Microsoft Teams Turns One!

Microsoft Teams Turns One!

On March 12, 2018, Microsoft Teams celebrated its one year anniversary and what and eventful first year it was!  According to Microsoft, around 200,000 organizations in 181 markets (in 39 languages) are using teams to date and we can expect it to rise throughout the year with Microsoft’s additional features and updates to Teams this coming year.

Teams for Intelligent Communications and Collaboration

Being part of Office 365, Teams has been able to take advantage of many of its strength by being able to integrate with many other Office 365 applications while also tapping its 120 million user base.  Teams uniquely delivers on its many features, such as chat-based collaboration, meetings, calling (and soon, full enterprise voice features), at scale with enterprise-grade security and compliance standards to make sure that you are within global standards.  However, to improve on their vision for Intelligent Communications within organizations, Microsoft has announced that they will be implementing the following features within this year:

Cloud recording—Will provide one-click meeting recordings with automatic transcription and timecoding, enabling all team members the ability to read captions, search within the conversation, and playback all or part of the meeting. In the future, it will also include facial recognition, so remarks can be attributed to specific meeting attendees.

Inline message translation—People who speak different languages will be able to fluidly communicate with one another by translating posts in channels and chat.

Cortana voice interactions for Teams-enabled devices—Will enable you to easily make a call, join a meeting, or add other people to a meeting in Teams using spoken, natural language. This functionality will extend to IP phones and conference room devices.

Background blur on video—The ability to blur your background during video calls will allow other meeting attendees to focus on you, not what’s behind you.

Proximity detection for Teams Meetings—This feature will make it easy for you to discover and add a nearby and available Skype Room System to any meeting.

Mobile sharing in meetings—Meeting attendees will be able to share a live video stream, photos, or the screen from their mobile device.

In addition to this, Microsoft will be adding new enterprise-grade calling features in Teams which will include consultative transfer and call delegation and federation.  Another feature that will be introduced is Direct Routing which will allow you to use your existing telephony infrastructure with Teams for calling.  To learn more about this you may read the original article here or you can contact us at 893-9515 to ask us directly!

Office 2007 Support has officially ended

Office 2007 Support has officially ended

Office 2007’s support officially ended last October 10, 2017.  This doesn’t mean that you will lose all your Office 2007 apps, nor will you lose any of your data associated with Office 2007.  Then what exactly does this mean then?  One big issue from discontinued support would be security; with no support, you could be exposing yourself to huge security risks.  Below are what you will be losing with the end of support:

  • You’ll no longer receive Office 2007 software updates from Microsoft Update.
  • You’ll no longer receive security updates. Security updates are what help protect your PC from harmful viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.
  • You’ll no longer receive phone or chat technical support.
  • No further updates to support content will be provided. In fact, most online help content will be retired.
  • You’ll no longer be able to download Office 2007 from the Microsoft web site.

Even though Office 2007 is still usable, you may want to consider upgrading to a newer version in lieu with the above benefits that you will be losing.  Below are the upgrades you can consider:

  1. Upgrading to Office 365 – the subscription version of Office that comes with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other apps, depending on the plan you choose. With Office 365, the apps are available on your computer for up to 5 users and via browser; one subscription enables you to use them on both your PC and Mac.
  2. Upgrading to Office 2016 – Office 2016 is a one-time purchase (not a subscription) for installation on one computer only.

Speed up your GDPR Compliance with Microsoft Cloud!

Speed up your GDPR Compliance with Microsoft Cloud!

With the European Union’s new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) taking effect on May 2018, many companies are now working on complying with it.  Gartner believes that less than 50% of all organizations will be able to fully comply before its takes effect.  However, using the cloud can help dramatically increase compliance rate and Microsoft has worked with countless experts to help make its solutions simple and user friendly.

