Top security, new reporting features, enhanced integrations.

Imagicle UC Cloud Suite: connect it easier!

• the private UC Suite instance, running on the Imagicle Cloud, providing dedicated elastic computing and resources for the best performances and data isolation;
• the connection between the UC Cloud Suite and customer network, that allows to leverage existing PSTN lines and to address the Calling Platform, regardless of where it is deployed (on the cloud, on-prem, or hosted).

• Introducing SD-WAN
  One way of connecting the UC Suite to the customer network is Private Peering, a private network connection between the Imagicle Cloud and the customer network. The news here is that, beyond the preexisting options (VPN and Equinix ECX), today we’re supporting a third private peering option, SD-WAN. It’s somewhat a smart VPN evolution that allows to link the Imagicle cloud to the customer network as an additional site. In short, we now offer 3 different options to match customer needs at best;

• Introducing Internet Peering
  The second news relates to a new, different connection model: Internet Peering (as opposed to private peering), which is still in preview today and will be launched in Summer’21. Internet Peering has been designed to address modern cloud calling platforms like Cisco Webex and Microsoft Teams: by leveraging only secure communications through standard internet, there is no need for private network connections at all among customers and UC Suite instance and the cloud calling platform, hence resulting in the most simple connectivity model possible.
  

Are you aware of device usage in your company?

Offices worldwide? We’ve got you covered.

Buckle up: Microsoft O365 Modern Auth is here.

As you probably know, our UC Suite offers a large set of ready-to-use integrations. Last year we introduced the integrations of Microsoft Office 365 with our Digital Fax and with our Attendant Console, which has led to great benefits in terms of functionality.

 

• Attendant Console natively integrates with Microsoft Calendars, such as the one for Exchange and Office 365, to display colleagues’ calendar status and support operators in taking decisions about colleagues’ availability;
• Digital Fax offers a native mail–2–fax integration, leveraging Microsoft 365 proprietary API (instead of standard POP3/IMAP).

Spring’21 enhances both those integrations by increasing security level, thanks to the support of the so-called Modern Authentication, which is actually based on OAuth 2.0 standard (while UC Suite was previously supporting only Basic Authentication).

Here is the in-depth article if you wish to know more, but let me summarize the main takeaways I’d like you to remember:

 

1. Why should you pay attention?
   First of all to increase the security in the use of applications. Secondly, because Microsoft has planned to dismiss Basic Authentication in H2 2021 on Office 365 (here‘s the latest update from Microsoft).

2. Who will be impacted?
   Every customer that is using Attendant Console or Digital Fax integrations with Office 365. Once MS disables Basic Auth, such integrations (calendar and mail2fax) will no longer work.

3. What should you do?
   Just update both your Imagicle UC Suite and Attendant Console to Spring’21 and switch the configuration from Basic to Modern Authentication.

Basically, in addition to increasing the overall security, Spring’21 allows you to be ready for the new MS policy thanks to the modern OAuth2 authentication method. Not only will your apps be more secure, but you will also have to remember one less password. Is that not great?

Attendant Console: Presence for MS Teams. Perfect for hybrid environments.

We’ve been talking about the investments and the journey we’ve started towards Microsoft Teams since Winter’21 – our first milestone – which introduced the compatibility and availability of basically all UC Suite applications with the Microsoft Teams environment in Direct Routing architecture.

 

Spring’21 is the second milestone of this journey: we’re now able to provide to Attendant Console operators the presence information for colleagues that are using Microsoft Teams as a collaboration platform, thanks to the new, native integration we’ve developed leveraging Microsoft Teams Communications API.

This means that we’re now able to address hybrid environments with any mix and match of Calling and Collaboration platforms. 

For example, think about a customer using Cisco as a Calling platform and Microsoft Teams as a collaboration tool. Now, imagine an Attendant Console operator that is on a call and needs to understand a colleague’s availability to decide whether to forward the call to them or not. 

And maybe a colleague’s phone is idle, but the colleague is busy in a meeting using Microsoft Teams. Well, now we’re able to feed the operator with all the rich presence status info they need. Amazing, isn’t it?  

Imagicle UC Suite. Cloud-connected evolution.

Big Sur compatibility.

Advanced Queueing and Auto Attendant: improved performance and scalability.

Call Recording: enhanced Search & Play web interface.

Conclusions.

Here at Imagicle, we get to work with one, clear goal: making our customers happy. 

Our products are aimed at making communications more human while simplifying and streamlining everyday tasks. Now, I hope that the steps we made with Spring’21 conveyed this message clearly.

 

Stay tuned for what’s coming next, because it will be even more Imagicle!