Microsoft and Cisco will join InfoComm 2023 to discuss advancing the hybrid workplace through the latest collaboration technology. This session adds to the wide-ranging program focused on conferencing and collaboration at InfoComm, which includes more than 40 education sessions, leading solution providers across the trade show floor featuring expert-led tours, and much more. On Wednesday, […]

Cleo announced Microsoft Dynamics 365 ERP integration. Cleo’s two solutions dovetail with Microsoft’s recent investments in its enterprise and mid-market ERPs, namely Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management (SCM). As Microsoft aims to accommodate customers’ increased expectations of agility in business operations and continued growth in direct-to-consumer (D2C) business […]

Through collaboration with its partners, Microsoft is using the new version of Teams Rooms to lighten the load for IT teams who have to manage numerous BYOD (bring your own device) rooms. As promised, native Microsoft Teams Rooms experiences are now available on Cisco’s video technology — a portfolio of Teams-certified devices by Cisco covering all workspaces. Cisco […]

Demonstrates enterprise-grade services for planning, deploying, and managing Teams environments on a global scale. AVI-SPL, a leading global provider of digital enablement solutions and Microsoft Managed Partner, today proudly announces it has achieved the Microsoft Advanced Specialization for Microsoft Teams Meetings and Meeting Rooms. This advanced specialization validates AVI-SPL’s exceptional skill and proven success in […]

Lenovo just announced the ThinkSmart View Plus running Microsoft Teams display, a standalone (personal) collaboration display with audio, video and whiteboarding features. The smart collaboration solution is purpose-built for hot desking, phone booths, executive desks and home office use cases. In addition, Lenovo just launched the IP Controller for collaboration spaces as well as the […]

During the pandemic, Zoom made a fortune. The company could do no wrong, even when it did — like in 2021 having to pay an $85 million fine to settle claims that it lied about offering end-to-end encryption and in 2020 when it accidentally used its Chinese servers to generate encryption keys. The number of […]

Filmmakers Adam May and Amy Zimmerman created an immersive HoloLens experience (called Critical Distance) to tell the story of a threatened orca and her pod. Orcas, stuck with the historical name “killer whales,” are mammals and the largest in the dolphin family. They are apex predators, able to hunt in “packs” and known as killers […]

AVI-SPL announced today that it has become a Microsoft Managed Partner, enhancing its role as an “end-to-end lifecycle management solutions provider for Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Teams Rooms.” Less than 1% of the 400,000 organizations in the worldwide Microsoft Partner Network earn Microsoft Managed Partner status. To be selected as a Managed Partner, AVI-SPL “consistently demonstrated […]

Appspace announced the launch of Appspace for Microsoft. Appspace integrations claim to enhance Microsoft’s capabilities and work from inside the Microsoft apps customers know to deliver an improved time to value and ROI. The partnership connects Microsoft Teams, SharePoint and Viva with modern intranet and employee app solutions. Organizations can now integrate company content and […]

AVI-SPL today announced it has been named a finalist for the 2022 Microsoft Surface Hub Partner of the Year Award. The company was honored among a global field of top Microsoft partners for demonstrating excellence in innovation and implementation of customer solutions based on Microsoft technology. AVI-SPL holds Gold-level competencies for Cloud Productivity, Communications, Collaboration and Content, and Project and Portfolio Management. […]

Salamander Designs announced the addition of several additional products to the growing list of Salamander Designs’ products that have been designated “Designed for Surface” by Microsoft. Additions to the group include the Salamander Wall Stands, Mobile Carts and Mounting Adapter Kit that support the 85-inch Microsoft Surface Hub 2S. Also included is a new Salamander […]

AVI-SPL announced that it has earned the Cloud Productivity competency from Microsoft at the Gold level. Microsoft Gold competencies demonstrate best-in-class capabilities within a specific solution area. As a Gold Cloud Productivity competency holder, AVI-SPL earns new benefits and support from Microsoft to meet the growing demand for cloud productivity solutions that fuel the modern […]

Carousel Digital Signage has added business analytics to its Carousel Cloud software through integration with Power BI, Microsoft’s AI-powered data visualization toolset for enterprise businesses. Power BI integration allows Carousel Cloud users to create and share business information across corporate digital signage networks, empowering executives and workers to make data-driven decisions that drive strategic actions. Power BI provides users with a business intelligence […]

Shure announced its MXA710 Linear Array Microphone is now certified for Microsoft Teams. The MXA710 joins Shure’s portfolio of Conferencing Solutions already certified for Microsoft Teams, giving installers and end users even more options for their environments. The MXA710 is designed for audio capture in premium AV conferencing environments. Patented Steerable Coverage technology captures audio […]

Microsoft just completed its “2021 Work Trend Index: Annual Report.” And parts of it are frightening. While the world debates the future of work after the pandemic, this Microsoft report mainly zeroes in on the state of work today. This survey was conducted by among 31,092 full-time employed or self-employed workers across 31 markets between […]

Embed Signage has launched what the company is calling “secure integration” with Microsoft Power BI. Power BI is a data visualization platform from Microsoft that allows businesses to connect and visualize data from over 120 different sources such as Dynamics 365, Azure SQL Database, Salesforce, Excel and SharePoint. Users of Embed Signage are now able […]

