365 Explained - 010 - Teams Contact Center

365 Explained - 010 - Teams Contact Center

Recorded live at CommsvNext in Denver, Colorado. Ben and Zach are joined by Oli Lifely from Luware to talk about what happens when native Teams call queues aren't enough and you need a full contact center. In this episode, we cover: * The three Microsoft certification models for contact center integration: Connect, Extend, and the newly renamed Unify * How each model handles the call differently — from SIP trunk hairpinning to Graph API signalling * What a contact center adds beyond Queues App: skills-based routing, cradle-to-grave reporting, omni-channel, and outbound * Where AI fits beyond chatbots — proactive SLA monitoring, natural language workflow configuration, and automated remediation * The biggest mistakes organisations make when migrating off legacy PBXs to Teams Whether you're hitting the limits of Queues App or planning a move off Avaya, Mitel, or Cisco, this one's for you.

365 Explained - 009 - M365 Update Lifecycle

How does Microsoft actually roll out updates across M365 — and how much control do you really have? Ben and Zach break down the update lifecycle across the entire Microsoft 365 ecosystem in episode seven of 365 Explained. In this episode, we explore: 💠The "rings" model — from dev teams to dogfooding to your tenant 💠Targeted release vs standard release — and where to find the settings 💠Office app update channels — current, monthly enterprise, and semi-annual (spoiler: Microsoft no longer recommends semi-annual for most users) 💠How Teams updates differently to the rest of Office 💠The OneDrive sync client and its own update rings 💠Where Windows fits into the picture 💠Message Centre vs the M365 Roadmap — and why you need to watch both 💠How Copilot Frontier adds yet another layer to all of this Whether you're an admin trying to get ahead of changes, or you're just tired of users asking "why don't I have that feature yet?", this one's for you. Or listen on all good & bad podcasting platforms alike

365 Explained - 008 - E7 What's new with SKU!?

Microsoft has announced Microsoft 365 E7, "The Frontier Suite", the first new enterprise tier above E5 since 2015. It goes GA on May 1st at $99/user/month, wrapping E5, Copilot, Agent 365 and the full Entra Suite into one SKU. In this episode, Ben and Zach break down what's inside E7, how the enterprise licensing ladder has evolved from E1 through to E7, and whether the pricing math adds up vs buying à la carte. They also get into what's still missing from the bundle (Teams Premium, calling plans, attendee packs) and whether E7 actually solves the add-on sprawl problem. There are also questions Microsoft hasn't answered yet: is Agent 365 a tenant-level unlock or a per-user licence? Who do you actually need to licence? And what does this mean for organisations still on E3 or E5? Topics covered: * History of Microsoft enterprise SKUs (E1, E3, E4, E5, E7) * What E7 adds: Copilot, Agent 365, Entra Suite, advanced security * Pricing breakdown: $99 bundled vs $117 à la carte * What's NOT included: Teams Premium, calling plans, attendee packs * The Agent 365 licensing question * Who should consider E7 vs staying on E5 Links: * Microsoft announcement: https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2026/03/09/introducing-the-first-frontier-suite-built-on-intelligence-trust/ [https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2026/03/09/introducing-the-first-frontier-suite-built-on-intelligence-trust/] * Microsoft 365 blog: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2026/03/09/powering-frontier-transformation-with-copilot-and-agents/ [https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2026/03/09/powering-frontier-transformation-with-copilot-and-agents/]

365 Explained - 007 - Copilot Frontier

Copilot Frontier keeps showing up across M365 admin centres, but it's not well explained and the documentation doesn't make it much easier. In this episode, Ben and Zach dig into what Frontier actually is, why it exists as a separate thing from targeted release, and what's in it right now. From Researcher and Analyst agents through to the Opal computer use agent. We talk through the admin controls (and the inconsistencies across them), licensing questions nobody has answers to yet, MCP servers appearing under the Frontier banner, and whether you should turn it on for your users. We'd love to hear what you're doing with Frontier in your environments. Get in touch on LinkedIn or leave a comment on YouTube.

365 Explained - 006 - Teams Queues App

Ever wondered if the Teams Queues App could save you from a full contact centre deployment? Ben and Zach get into Microsoft's Contact Center Lite experience in episode six of 365 Explained. In this episode, we explore: 🔹What the Queues App actually is (and what it isn't) 🔹The Teams Premium licensing question—who needs it? 🔹Monitor, whisper, barge, and takeover functionality explained 🔹Real-time analytics (spoiler: it actually updates in seconds) 🔹Shared call history, the feature that finally arrived 🔹When Queues App is enough vs when you need a proper contact centre 🔹What's still missing (hello, Copilot button?) Whether you're already running Call Queues and curious about the upgrade, or evaluating whether to skip the third-party contact centre entirely, this one's got you covered. -------- Join us on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13363005/], we'd love to hear what you thought & any requests for future topics!