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Kazakhstan’s Carpet CCTV: Pioneering the Future of AI-Powered Public Safety

December 12, 2024 /

In a world where technology increasingly shapes how cities manage safety and security, Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs is leading the way with its groundbreaking “Carpet CCTV” project. This ambitious initiative has revolutionized public safety by combining a massive surveillance network with advanced analytics and artificial intelligence, creating a system that shifts the focus from reactive responses to proactive prevention.

Over the past four years, the scope of Kazakhstan’s surveillance infrastructure has expanded dramatically. The number of cameras has grown from just 40,500 to an impressive 1.3 million, with 313,000 cameras now directly accessible to police. These cameras are strategically positioned to monitor key areas, enhancing law enforcement’s ability to detect, prevent, and respond to incidents in real time. The system has already shown its effectiveness: since early 2024, it has detected over 8,200 criminal offenses and recorded 7.1 million traffic violations, resulting in significant improvements in public safety and road management.

At the heart of this transformation is the use of artificial intelligence. By integrating cutting-edge technologies such as facial recognition, license plate detection, and crowd monitoring, the system provides actionable insights that allow authorities to address risks before they escalate. For example, facial recognition capabilities enable real-time identification of persons of interest, while AI-powered traffic monitoring contributes to improved road safety and generates public revenue through fines. These features highlight the system’s ability to go beyond passive recording, transforming it into a dynamic tool for crime prevention and urban management.

The implementation of the Carpet CCTV project, however, was not without challenges. Managing the enormous volume of data generated by over a million high-definition cameras required significant upgrades in communication networks and data storage infrastructure. The integration of public and private camera networks demanded a unified approach to data sharing and management, while privacy concerns necessitated robust regulatory frameworks to ensure citizen trust. Through a combination of strategic planning, public-private partnerships, and transparent communication, the Ministry successfully addressed these obstacles, setting a model for other nations to follow.

One of the project’s most significant achievements lies in its deterrent effect. Administrative offenses, such as public disturbances, have decreased sharply, indicating that the visible presence of surveillance cameras is influencing behavior. This demonstrates the power of technology not just to react to incidents, but to prevent them altogether. Furthermore, the use of video evidence has increased case resolution rates, further solidifying the system’s impact on law enforcement effectiveness.

Looking ahead, Kazakhstan plans to build on the success of Carpet CCTV by expanding its geographic coverage and enhancing its analytical capabilities. New developments will focus on leveraging advanced AI to improve the accuracy and scope of surveillance, while also incorporating adaptive privacy measures to protect civil liberties. This forward-thinking approach ensures the system remains at the forefront of public safety technology, balancing innovation with accountability.

Kazakhstan’s Carpet CCTV project represents more than just an investment in technology—it’s a vision for smarter, safer cities. By blending state-of-the-art solutions with thoughtful governance, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has created a system that not only addresses today’s challenges but also lays the groundwork for a secure and sustainable future.

For those interested in learning more about this transformative initiative, the full spotlight paper offers an in-depth exploration of the strategies and technologies behind its success.

Enterprise buyer’s guide: How to choose videoconferencing software

December 12, 2024 /

When most businesspeople think of videoconferencing software, the first thing that comes to mind is probably Microsoft Teams or Zoom, but there are many other choices, each with its own strengths. Sometimes the choice of what tool to use comes down to what’s standard corporate issue — more often than not, that’s Teams — but it’s not uncommon for businesses to use a mix of tools.

“Some organizations don’t want to be reliant on Microsoft for everything, or sometimes an executive likes another tool better,” says Will McKeon-White, senior analyst for unified communications and conversational AI at Forrester Research.

