For this week’s No Jitter Roll, we continue our
Microsoft Ignite coverage with a slew of product and software announcements from the event. Then, we catch up on the latest happening in hardware subscription services, co-managed SD-WAN services, a mobile UC partnership, and a partnership to accelerate digital transformation.
Teams-Related Product Launches Showcased at Ignite
With many Ignite attendees onsite to hear the latest on Microsoft Teams, plenty of exhibitors took the opportunity to showcase their latest Teams-ready devices. Here’s a look at some of the announcements made during and after the show:
- Poly Announces Native Teams Capabilities for Poly Studio X Line – Following last month’s reveal of Poly Studio X30 and X50 at Zoomtopia, Poly this week announced that these devices can run Teams natively, as well. Additionally, Poly’s plug-and-play USB video bar, Poly Studio, is now certified for use with Teams.
- Sennheiser Expands Its ‘Expand’ Line – Sennheiser released EXPAND SP 30T, a Teams-certified wireless speakerphone with a dedicated Teams button.
- Yealink Speaks Up – Similarly, video and voice hardware provider Yealink released its CP900 USB speakerphone for Teams. The device also works with Yealink microphone speaker and microphone peripherals.
- Embrava Lights Teams Presence – In other device news, Embrava announced its presence Blynclight device line now supports Teams. The cube-shaped device indicates presence through a green, yellow, red, and purple light.
- Vyopta Gets Teams Support – Moving to the analytics side, UC analytics and monitoring provider Vyopta announced a partnership with Microsoft to provide metrics for Teams and Skype for Business.
- Nectar Monitors Direct Routing – UC network monitoring and performance management software provider Nectar unveiled Nectar Diagnostics for Teams Direct Routing, which provides real-time diagnostics on the health of a hosted Direct Routing service.
- Verint Bridges Financial Compliancy – Lastly, customer engagement solutions provider Verint revealed Teams integration for its Financial Compliance portfolio, with general availability planned in the first quarter of 2020.
DTEN Goes ‘As a Service’ With Its Hardware
Shifting away from Ignite, videoconferencing hardware provider
DTEN announced a subscription service, DTEN Orbit Service, for its all-in-one videoconferencing appliances introduced last month at Zoom Video Communications’ Zoomtopia conference.
DTEN Orbit Service provides an all-in-one videoconferencing appliance preconfigured to run Zoom Room software, along with asset management, 24/7 help, and remote maintenance. DTEN is offering the Orbit Service is two subscription packages for its Zoom Room appliances:
- DTEN ON –available with either a 55-inch and 75-in. single- or dual-screen video display with three cameras and an eight-microphone array
- DTEN GO – Designed to work with existing display panels, this videoconferencing device features three cameras, a 10-microphone array, and controller tablet
DTEN ON is available beginning at $149 per month, with multiyear options starting at $79 month, while DTEN GO is available for $79 per month or beginning at $39 with a multiyear agreement.
Verizon Adds SD-WAN Service Level
Moving over to SD-WAN news,
Verizon introduced a Co Management service level for its SD-WAN managed services portfolio, adding to Full Management and Monitor and Notify offerings.
The Co Management level allows enterprise customers to change SD-WAN policies (like application-aware Routing and quality of service) through the Verizon Enterprise Center (VEC) Portal or Verizon’s API platform, Verizon said. Additionally, through the self-service portal, enterprises can define intents based on users, applications, sites, and WAN links and then apply intent on different policy objects based on need.
The Co Management product is the first in a series to roll out in support of Verizon Virtual Network Services portfolio, according to Verizon.
AT&T, RingCentral Make the Call
In other carrier-related news,
AT&T has expanded its relationship with RingCentral, making
Office@Hand, powered by RingCentral, a lead UCaaS offer in its Voice and Collaboration portfolio. As a part of the partnership, AT&T and RingCentral will jointly develop capabilities and technologies that will further AT&T network integration, RingCentral said.
Nokia, Microsoft Collaborate on Digital Transformation
With the partnership, the companies hope to drive digitalization and automation through their combined offerings. Some of the benefits of the partnership include:
- Microsoft’s Azure, Azure IoT, Azure AI, and machine learning solutions can now be combined with Nokia’s LTE/5G-ready private wireless solutions, IP, SD-WAN, and IoT connectivity offerings, Microsoft said.
- Nokia Digital Automation Cloud (Nokia DAC) can be coupled with on-prem Microsoft Azure elements for secure automation.
- Nokia’s Nuage SD-WAN 2.0 solution is now integratable with Microsoft Azure Virtual WAN to allow branch to cloud connectivity.
- Lastly, Microsoft and Nokia are working on hosting Nokia’s Analytics, Virtualization and Automation (AVA) services on Azure.
In addition to these partnership offerings, communications provider BT will be the first to offer a managed service that integrates Microsoft Azure cloud and Nokia SD-WAN solutions, Microsoft said.
