence

In addition to Webex devices, People Focus now expands to Webex Meetings, and soon to Webex Webinars. Users will now have similar control and flexibility across different Webex workflows to ensure equal representation of participants in a hybrid meeting.

Flexible Workstyles

New Webex Calling experiences

Hear every Webex call clearly on any device

Webex Calling users already have access to AI-powered audio intelligence technology that eliminates background noise from the Webex Calling side of calls. We’re now extending this capability to PSTN calls with external, non-Webex Calling users like customers, partners, and suppliers. If a Webex Calling user hears distracting noise from an external caller, the Webex Calling user can eliminate the external caller’s background noise with a single click in the Webex App on desktop and mobile (coming soon), or on supported devices.

Manage multiple calls without the headaches

The multi-call window is a powerful complement to the Webex App that gives users the ability to manage up to eight lines, shared lines, call queues, or call groups. The user interface is slick and unobtrusive, so users can manage multiple lines while also using other applications. The multi-call window has Busy Lamp Field indicators for each line (shows if the line is in use) and provides users with quick access to enterprise calling features.

Rise to the challenge of local survivability

The multi-call window is a powerful complement to the Webex App that gives users the ability to manage up to eight lines, shared lines, call queues, or call groups. The user interface is slick and unobtrusive, so users can manage multiple lines while also using other applications. The multi call window has Busy Lamp Field indicators for each line (shows if line is in use) and provides users with quick access to enterprise calling features.

Webex Calling local site survivability, which will be available later this year, ensures that businesses can make and receive on-site PSTN calls during a network outage by leveraging proven Survivable Remote Site Telephony (SRST) technology on physical or virtual Cisco routers.

Webex Calling global expansion continues

Security and Manageability

Accelerate problem-solving with network visibility across all workspaces

Control Hub and ThousandEyes
With so many different work scenarios such as home, office, and remote identifying and diagnosing quality issues in a hybrid work scenario can be extremely challenging. With Control Hub and ThousandEyes integration, you can quickly isolate issues to understand if they are caused by the application, device or network. Learn how you can leverage this powerful integration:

With so many different work scenarios such as home, office, and remote, identifying and diagnosing quality issues in a hybrid work scenario can be extremely challenging. With Control Hub and ThousandEyes integration, you can quickly isolate issues to understand if they are caused by the application, device or network. Learn how you can leverage this powerful integration: https://blog.webex.com/hybrid-work/control-hub-enhancements/

Your Next Steps

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