This post was ported from a legacy newsletter and was originally published on 6.10.2020. I’m sharing here to help bring over some posts I think still have a home here and can add context to the site.
Yesterday, Microsoft announced Microsoft Teams displays and WOW I am intrigued. These types of screens aren’t new, Google has Smart Displays and Amazon has the Echo Show displays for quite some time.
The big difference here? ENTERPRISE, BABY!
Microsoft Teams displays bring together your favorite Teams features: chat, meetings, calls, calendar, and files into a single device, promoting human connection in the remote workplace.
Secondary screens have always been a productivity boost but this is a take on a very opinionated second screen. This take is more command center, less “that’s where I fullscreen Slack and my music app”.
🤔 Where do I think this will get interesting?
I think this move comes to the desk, at home and especially at the office.
Now, smart “desk phones” are not new. Poly (formerly Polycom), RingCentral and others have been doing this for years but they have always anchored to the phone as the core focus. These displays are anchored to the identity.
I hope you enjoyed today’s quick update. Thank’s for being a reader and have a great day!
P.S.
Some links that I found interesting when looking into this:
RingCentral had used Zoom to replace its legacy platform. In April they unveiled their Zoom competitor 😬
When Zoom teamed up with ServiceNow for their Hardware-as-a-Service (HaaS) that led ServiceNow to retire their “phone offering” and replace it with Zoom Phone
Lenovo ThinkSmart displays will be the first to market and run ~$290/per: link