Page 5 - Teams Q2 2020

2nd Quarter 2020
Ribbon’s Enhanced SBC
SWe Lite Includes Several
New Features for Microsoft
Teams Voice Calling from
the Azure Cloud
New enhancements include a Quick Launch Wizard from the Microsoft Azure Marketplace, support
for SILK high-quality voice services, Azure-based media bypass, and enhanced emergency calling for Microsoft Phone System Direct Routing clients
TeamsREPORT by Telecom Reseller 5
Poly Supercharges Microsoft Teams Experience with UC Headsets for Smart, Simple Collaboration
Poly adds to its Microsoft Teams certified wireless Bluetooth headset portfolio to help remote and office workers stay connected from anywhere
Westford, MA - Ribbon Communications Inc. (Nasdaq: RBBN), a global provider of real time communications software and network solutions to service providers, enterprises, and critical infrastructure sectors, has announced that it has made several enhancements to its Session Border Controller Software Edition (SBC SWe) Lite version 8.1 to make it easier for enterprises to configure Phone System Direct Routing for Microsoft Teams clients from the Microsoft Azure Marketplace and improve the voice calling experience.
Ribbon’s new offering in the Azure Marketplace, the Ribbon SBC SWe Lite with Azure Quick Launch Wizard, dramatically reduces the time to instantiate and deploy Direct Routing-related voice services for Microsoft Teams clients to a matter of minutes. The SBC SWe Lite version 8.1 also provides SILK media services to support high-quality Teams voice calling over low bandwidth/low quality network connections. SBC SWe Lite offers the availability of high-quality SILK media services at one- third the Azure Virtual Machines costs of competitive solutions, and Ribbon’s price points are uniquely suited to the needs of small and medium sized businesses (SMBs). To further improve voice quality, the latest version of SBC SWe Lite offering in Azure now includes media bypass to create a faster, better Teams client experience by keeping the media portion of a call local, versus inefficient media “hairpinning” to the cloud.
Microsoft Teams is a unified communications and collaboration (UC&C) platform that combines workplace collaboration capabilities, such as chat, video meetings and application integration. Ribbon is among only a select number of vendors whose SBCs are officially certified for Microsoft Phone System Direct Routing, a service that connects Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) or legacy networks and endpoints to voice calling in Microsoft Teams to integrate voice services and enhance security.
“As enterprises increasingly migrate to the very popular Microsoft Teams platform, many are shifting from premises-based PBXs managed by telephony professionals to cloud-based PBXs managed by IT staff,” said Tony Scarfo, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Cloud and Edge Business Unit at Ribbon. “As they make
this transition, Ribbon’s Microsoft-certified SBC SWe Lite provides enterprises with a cost-effective, easy to install, easy to use solution for secure IP-based voice services for Microsoft Teams.”
Scarfo added, “We are delighted to continue to grow our longstanding
relationship with Microsoft and are proud that we have the unique ability to deliver one of the most extensive portfolios of Microsoft-certified solutions for Direct Routing on the market to our enterprise customers.”
“The ability to make high-quality voice calls anywhere in the world is a critical
part of the collaboration experience for Microsoft Teams,” Nikolay Muravlyannikov, Principal Program Manager at Microsoft Corp. “Ribbon’s newly enhanced SBC
SANTA CRUZ, CA - Plantronics, Inc. (“Poly” – formerly Plantronics and Polycom) (NYSE: PLT), a global communications company that powers meaningful human connection and collaboration, has announced Voyager 4245 Office, a new Bluetooth headset solution with a Microsoft Teams-enabled option, further adding to Poly’s broad portfolio of Teams-enabled headsets and devices.
Poly offers a breadth of solutions with 15 Microsoft Teams-certified headsets and personal speakerphone devices. Corded Teams-certified options, available and shipping now, include the Poly Blackwire 3300 Series which delivers comfort on all-day calls with USB-C, USB-A and 3.5 mm connectivity options. For those who are looking for Teams-certified portable, personal speakerphones, Poly Calisto 3200 and Calisto 5300 speakerphones are designed with 360-degree audio to help turn any environment into a professional sounding space, especially critical as employees increasingly work remotely or from home office environments.
