Microsoft and Cisco both featured keynotes that laid out each company’s plans for AI in the workplace. We’ll get into each below. We also visited with Shure, Jabra, and Barco. Learned about leveraging AI in customer experience. Wrapped up the day sitting in with the HETMA crew’s panel discussion.
Cisco Unveils AI-Powered Collaboration
During his keynote address at Enterprise Connect 2024, Javed Khan, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Cisco Collaboration, emphasized the importance of technology, particularly AI, in enhancing the user experience. Cisco made several announcements at the event, including the general availability of Webex CX Essentials, a contact center solution designed for customers with specific communication needs. Khan also previewed upcoming AI features for Webex, such as detecting stressed-out agents and automatically summarizing interrupted interactions. The company shared insights from a recent study on hybrid work and showcased its newly renovated Atlanta headquarters, which prioritizes collaboration spaces.
Enterprise Connect with Teams
Microsoft announced a slew of new features and improvements for its Teams platform, with a strong emphasis on AI-powered collaboration and productivity. The tech giant introduced the Discover feed, which surfaces relevant content in channels, and Voice isolation, an AI-based noise suppression feature. Microsoft also showcased enhancements to Copilot compose, intelligent meeting recaps, and a new Queues app for collaborative call handling. The company announced a 99.999% uptime service level agreement for Teams Phone, along with new devices and integrations with Ford and other partners. Additionally, Microsoft unveiled updates to its Teams Rooms, Panels, and Bring Your Own Device experiences, as well as the initial release of the Microsoft Device Ecosystem Platform for Android devices.
Barco Awards
Barco brought their new ClickShare Bar Pro to the US for the first time. After being announced earlier this year, Enterprise Connect is the first time American audiences can see the collaboration device in real life. Barco built on their wireless sharing platform, ClickShare, and incorporated it into a newly designed soundbar with camera. The judges at Enterprise Connect seemed to be impressed because the device won “Best Innovation for Meetings/Conferencing”.
Jabra + for Admins
We sat down with Josh Blalock from Jabra to talk about Jabra + for Admins. Jabra+ for Admins is a device management platform that simplifies the oversight of meeting rooms and Jabra devices worldwide. The platform offers features such as real-time room availability, usage tracking, and advanced analytics to help administrators quickly diagnose and troubleshoot issues remotely. The system provides a full-scope view of the organization, allowing for streamlined workflows and automated firmware updates. Built on the Microsoft Azure Suite of Services, the platform ensures scalability, security, and easy access for teams to collaborate securely from anywhere. The system will have future features such as the ability to monitor Jabra devices from other management platforms. Look for a release of Jabra + for Admins sometime in the second quarter of 2024.
Wednesday at Enterprise Connect
On tap for today is Zoom’s keynote. The company has already made some noise this week with an Avaya partnership and Workspaces. The keynote will no doubt dive deeper into where Zoom sees its platform going, AVNation also has a slate of interviews before heading out of Orlando.