[ Download our editors’ PDF videoconferencing software buyer’s guide today! ]

In this buyer’s guide

  • Videoconferencing software: What it is, why enterprises need it
  • Current trends in videoconferencing software
  • What to look for in videoconferencing software
  • Before you shop: Key questions to ask yourself and your stakeholders
  • Key questions to ask videoconferencing vendors
  • 14 videoconferencing tools to consider
  • Essential reading

Videoconferencing software: What it is, why enterprises need it

Videoconferencing services enable users to conduct online video meetings with one or more people who may join the call from their computers, phones, tablets, and room conferencing systems. They integrate with calendaring software for scheduling purposes, and usually include an audio call-in option, screen-sharing capabilities, and nonverbal communication features such as text chat, whiteboarding, and the ability to add reaction emojis.

Business-grade tools also allow for administrative controls that restrict who can join and what can be shared, and offer enhanced security features such as multifactor authentication (MFA), bring your own key (BYOK) end-to-end encryption, and single sign-on (SSO). Many videoconferencing systems integrate with conference room video hardware from the same vendor and/or third-party vendors.

Videoconferencing software has long been a useful tool for remote employees who needed to engage with their teams, and it was a nice-to-have for communicating with customers and partners when face-to-face meetings were impractical. Then, in 2020, everything changed. Videoconferencing rose to critical infrastructure status when, during the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly all office employees suddenly found themselves working from home. Licensing of videoconferencing software and services soared — Zoom nearly doubled its revenue in 2021 — and innovation increased as vendors competed for a piece of a much larger pie. The software saw rapid improvements as vendors raced to add new features, including better audio and video quality and enhanced security.

Nearly five years later, large numbers of employees have returned to the office, but many still telecommute one or more days per week. Videoconferencing software remains an essential part of business communications.

Current trends in videoconferencing software

Nowadays, videoconferencing software may seem like a well-defined, mature product space, but change is still afoot. “The weird thing about the videoconferencing software market is that it’s being subsumed into unified communications [UC],” says McKeon-White.

IDC’s term for this software category is unified communications and collaboration (UC&C), which the research firm describes as “an advanced telephony solution integrated with messaging (i.e., email, voice, and fax), instant messaging (IM) or chat, presence, and conferencing platforms for web conferencing, audioconferencing, and/or videoconferencing.” Many UC&C suites include additional collaboration features such as file sharing and virtual whiteboards. And while chat sessions in traditional, standalone videoconferencing systems typically end when the call terminates, vendor-hosted UC as a service (UCaaS) systems often include persistent chat functions that continue even after a videoconferencing session ends.

Like Forrester, IDC says most standalone videoconferencing software is being folded into larger UC&C suites. Videoconferencing apps are also found in productivity app suites such as Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, which is one reason why Microsoft Teams has dominated the space. It has a 44.7% share of the $69 billion UC&C software market, according to IDC, while Zoom, its nearest competitor, sits at 6.4%.

That domination was also driven by the fact that, until this year, Microsoft bundled Teams with most Microsoft 365 licenses. “That got pushback from regulators,” Forrester’s McKeon-White says, so now new enterprise customers must pay $5.25 per user per month for Teams as an add-on. “But most companies already have Teams now and can purchase it through existing licenses,” he adds.

Innovative AI-based features such as real-time transcription, text insertion, and multiparty translation have also changed the user experience, according to McKeon-White. With some products, “each user can see a translation of what’s said in their native language through captioning. That’s happening now,” he says.

Another feature, image upscaling, sends lower-resolution audio and video to other participants’ devices, which can then “upscale” the quality. “It’s much easier now to have a smooth experience over poor connections,” McKeon-White says.

Finally, emerging AI features are “closing the loop between what users say in a videoconferencing session and action items,” he says. For example, if a participant needs to look up an account record in the CRM system to determine its status, “a bot says, ‘Would you like me to do that for you?’ or it identifies that it needs to be done and pulls the record right into the conversation.” It can do so by rendering the CRM interface right into a chat window or by extracting the information and presenting it.

Early experiments with AI didn’t go well because the AI didn’t comprehend exactly what people were asking in conversation, but the technology has seen “massive improvements” of late, McKeon-White says. While vendors are still experimenting with this function, you can expect to see more and better capabilities like this going forward, he says.