For each column in this series, rAVe writer Paul Konikowski takes a deeper dive into a recent security event or data breach, shedding light on supply chain vulnerabilities, infrastructure, and cyber-physical security. While most Americans are still processing the recent attack on the United States Capitol building, many cybersecurity researchers and professionals believe the real […]

Thursday marked the third of the SYNNEX COLLABSolv LAVNCH Days (if you need reference material as to what those are, find some previous coverage here), and this event in particular promised to cover a topic at the forefront of all our minds: hybrid connections. What are they? What do they look like in our homes? […]

From “Hey, Cortana” to cloud-enabled interactive sound for HoloLens to Windows Sonic (Windows 10 comes with support for virtual surround sound), Microsoft invests heavily in research on audio. And the company is convinced the ProAV market fails to recognize this. They have a point here. Did you know speaker detection technology developed by Microsoft researchers […]

Microsoft has announced new Microsoft Teams displays, a category of all-in-one dedicated Teams devices (basically a personal Teams touch screen) integrated with voice control via Microsoft Cortana. Microsoft is marketing these as personal workspace devices that integrate with Teams collaboration and communication for your home and small office environments — think of them as personal […]

THIS IS A PROMOTED POST FROM AVer INFORMATION INC. AVer has announced a collaboration focused on creating videoconferencing technologies that work with Microsoft software. AVer Video Collaboration Solutions for Microsoft will be a complete line of AVer USB videoconferencing products developed and certified with Microsoft Teams in mind. These AVer products will feature HD cameras, […]

Starting today, Microsoft Teams is available for Linux users in public preview, enabling collaboration experiences for the open source community at work and in educational institutions. Users can download the native Linux packages in .deb and .rpm formats here. The Microsoft Teams client is the first Microsoft 365 app that is coming to Linux desktops, […]

By Chris Mcintyre-Brown Associate Director, Futuresource Consulting As video conferencing solutions proliferate, remote working continues to rise and the number of inter-company video conferences increases, a lack of system interoperability has become a major pain point for many users. Internally focused video conferences are less problematic, as everyone is familiar with their system of choice. However, once […]

Zoom and Microsoft have worked together to enhance conference room interoperability and simplify how you connect to third-party meetings. How? The companies are collaborating to provide interoperability between both conference room solutions and streamlined meeting experiences. Available in early 2020, Zoom Rooms will be able to join Microsoft Teams meetings, and Microsoft Teams Rooms will […]

Sharp Imaging and Information Company of America (SIICA) announced it’s shipping the world’s first Windows Collaboration Display (WCD) with Microsoft’s Skype for Business certification. The native 4K 70-inch is integrated with Microsoft Azure Digital Twins to monitor collaboration spaces. The Sharp Windows Collaboration Display is marketed as the world’s first large-format interactive display to achieve […]

I had this thought back at Zoomtopia 2018, but after Zoomtopia 2019, it’s clear: Zoom is the Apple of the AV industry. Zoom is what? All of the eyes in AV were looking at Zoom yesterday. If you don’t believe me, look at the social stats of tweets and LinkedIn posts about Zoom Video Communications, […]

Microsoft actually launched the Surface Hub 2 right after running out of the first version — on May 15, 2018 — yes, over a year ago. But, since then, crickets. What followed was a host of chatter from both WCD (Windows Collaboration Display) hardware manufacturers as well as from a plethora of the AV press […]

Presented by Joshua Peterson of Avocor at the 2019 Almo Professional AV E4 Experience On June 2018, Microsoft announced a new category of interactive displays that extended the PC desktop experience to room scale, while bringing IoT sensors into meeting room environments. These collaboration displays bring a unique mix of capabilities and benefits for multiple room designs […]

CTOUCH entered the UCC market with a collaboration system for Microsoft Teams called Leddura 2Meet Teams. Following up on their Leddura 2Meet Skype for Business back in 2017, CTOUCH aims to make the transition to Microsoft Teams collaboration easy. The integrated system allows you to draw, meet, share and book a room directly on a […]

Avocor today introduced the first Windows collaboration displays featuring touchscreen, Windows 10 and Microsoft 365. The first Windows collaboration displays by Avocor will ship in December of 2018. Avocor says they worked with Microsoft to create a single-cable solution that connects a Windows PC to the display. It allows for immediate control of the camera […]

Crestron today accepted the 2018 Microsoft Global Partner of the Year Award for Internet of Things (IoT) in a ceremony at the Microsoft Inspire event in Las Vegas. Microsoft recognized Crestron for providing solutions in IoT in the form of Crestron XiO Cloud built on the Microsoft Azure platform. Crestron XiO Cloud is designed for […]

Taking a page from the Samsung playbook, Microsoft’s new Surface Hub 2 is thinner, lighter and now being primarily promoted to be used like a digital flip-chart — in addition to being marketed as a “traditional” Collaboration Board for Huddle Spaces and meeting rooms. Microsoft says the Surface Hub 2 was designed from the ground up to be […]