With roughly 160 GDPR requirements, which include how to collect, store, use personal information and even a mandate for a 72-hour notification for personal data breaches, it’s clear that using cloud technologies can help the speed of compliance in many organizations.  With this in mind, Microsoft has worked on their Trusted Cloud Principles, in which security, privacy, compliance and transparency are included, to help provide a unique journey to GDPR compliance.  Microsoft announced on February of this year that their cloud services would comply with the GDPR by next year May, which include Office 365, Dynamic 365, Azure (including Azure data services), Enterprise Mobility + Security, and Windows 10.

Cloud for compliance

Besides being compliant, Microsoft Cloud provides built-in sophisticated controls that can help you comply with the GDPR requirements.  Azure Information Protection is an example of one of the capabilities in the arsenal of Microsoft.  Azure Information Protection provides document tracking and revocation capabilities, this gives you the ability to monitor the flow of sensitive data and revoke access to it at any time.

Microsoft Cloud can also be used to discover, manage, protect and report on GDPR-related data.  With powerful intelligence capabilities on Microsoft Cloud, using features such as Office 365 Advanced Data Governance can intelligently manage your organization’s data with classifications, which can label sensitive data so that you can apply policies for either protection, retention or deletion.

Microsoft also plans on releasing a new dashboard as well to help provide a quantitative assessment to help identify where you are in your journey to GDPR compliance.

To learn more about Microsoft’s GDPR solution here or learn more about Microsoft products from our Product page here!

Avail of the Office 365 High Performance Bundle Now!

Avail of the Office 365 High Performance Bundle Now!

The number 1 productivity suite in the market just got better with CT Link’s High Performance Bundle!  Be able to improve you workforce’s efficiency and productivity with Office 365 while being able to optimize you WAN connectivity with a Cloud Delivered SD-WAN Solution from VeloCloud!

When you purchase any of these Office 365 (1 Year plan) products your will be given 1 VeloCloud Subscription for every 150 Licenses!

  • Exchange Online
  • Business Essentials
  • Business Premium
  • Enterprise Plan 1 (or other higher plans)

What is VeloCloud?

Velcloud is a Cloud Delivered SD-WAN solution that enables simple, agile and secure branch office wide area networks that includes cloud networking and dynamic multipath optimization to make ordinary broadband behave as Enterprise-grade links and a virtual network service catalog for efficient orchestration.

 

TERMS AND CONDITION:

  • Promo is valid until August 1, 2017
  • Minimum Order Quantity (MOQ) for Office 365 Promo is 150 licenses
  • Implementation, Consultation and Technical Support is not included
  • Promo also applies to other Office 365 Plans
  • VeloCloud Edge 520 for 30MBPS with 2 Ethernet Connection
  • Additional charges will be incurred if VeloCloud deployment is outside Metro Manila
  • Delivery Lead Time : 30 Days

About VeloCloud

VeloCloud is a software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) solution that provides a secure, reliable, and high-performance network for enterprise customers. The solution uses a combination of software and hardware to provide a virtual overlay network that can connect multiple locations, data centers, and cloud services over any type of WAN connection.

The VeloCloud SD-WAN solution provides a range of benefits, including improved application performance, increased network agility, and reduced costs. By virtualizing the network, VeloCloud allows enterprises to leverage multiple WAN links, including broadband, LTE, and MPLS, to create a more resilient and efficient network. The solution also includes a range of security features, such as encryption, firewalling, and threat detection, to protect against cyber threats.

VeloCloud’s cloud-based management platform allows IT teams to centrally manage the entire network, including configuring and provisioning devices, monitoring performance, and troubleshooting issues. The platform also includes advanced analytics and reporting capabilities, which enable IT teams to gain insights into network usage, performance, and security.

VeloCloud’s solution is designed to be flexible and scalable, making it suitable for businesses of all sizes. The solution can be deployed as a hardware appliance, a virtual appliance, or a cloud service, depending on the needs of the enterprise. VeloCloud also integrates with a range of third-party solutions, including cloud providers, security vendors, and network service providers.