What to look for in videoconferencing software

Every vendor offers similar features, but the user experience can vary significantly. Consider both user familiarity with a given tool and whether the user experience is “good enough.” If it doesn’t meet expectations, some users may turn to more familiar, easy-to-use options such as Zoom.

“I see standardization on Teams,” McKeon-White says, but sometimes an exception is better for the business, such as when communicating with people in external organizations who use different software.

While a company standard is good to have, there’s no reason to force everyone to use one videoconferencing service exclusively, says Jitesh Gera, research manager for UC&C at IDC. It’s OK to opt for different tool choices that meet the needs of each kind of user, such as for sales, customer service, developers, or IT.

Consider whether a given tool is the dominant one in your industry. For example, Zoom has a big footprint in healthcare and financial services, for Cisco it’s government, GoTo is the preference for IT teams because of its advanced screen-share capabilities, and Microsoft is virtually everywhere, says McKeon-White. And some tools offer Slack integration that lets users keep an audio or video line open while working on their own screens. That “more Discord-like experience” is a plus for software development teams, he says.

Also, consider how well a product fits in with your UC&C suite, and what new and innovative AI-based features may be available or planned.

Finally, the videoconferencing software you choose needs to integrate well with your existing meeting room conferencing systems. “Companies have started to prioritize AI meeting room videoconferencing capabilities such as adaptive speaker framing [which zooms in on the participant who’s talking], multiple camera layouts, and virtual meeting zones,” which are the top three factors when choosing a UC&C system, says Gera.

Before you shop: Key questions to ask yourself and your stakeholders

  • Do you already have software that you can use for videoconferencing? For example, is there a videoconferencing component in your UC&C suite?
  • Are there needs that aren’t being met by your current solution? Is the tool currently in use easy to use, or do users dislike the user experience so much that they turn to other videoconferencing options?
  • What types of communication needs does your organization have? Do they include internal only or also internal-to-external partners and customers? Are there specific needs for certain groups, such as sales, finance, IT, or software engineering?
  • What types of room conferencing system hardware do you have and what are the compatibility options for videoconferencing software?
  • What’s your budget?

Key questions to ask videoconferencing vendors

  • How effective is the videoconferencing software at enhancing productivity and collaboration? Do you have any metrics?
  • In what ways is the experience better than the product(s) my organization already has?
  • Is the software easy to use? How many clicks does it take to start a meeting?
  • Does it support screen sharing?
  • Is there a whiteboard function?
  • Are there browser, desktop, and mobile app options?
  • Does it integrate with my organization’s calendaring system and other key systems, such as our project management software?
  • Does it integrate seamlessly with our room conferencing system hardware?
  • How do you secure it for enterprise use? Does it support SSO MFA? LDAP? Watermarking for shared documents? What type of encryption is offered? Does it support BYOK encryption?
  • What administrative and data access controls does the software offer? For example, does it offer data sensitivity labeling, and can we restrict user or group access to specific documents?
  • What regulatory compliance standards does it meet?
  • What session quality enhancements does it support (image blurring, noise suppression, image upscaling, etc.)?
  • Does it support session recording and retention policies?
  • What is the vendor’s feature road map and plan for AI evolution? “Are they too dependent on external providers for AI? If so, they may not be very innovative,” says Gera.
  • Does the software have features specifically tailored to my industry vertical?
  • Where is data associated with videoconferencing sessions routed and hosted geographically? “We’ve seen instances where traffic was routed through countries that were less than desirable,” says McKeon-White.
  • What are the uptime and reliability guarantees?
  • Does the software support hybrid on-premises/cloud deployments for high availability? For example, Microsoft offers the Survivability Branch Appliance for Teams that can keep sessions going when the cloud-based service is unavailable.
  • What are my pricing options?