Poly’s portfolio of wireless Bluetooth headsets delivering high-quality, hands-free audio that are available today, with Microsoft Teams certified versions available to order in May 2020, include:
Voyager 4200 Office and UC Series Voyager 5200 Office and UC Series Voyager 6200 UC
Voyager 8200 UC
The Poly Voyager 4245 Office joins this robust lineup of Microsoft Teams certified solutions. The Voyager 4245 Office instantly invokes your Teams application to enable employees to experience high levels of wireless freedom, comfort, and audio quality. This headset offers versatility with three different wearing styles in one package: on your ear, behind the head, or over the head. Designed for intensive phone users, the headset includes a swappable battery for unlimited talk time, three-way connectivity
and a version with a dedicated Teams button. By connecting to deskphones, PCs, or mobile phones, the Voyager 4245 Office headset system enables a smooth transition from on-premises equipment to the cloud.
Voyager 4245 Office Teams and standard versions will be available in the U.S., APAC and EMEA in May 2020.
“Now more than ever, the role that clear, intelligible voice communication plays in
our work experiences is rapidly evolving,” said Christine Roberts, senior vice president and general manager enterprise headsets, Poly. “Poly’s high-quality audio integrated with Microsoft Teams enhances our ability to effortlessly communicate with our colleagues and customers around the world. The Voyager 4245 Office joins our comprehensive Teams-certified portfolio as part of our long- lasting partnership with Microsoft to enable user productivity from anywhere.”
With more than 44 million daily
active users, Teams continues to enable organizations and individuals to remain productive and stay connected – no matter where they are. And a recent survey conducted by Frost and Sullivan of global
IT decision makers found that 64 percent of organizations are already using Teams today, and an additional 32 percent are planning to deploy it over the next two years.
Poly will continue to enable Microsoft Teams users with its devices certified for Teams to propel seamless collaboration and communication worldwide.
To learn more about how Poly is innovating with Teams, please visit:
 Poly Introduces Poly Studio X Series for
Microsoft Teams at Microsoft Ignite 2019  Poly Doubles Down on Native Microsoft
Teams Experience with New CCX Business Media Phones
For more information on Poly solutions
compatible with Microsoft, please visit: https://www.plantronics.com/us/en/solutions/ microsoft
SWe Lite delivers several new features and functionality that will help our customers access Teams voice calling features faster, connect quicker and have a great overall communications experience.”
Other key SBC SWe 8.1 enhancements for Microsoft Teams include:
Local Media Optimization that allows
signaling to be passed from a centralized SBC to a local SBC so that media stays local and can be processed faster, creating enhanced voice quality.
 Validated Enhanced 911 (E911, North America only) and ELIN (Emergency Location Identification Number) capability, which prioritizes emergency calls and passes location information to the correct public safety answering point (PSAP).
 Multiple digital certificate support to ease migration to and deployment of Direct Routing.
Key Takeaways:
More at www.Poly.com. n Digerati Technologies Integrates its UCaaS Solutions
Ribbon’s enhanced SBC SWe Lite version 8.1 includes new advanced features that are designed to improve the voice calling experience for Microsoft Teams clients, including:
Support for SILK media services, providing high-quality voice capabilities for SMBs at a fraction of the public cloud infrastructure costs of competitive solutions.
 Media bypass in the Azure public cloud to avoid unnecessary media hops.
Local Media Optimization in the enterprise premises to avoid unnecessary media hops.
Ribbon’s enhanced SBC SWe Lite version 8.1 is available in the Microsoft Azure Marketplace with a Quick Launch Wizard that significantly reduces the time to deploy an SBC in support of Direct Routing.
Other enhancements include comprehensive Direct Routing emergency calling support and multiple digital certificate support for Direct Routing migration.
To learn more, visit rbbn.com. n
with Microsoft Teams® Powered by Office 365 for
Expanding Availability to a Growing Base of 44
Million Daily Active Users
...continued from page 2 million daily active users, T3’s solution
allows anyone from this vast user base to easily and quickly add T3’s UC service and telephone number(s) without the need for any additional hardware or software. This simple add-on, that is now available through T3’s Channel Partner program, will also allow existing T3 customers to integrate with Microsoft Office 365. For more information about T3’s Microsoft Teams integration, please contact sales@t3com.net.
Ken Ryon, Chief Technical Officer, stated, “T3 Communications has built its success on giving partners and their customers the service and features they need to grow and be productive. The
decision to provide Microsoft Teams integration is driven by our Partners’ desire to ensure their customers can keep the services and features they rely on daily, while delivering an exceptional end-user experience. We believe that T3 Partners have an opportunity to increase services, and do so very quickly, with this easy-to- deploy ‘add-on’ feature that facilitates a ‘stay at home’ work environment during the COVID-19 crisis. The T3 offering provides for robust work capabilities utilizing Teams, while also integrating quality T3 Communication services from any location at any time and on any device.”
More at www.digerati-inc.com. n