Kressmark Unified Communications: Ignite 2017 General Session - Microsoft 365: Transform your communications with Microsoft Teams and Skype for Business

The session started out with some thoughtful quotes like: "Gone are the days of hierarchy - People want to work in Teams!". "Microsoft Teams is the enabler for Artificial Intelligence in communications." "We are moving beyond Unified Communications... to Intelligent Communications." (Hmm, time to rename this blog already?)

Microsoft Teams is the hub for intelligent communications, before, during, and after your meeting.

Before the meeting, Microsoft Teams will surface relevant documents and participant information.
During the meeting, for closed captioning and voice recognition.
After the meeting, the conversation, documents, notes & action items are shared with the entire team.

We all want to remove the barriers when it comes to hearing (audio) understanding (translation) or seeing (video) each other.

After 10 minutes the first demo came with Gifs in a conversation, guest access, the SurveyMonkey app, files, webpages in the client. The following demo showed:

The contact list and presence (a presence unified with the presence in Skype for business).
The "Calls app" - a telephone - with call logs, voice mail (with transcript), a dialer (so that everyone can understand it really is a phone) and Call transfer.
Scheduling meetings in Teams or Outlook with Dial-in conferencing available in some 90 countries.
Joining a meeting with a presentation and video gallery.
Showing a Contact card with a built-in organization chart.
The demo / meeting continued in the mobile client.
Reviewing a meeting that already took place, right from the conversation view, with subtitles and search.

All the above features are already in the product or in preview.

30 minutes in an interview with two customers followed, Accenture and Cerner. They have rolled out and is using Teams already.

The 3 main questions / concerns around Skype for business / Microsoft Teams:

What does this mean for Skype for business Server?
Skype for business vNext is coming next year, both a Server and Client, with fixes, support and improved Teams interoperability.

Is Microsoft Teams ready?
Yes. Teams is already used by large organizations. Auditing and call analytics are in Teams and existing phones, Rooms systems and video interop will work with Teams.

How is Microsoft going to help us in the transition?

A Microsoft Teams & Skype for business Admin Center is coming, with the capability to report on the "Teams upgrade status" for users.
The Teams client will download in the background and the Skype for business client will display an "Upgrade button" when ready.
Presence will be unified and calls with transfer and hold will work across platforms.
All users do not need to move to Teams at the same time.