14 videoconferencing tools to consider

The top four videoconferencing software products by market share are Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Cisco Webex, and Google Meet, according to IDC and Forrester. Some tools are available only as part of broader UC&C offerings. Here’s a brief summary of products from 14 vendors, listed alphabetically, that have offerings in the videoconferencing services space.

8×8 Communications Platform

8×8’s videoconferencing software is just one feature of its 8×8 Communications Platform, a UC&C offering tailored to the needs of contact centers. It includes a 99.999% service level agreement with 24×7 technical support; can live stream meetings on YouTube; includes its own mobile, desktop, and web apps; and integrates with Teams as well as major CRM and service and support applications. The 8×8 Communications Platform supports polls and virtual break-out rooms for meetings; includes an intelligent assistant; and offers administrative controls, analytics, and reporting.

Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise Rainbow

Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, the French telecommunications hardware and software company, describes its Rainbow offering as “a secure ‘à-la-carte’ cloud-based communications and collaboration platform.” It supports meetings of up to 120 participants and 12 simultaneous video streams; is compliant with ISO 27001, GDPR, and CCPA; and can be deployed in on-premises or hybrid configurations. It offers integrations for Microsoft Teams as well as on-premises telephone systems. Other options include a system designed for use in conference rooms and another designed for virtual classrooms.

Avaya Spaces

Avaya Spaces, Avaya’s UC&C platform, includes “one-click” voice and videoconference calling as well as text chat, and supports meetings with up to 1,000 people. It’s compatible with Google, Microsoft 365, Teams, Salesforce, and Slack and offers an API for custom integrations. Spaces can record meetings, has retention policy controls, is HIPAA and GDPR compliant, and offers single sign-on and encryption for data in transit and at rest.

AI-driven features include background noise cancellation, meeting transcription, and closed captioning. Users can connect via browser, desktop, or mobile app, with user interface versions available in 26 languages.

Cisco Webex Meetings

Webex Meetings is part of Cisco’s comprehensive UC&C suite that also includes calling, event management, whiteboards, polling, messaging, webinar support, and other features. The software integrates with a wide array of general-business and vertical-specific enterprise apps.

A free version supports meeting durations of up to 40 minutes. The entry-level paid version includes an AI assistant that can translate conversations through closed captions, write messages, and summarize meetings and messages. All versions offer end-to-end encryption and HIPAA/BAA compliance; the enterprise version is FedRAMP authorized and offers bring your own key end-to-end encryption and watermarking. Cisco also sells several Webex-compatible desktop and meeting room video hardware devices.

Dialpad

Dialpad’s videoconferencing service includes enterprise, small business, and free versions, with UC&C editions designed for general business, sales, and contact centers. “Dialpad is strong in chat intelligence…business analytics…international support and real-time user insights,” according to Forrester. It integrates with Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Microsoft Teams, and several CRM tools, and includes AI-driven meeting and call transcription, screen and meeting recording, data retention policies, and analytics and reporting functions.

Dialpad adjusts video resolution to available bandwidth for each connection to reduce video freeze-ups. It can support up to 150 participants through browser, desktop, and mobile apps. A meeting room version is also available. Session encryption and single sign-on are supported, and Dialpad is HIPAA compliant.

Google Meet

Google’s cloud-based Google Meet videoconferencing software includes a free version that supports meetings up to one hour long. The Google One Premium version includes call recording, noise cancellation, and the ability to live stream meetings on YouTube. Chat is a separate app.

The business version, bundled into the Google Workspace collaboration suite, supports longer meetings, offers higher-quality video and includes meeting recording with transcripts. It works with Google’s Gemini AI assistant (which requires a separate subscription) for real-time translation and generating meeting summaries. The enterprise version of Meet includes more advanced security features such as bring your own key end-to-end encryption.

GoTo Meeting

GoTo Meeting (formerly LogMeIn), available in business and enterprise editions, is one element in a collaboration suite of UC&C offerings that also includes GoTo Webinars and GoTo Training. The GoTo UC&C offerings fall into three categories: business communications, contact centers, and IT management and support. The vendor promotes its security and privacy features (single sign-on, end-to-end encryption, HIPAA compliance, one-time meeting passwords, meeting locking) and 99.9999% uptime SLA.