Microsoft Teams Now Available in Office 365

Microsoft Teams Now Available in Office 365

On March 14, 2017, Microsoft announced that Microsoft Teams, its collaboration app as its answer to Slack, would now be available in their productivity suite, Office 365.  Being available in 181 markets and in 19 different languages, Microsoft Teams is already being adopted in major companies such as Accenture, Alaska Airlines and Walter Thompson in their operations.

With over 85 million active users, Office 365 empowers the individual or the groups in your organization with its broad set of tools for collaboration.  Designed to meet the unique workstyle of every group in different organizations — Outlook for its enterprise-grade email; SharePoint for intelligent content management; Yammer for networking across the organization; Skype for Business as the backbone for enterprise voice and video; and now, Microsoft Teams, the new chat-based workspace in Office 365.


Chat for today’s teams

Providing modern conversation experience, Microsoft Teams will keep everyone engaged with its threaded and persistent chat.  New communication features such as audio calling from mobile devices and video call on android, soon to be released on iOS and Windows phones as well, were added to improve on collaboration.  Microsoft Teams has also added the ability to email a channel, include attachments, send messages with markdown-based formatting and receive notifications about all posts in a channel.


Hub for Teamwork

With Office 365, applications and services such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and SharePoint are readily provided to Microsoft Teams users to be sure that they will have the tools and information needed to collaborate better.  To improve user experience, Microsoft Teams has recently added support for open, public teams within your organization and enhanced user meeting experience by adding scheduling capabilities, integrating calendar availability(free/busy) and more.


Customizable for every team

Knowing every team is unique, Microsoft Teams has made it easy to customize your workspace with Tabs, Connectors and Bots.  With over 150 integrations available and more coming soon such as bots from hipmunk, SAP SuccessFactors to help employees and managers track goals and performance and Trello to help empower teams to easily get projects done with boards, lists and cards.

 

To learn more about Microsoft Teams and Office 365, contact us at 893 9515.

CT Link Facebook Like Raffle Winners

CT Link Facebook Like Raffle Winners

Thank you for participating in the CT Link Facebook Page Like Raffle.

Congratulations to the following winners:

  • 1st Prize – Microsoft Office 365 Personal – Joana Bilog
  • 2nd Prize – APC Mobile Power Bank – Rhoda Cata Gonzales
  • 3rd Prize – Microsoft Wired Keyboard and Mouse (Desktop 500) – Linda Quintana-Constante

Minor Prizes – Kingston DataTraveler microDUO 3.0 16-GB USB OTG Flash Drives

  • Jheng Neztimar
  • Lemuel Basalo
  • Cora Mucha Intia

To the winners, please contact us at 893-9515 to coordinate the claiming of your prizes. Deadline for claiming of prizes will be on October 30, 2016.

About CT Link

CT Link Systems, Inc. is a leading IT Solutions Provider based in the Philippines. With over 25 years of experience in the industry, we have been continuously evolving our solutions to match the developing IT landscape. Our goal is to become our client’s “Link to Cloud Technology” by providing them with cutting-edge technology and the most cost-effective solutions available.

We understand that the world of technology is constantly changing, and we are committed to keeping up with the latest trends and adapting to them. We started with computer telephony and have expanded our offerings to include multilevel security, workspace, and hybrid cloud solutions. Our aim is to help your company implement these solutions and gain a competitive edge over your rivals.

CT Link was established in 1998 with the mission to provide companies with a technology partner that they can rely on. Our approach is to form continuous partnerships with leading international vendors in different solution areas. By doing so, we can provide our clients with access to the latest and most innovative technologies available in the market.

We take pride in our team of highly skilled and competent engineers. Our engineers are not only well-versed in the latest technologies but also invested in continuous product training and certification to fulfill our clients’ requirements. They will guide you through every step of the process, from planning to implementation and support, to ensure a smooth transition to the new technology.

At CT Link, we believe in forming long-lasting partnerships with our clients. We take the time to understand your business’s unique needs and work together to find solutions that are tailored to your specific requirements. Our expertise covers a wide range of industries, including healthcare, education, and retail.