Cloud Communications News & Updates

Avant’s analysis reveals that while Microsoft Teams has around 320 million active users, only 80 million (25%) use its voice calling features, and just 20 million are PSTN-enabled—meaning they have both a Microsoft Phone System license and a calling plan. This suggests that many organizations using Teams are not fully leveraging its enterprise-grade voice capabilities.

The report highlights that Microsoft Teams Voice, while popular, often lacks the advanced telephony features that businesses need, such as call center functionalities, compliance requirements, and global coverage. As a result, many companies seek third-party integrations or alternative UCaaS solutions to enhance their Teams calling experience.

Avant recommends that businesses looking for a more robust voice solution explore Direct Routing or Operator Connect, which enable them to integrate Teams with external voice providers, offering better call quality, cost savings, and enhanced features. The findings underscore a growing opportunity for solution providers to help businesses optimize their Microsoft Teams Voice experience. Read more at Channel Futures.

Gartner predicts that by 2029, agentic AI will autonomously resolve 80% of common customer service issues, improving efficiency and reducing costs. Companies like Johnson & Johnson, Moody’s, eBay, Deutsche Telekom, and Cosentino are already integrating AI agents for tasks like drug discovery, financial analysis, marketing, and customer service. While promising, these advancements require strong oversight to mitigate cybersecurity risks and biases. Learn more at Gartner.

Companies using Microsoft 365 are advised to exercise caution, as the default Teams configuration allows external individuals to contact internal staff, a feature exploited by these attackers.

Hackers are impersonating remote IT support staff on Microsoft Teams to infiltrate company networks and deploy ransomware. Their method involves overwhelming employees with up to 3,000 spam emails within an hour, then contacting them via Teams, posing as IT personnel offering assistance. Once granted remote access, they install ransomware that freezes the network and extracts data, demanding cryptocurrency payments for restoration. UK-based cybersecurity firm Sophos has identified 15 such incidents in the past three months, attributing them to Russian cybercrime groups Fin7 and Storm-1811. More information at The Times.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has announced plans to discontinue its unified communications service, Amazon Chime. The service will cease accepting new customers on February 19, 2025, and full support will end on February 20, 2026. Existing users can continue to utilize Chime’s features, including Business Calling, meeting scheduling, and user management, until the termination date. AWS recommends that customers transition to alternative collaboration solutions such as AWS Wickr, Zoom, Cisco Webex, or Slack. Notably, this decision does not affect the availability of the Amazon Chime SDK service. Details are available via an AWS Blog post.

This move reflects a broader trend of consolidation within the Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) market. The discontinuation of Chime underscores the increasing commoditization of UCaaS platforms, where enterprises are gravitating towards solutions offering deep integrations, AI-powered enhancements, and comprehensive ecosystems. Providers like Microsoft and Zoom have gained traction by embedding advanced capabilities such as AI assistants, workflow automation, and robust third-party integrations—areas where AWS did not heavily invest for Chime.

For businesses and IT leaders, AWS’s decision signals a potential shift towards more integrated and feature-rich UCaaS platforms, prompting a reevaluation of current communication tools to align with evolving market offerings. More information is available at UC Today.

RingCentral has introduced the AI Receptionist (AIR), an integrated AI phone agent designed to automate customer interactions and ensure businesses never miss a call. Built directly into RingCentral’s business phone system, AIR offers features such as instant call answering with natural conversations, handling routine inquiries without human intervention, intelligent routing of complex calls based on context, and appointment scheduling with SMS follow-ups. This seamless integration allows for quick setup without the need for additional software. Businesses adopting AIR have reported significant improvements, including a 50% reduction in time spent on inbound calls and a 20% decrease in calls requiring human assistance. Learn more.

NICE has introduced the “AI Value Calculator,” an online tool designed to help contact centers estimate potential cost and time savings achievable through AI integration. Users input data such as location, team size, average call/chat duration, interaction volumes, wrap-up time, agent hourly wages, and industry type. The calculator then projects savings based on industry averages, allowing users to set automation targets for their interactions. While actual results may vary, the tool provides a foundational understanding of AI’s potential impact on metrics like first contact resolution, customer satisfaction, agent attrition, average handling time, agent satisfaction, and onboarding duration. Stephen Davies, NICE’s VP of International Marketing, emphasized the tool’s role in demonstrating tangible AI benefits, moving beyond generic solutions to showcase real value.

cxtoday.com

Talkdesk has integrated its core contact center capabilities into Epic Cheers, a widely used healthcare CRM platform. This integration incorporates call controls and conversation management tools from the Talkdesk Healthcare Experience Cloud directly into the Epic Cheers interface. As a result, contact center agents can manage interactions within a unified environment, eliminating the need to switch between platforms and enabling a comprehensive view of patient interactions alongside their electronic health records. This development builds upon the existing partnership between Talkdesk and Epic, which began with platform integration in 2021 and expanded with Talkdesk joining the Epic Workshop co-innovation program in 2023. The collaboration aims to enhance agent efficiency and patient experience by unifying workflows and data within a single interface. Learn more at CX Today.