Key features include recordings and transcriptions for meetings with up to 250 participants, background noise suppression, screen sharing, drawing tools, and virtual breakout rooms. GoTo Meeting also works with H.323-enabled room conferencing systems. A14-day free trial version of GoTo Meeting Business is available.

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft’s Teams dominates in the enterprise videoconferencing space because it’s tightly integrated with Microsoft 365, the office productivity suite that many large organizations already use. Teams offers VoIP calling, webinar hosting, a whiteboard, and integration with PowerPoint, and it’s compatible with a wide range of room conferencing systems. Calls, meetings, chat sessions, and files can be encrypted.

Another element, Microsoft Mesh, creates “immersive 3D spaces” where participant avatars can interact in a virtual meeting room. The optional Microsoft 365 Copilot AI assistant can summarize, suggest action items, and provide real-time translation for videoconference and chat sessions.

Microsoft is “increasingly dictating the direction of the UCaaS market,” with many other vendors offering Teams integration, Forrester reports, although it adds that “licensing is needlessly complicated.” A basic version of Teams is available for free.

Mitel MiCollab

Videoconferencing is one element of the Mitel MiCollab UC&C suite, which includes voice, video, chat messaging, SMS messaging, web conferencing, and team collaboration tools. It can run on-site or over virtualized public or private cloud infrastructure. It integrates with the company’s business phone system offerings as well as Microsoft 365, Teams, and the Zoom Workplace Platform. MiCollab apps are available for Windows, macOS, and mobile devices.

Ooma Meetings

VoIP phone system provider Ooma offers Ooma Meetings as part of its Ooma Office Pro and Ooma Office Pro Plus collaboration and small business phone system services. It offers client software for macOS and Windows desktops as well as browser-based access. Features include a dashboard for scheduling meetings with up to 100 meeting participants, background noise cancellation, screen sharing, whiteboarding, chat, meeting recording (stored for three months), and integration with Microsoft and Google calendars.

RingCentral Video

UC&C platform vendor RingCentral offers a standalone enterprise edition of its videoconferencing offering, RingCentral Video Pro+, as well as a more limited, free version. Video Pro+ supports meetings of up to 200 participants for up to 24 hours’ duration. Features include a whiteboard, content sharing, meeting recording, a collaborative notes space, and background noise cancellation.

An AI assistant creates real-time closed captions, transcriptions, and meeting summaries. Security and administration features include end-to-end encryption, single sign-on, data retention policy controls, and usage and performance analytics. Versions for conference rooms and webinars are available as add-ons.

Vonage Meetings

Part of the Vonage Business Communications (VBC) software suite, Vonage Meetings supports meetings with up to 200 participants; includes chat, whiteboard, and recording features; integrates with both Google and Outlook calendars; and has desktop and mobile clients for macOS, Windows, iOS, and Android. Security and privacy features include support for SSO, MFA, and encryption. VBC is HIPAA and GDPR compliant.

Zoho Meeting

Zoho Meeting supports both videoconference meetings with up to 250 participants and webinars with up to 5,000 attendees for Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS devices. It integrates with the Zoho Workplace calendar and offers chat, digital whiteboards, screen sharing, session recording, virtual breakout rooms, live polls, and AI-generated meeting transcriptions and summaries.

Sessions can be streamed live on YouTube, and a version for meeting rooms is available as an add-on. It also offers session encryption and analytics for administrators. A feature-limited, free version supports up to 100 users per session for up to 60 minutes.

Zoom

Zoom, which rose to fame during the pandemic for its easy-to-use interface, remains a major player in the videoconferencing software space — Forrester says it offers a “best-in-class video experience.” Like its competitors, Zoom has expanded beyond video meetings, now offering a UC&C suite called Zoom Workplace that includes include chat, a whiteboard, meeting recording, email, a calendaring system for scheduling, and Zoom Docs, a built-in document creation tool.

