Since its launch eight years ago, Microsoft has seen consistent growth in daily active users of its Teams collaboration product. Naturally, the biggest growth happened during the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic, but Teams usage has continued to climb and now sits somewhere north of 320 million daily active users. One reason, of course, is its integration with other Microsoft 365 applications, which are used by more than two million businesses globally, with more than 300 million active users (according to Microsoft).
Microsoft’s dominance has created a natural opportunity – or perhaps a need – for other vendors to build integration with Teams into their solutions to create better value propositions in competitive markets.
For instance, Luware, which provides customer service solutions built natively on Microsoft Teams, has announced its latest launch, Luware Nimbus Power. This next-generation contact center solution leverages Microsoft Teams Phone extensibility to deliver enhanced communication capabilities through a deep integration between Teams and Azure Communication Services (ACS).
Luware says it is among the first contact center vendors to harness the power of Microsoft Teams Phone extensibility, which was recently announced by Microsoft. It allows vendors to fully utilize ACS as the underlying communication platform while seamlessly maintaining Microsoft Teams for core telephony services, allowing then to enhance their Team-integrated solutions and deliver new features.
“By leveraging ACS with Microsoft Teams through Microsoft Teams Phone extensibility, we’re providing businesses with greater flexibility, reliability, and the ability to future-proof their customer communication strategies,” said, Markus Weisbrod, Luware Nimbus Product Manager at Luware.
By deeply connecting Teams and ACS, Luware Nimbus Power unlocks a range of new functionalities, including:
- Web-based RTC: Agents can engage with customers through various web-based channels in real time.
- Multichannel communications: The solution will support a wider array of communication channels beyond voice, offering customers more ways to connect.
- Built-in scalable AI capabilities: Leveraging the power of ACS, Luware Nimbus Power will offer integrated and scalable AI features to enhance customer interactions and agent productivity.
One key benefit is a new dual persona functionality, which allows agents to seamlessly receive and manage calls through either the dedicated contact center agent console (provided by Luware Nimbus Power) or the familiar Microsoft Teams client interface. This flexibility allows businesses and agents to work in their preferred environments and streamline workflows. One of the biggest frustrations workers have often expressed is the constant need to switch between applications – especially when trying to attend to customer needs.
Built upon Luware’s existing Nimbus platform, Luware Nimbus Power is specifically designed to help businesses maximize their investments in Microsoft Teams. The solution seamlessly integrates call controls with various third-party applications, creating an optimized and future-ready customer experience. Its built-in AI functions further enhance its capabilities and create a forward-looking solution that is ready to maximize on the continued evolution of AI in business processes.
As one of a select group of Microsoft partners leveraging this new technology, Luware collaborated closely with Microsoft's engineering team throughout the development of Luware Nimbus Power. This close partnership ensured a smooth implementation and addressed critical real-world use cases, with Microsoft providing strategic support to facilitate the integration.
Luware Nimbus Power is slated to be available in July.
Edited by
Erik Linask