Avaya has announced that, effective June 30, 2025, it will require a minimum commitment of 200 seats for its Avaya Experience Platform (AXP) Public customers. This change affects all AXP Public subscription bundles, including “Digital Only,” “Voice Only,” and “All Media.” Customers below this threshold can either adjust their subscriptions to meet the new requirement or cancel without penalty by providing written notice before the June deadline. Additionally, Avaya plans to discontinue its SIP Trunking and Communications APIs (CPaaS) services, ceasing new purchases as of February 3, 2025, and fully discontinuing the services on April 28, 2025. These decisions are part of Avaya’s broader strategy to focus on large enterprise clients, which has also led to significant global layoffs and portfolio streamlining. Learn more at cxtoday.com.

A few months ago, 8×8 updated their brand to underscore their CX capabilities. Five9 has updated their branding to highlight its leadership in integrating AI with human collaboration in customer experience (CX). Chief Marketing Officer Niki Hall emphasized that the reimagined branding reflects the company’s commitment to creating seamless and meaningful interactions through AI-human synergy. The updated logo and vibrant color palette symbolize innovation and efficiency in CX. Recent advancements, such as the GenAI Studio and the Five9 AI Agent, demonstrate Five9’s dedication to leading in AI-driven CX solutions. The new tagline, “The new CX starts here,” underscores this focus. Learn more at CX Today.

DestinationCRM reviews the emergence of Rich Communication Services (RCS) texting as a significant advancement in business-to-customer communication. RCS enhances traditional SMS by introducing features such as multimedia sharing, typing indicators, read receipts, and interactive elements, providing a more engaging and interactive experience. With support from major carriers and its recent adoption by Apple in iOS 18, RCS is poised to become a preferred messaging platform, offering businesses opportunities to improve customer interactions through branded sender IDs, rich media, and interactive buttons.

Learn more at DestinationCRM.

DeepSeek, a Chinese company, has developed an open-source generative AI chatbot comparable to OpenAI’s ChatGPT but at a fraction of the cost—approximately $5.6 million compared to the billions spent by other tech giants.

Zoom CEO Eric Yuan discussed the implications of DeepSeek’s new AI model, R1, for enterprise AI applications. Yuan suggests that DeepSeek’s efficient approach could benefit larger AI companies by reducing their reliance on extensive GPU resources, thereby lowering training expenses. He also notes that this development might balance GPU demand across industries, making these resources more accessible to smaller companies. For application-layer companies like Zoom, Yuan believes leveraging DeepSeek’s efficient technology could lead to reduced model training costs and lower API fees, offering competitive advantages. Read more at CX Today.

UC Today’s Ultimate Guide to UCaaS and CCaaS highlights the powerful benefits of integrating Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) with Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS). This combination streamlines communication, reduces operational costs, and improves collaboration by consolidating platforms and minimizing training. It boosts productivity, shortens customer service response times, and delivers a smoother experience for both users and customers. The guide also underscores the flexibility and scalability needed to support evolving technologies and growth.

However, integration can pose challenges—such as compatibility issues or limited native contact center features in some UC platforms. The article stresses the importance of choosing the right vendor and planning carefully to unlock the full potential of these technologies. Done right, UCaaS and CCaaS integration enhances efficiency, engagement, and business performance.Read more at UC Today.

In 2024, Verint discreetly acquired four AI solution providers to bolster its customer experience (CX) automation capabilities. Among these acquisitions were Cogito and Fonolo, with the remaining two companies not publicly disclosed. Cogito specializes in real-time analysis of acoustic and lexical signals during customer conversations, providing agents with actionable insights. Fonolo offers cloud-based callback solutions, enabling customers to request callbacks during peak call volumes, which are then scheduled for less busy periods.

These strategic acquisitions align with Verint’s introduction of specialized bots designed to automate specific contact center functions. In November 2023, Verint launched 50 such bots, each targeting a distinct task within contact center operations. This initiative underscores Verint’s commitment to enhancing CX automation through targeted AI integrations. More information is available at CX Today.

Microsoft is integrating its AI-powered Copilot features into Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscriptions, resulting in a $3 per month price increase—the first in 12 years.

Existing subscribers can opt out and retain their current pricing without the AI features. The Copilot integration will be available across applications like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote, with usage governed by a new AI credits system. For unlimited AI feature usage, the Copilot Pro subscription remains available at $20 per month. Additionally, Microsoft is introducing “Personal Classic” and “Family Classic” plans for existing subscribers who prefer to avoid the price increase; however, these plans will not receive major new updates.

Users will also have the option to disable Copilot features within applications if desired. Learn more at The Verge.

Cybercriminals are employing “vishing” (voice phishing) tactics to target Microsoft Teams users, as reported by Trend Micro.

These attackers impersonate clients during Teams calls, using social engineering to gain remote access to victims’ systems. The attack typically begins with a flood of phishing emails to overwhelm the victim’s account. The cybercriminal then follows up with a phone call, posing as a tech support assistant and offering to “resolve” the problem they had triggered. This tactic exploits the victim’s frustration and urgency to fix the problem, tricking them into granting access or sharing sensitive information. In a recent incident, an attacker convinced a victim to download AnyDesk, a remote access tool, which was then used to deploy DarkGate malware—a Remote Access Trojan (RAT) that enables unauthorized control over the infected system. Although the attack was halted before any data was stolen, it highlights the growing sophistication of cyberattack strategies. This incident adds to a series of cybersecurity challenges for Microsoft, which has been enhancing its security infrastructure following high-profile breaches.

Read more at UC Today.