While consumers may gravitate to the basic, free version, the business versions allow for longer meetings and provide an AI assistant, Zoom AI Companion, that can summarize meetings (including a catch-up summary if a user comes into a meeting late), draft messages, and provide real-time translation. Zoom Phone, the company’s VoIP telephony offering, is included with enterprise Zoom Workplace subscriptions and available as an add-on for small-business plans.

A one-year subscription to Essential Apps, a set of third-party add-ons with functions ranging from meeting summarization to gamification to virtual breakout rooms, is also included with enterprise licenses, except for organizations in government, education, and healthcare. Bring-your-own-key end-to-end encryption is a standard feature.

Essential reading

Enterprise buyer’s guide: How to choose videoconferencing software

December 12, 2024 /

When most businesspeople think of videoconferencing software, the first thing that comes to mind is probably Microsoft Teams or Zoom, but there are many other choices, each with its own strengths. Sometimes the choice of what tool to use comes down to what’s standard corporate issue — more often than not, that’s Teams — but it’s not uncommon for businesses to use a mix of tools.

“Some organizations don’t want to be reliant on Microsoft for everything, or sometimes an executive likes another tool better,” says Will McKeon-White, senior analyst for unified communications and conversational AI at Forrester Research.

In this buyer’s guide

  • Videoconferencing software: What it is, why enterprises need it
  • Current trends in videoconferencing software
  • What to look for in videoconferencing software
  • Before you shop: Key questions to ask yourself and your stakeholders
  • Key questions to ask videoconferencing vendors
  • 14 videoconferencing tools to consider

Videoconferencing software: What it is, why enterprises need it

Videoconferencing services enable users to conduct online video meetings with one or more people who may join the call from their computers, phones, tablets, and room conferencing systems. They integrate with calendaring software for scheduling purposes, and usually include an audio call-in option, screen-sharing capabilities, and nonverbal communication features such as text chat, whiteboarding, and the ability to add reaction emojis.

Business-grade tools also allow for administrative controls that restrict who can join and what can be shared, and offer enhanced security features such as multifactor authentication (MFA), bring your own key (BYOK) end-to-end encryption, and single sign-on (SSO). Many videoconferencing systems integrate with conference room video hardware from the same vendor and/or third-party vendors.

Videoconferencing software has long been a useful tool for remote employees who needed to engage with their teams, and it was a nice-to-have for communicating with customers and partners when face-to-face meetings were impractical. Then, in 2020, everything changed. Videoconferencing rose to critical infrastructure status when, during the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly all office employees suddenly found themselves working from home. Licensing of videoconferencing software and services soared — Zoom nearly doubled its revenue in 2021 — and innovation increased as vendors competed for a piece of a much larger pie. The software saw rapid improvements as vendors raced to add new features, including better audio and video quality and enhanced security.

Nearly five years later, large numbers of employees have returned to the office, but many still telecommute one or more days per week. Videoconferencing software remains an essential part of business communications.

Current trends in videoconferencing software

Nowadays, videoconferencing software may seem like a well-defined, mature product space, but change is still afoot. “The weird thing about the videoconferencing software market is that it’s being subsumed into unified communications [UC],” says McKeon-White.

IDC’s term for this software category is unified communications and collaboration (UC&C), which the research firm describes as “an advanced telephony solution integrated with messaging (i.e., email, voice, and fax), instant messaging (IM) or chat, presence, and conferencing platforms for web conferencing, audioconferencing, and/or videoconferencing.” Many UC&C suites include additional collaboration features such as file sharing and virtual whiteboards. And while chat sessions in traditional, standalone videoconferencing systems typically end when the call terminates, vendor-hosted UC as a service (UCaaS) systems often include persistent chat functions that continue even after a videoconferencing session ends.

Like Forrester, IDC says most standalone videoconferencing software is being folded into larger UC&C suites. Videoconferencing apps are also found in productivity app suites such as Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, which is one reason why Microsoft Teams has dominated the space. It has a 44.7% share of the $69 billion UC&C software market, according to IDC, while Zoom, its nearest competitor, sits at 6.4%.

That domination was also driven by the fact that, until this year, Microsoft bundled Teams with most Microsoft 365 licenses. “That got pushback from regulators,” Forrester’s McKeon-White says, so now new enterprise customers must pay $5.25 per user per month for Teams as an add-on. “But most companies already have Teams now and can purchase it through existing licenses,” he adds.

Innovative AI-based features such as real-time transcription, text insertion, and multiparty translation have also changed the user experience, according to McKeon-White. With some products, “each user can see a translation of what’s said in their native language through captioning. That’s happening now,” he says.

Another feature, image upscaling, sends lower-resolution audio and video to other participants’ devices, which can then “upscale” the quality. “It’s much easier now to have a smooth experience over poor connections,” McKeon-White says.

Finally, emerging AI features are “closing the loop between what users say in a videoconferencing session and action items,” he says. For example, if a participant needs to look up an account record in the CRM system to determine its status, “a bot says, ‘Would you like me to do that for you?’ or it identifies that it needs to be done and pulls the record right into the conversation.” It can do so by rendering the CRM interface right into a chat window or by extracting the information and presenting it.

Early experiments with AI didn’t go well because the AI didn’t comprehend exactly what people were asking in conversation, but the technology has seen “massive improvements” of late, McKeon-White says. While vendors are still experimenting with this function, you can expect to see more and better capabilities like this going forward, he says.

What to look for in videoconferencing software

Every vendor offers similar features, but the user experience can vary significantly. Consider both user familiarity with a given tool and whether the user experience is “good enough.” If it doesn’t meet expectations, some users may turn to more familiar, easy-to-use options such as Zoom.

“I see standardization on Teams,” McKeon-White says, but sometimes an exception is better for the business, such as when communicating with people in external organizations who use different software.

While a company standard is good to have, there’s no reason to force everyone to use one videoconferencing service exclusively, says Jitesh Gera, research manager for UC&C at IDC. It’s OK to opt for different tool choices that meet the needs of each kind of user, such as for sales, customer service, developers, or IT.

Consider whether a given tool is the dominant one in your industry. For example, Zoom has a big footprint in healthcare and financial services, for Cisco it’s government, GoTo is the preference for IT teams because of its advanced screen-share capabilities, and Microsoft is virtually everywhere, says McKeon-White. And some tools offer Slack integration that lets users keep an audio or video line open while working on their own screens. That “more Discord-like experience” is a plus for software development teams, he says.

Also, consider how well a product fits in with your UC&C suite, and what new and innovative AI-based features may be available or planned.

Finally, the videoconferencing software you choose needs to integrate well with your existing meeting room conferencing systems. “Companies have started to prioritize AI meeting room videoconferencing capabilities such as adaptive speaker framing [which zooms in on the participant who’s talking], multiple camera layouts, and virtual meeting zones,” which are the top three factors when choosing a UC&C system, says Gera.

Before you shop: Key questions to ask yourself and your stakeholders

  • Do you already have software that you can use for videoconferencing? For example, is there a videoconferencing component in your UC&C suite?
  • Are there needs that aren’t being met by your current solution? Is the tool currently in use easy to use, or do users dislike the user experience so much that they turn to other videoconferencing options?
  • What types of communication needs does your organization have? Do they include internal only or also internal-to-external partners and customers? Are there specific needs for certain groups, such as sales, finance, IT, or software engineering?
  • What types of room conferencing system hardware do you have and what are the compatibility options for videoconferencing software?
  • What’s your budget?

Key questions to ask videoconferencing vendors

  • How effective is the videoconferencing software at enhancing productivity and collaboration? Do you have any metrics?
  • In what ways is the experience better than the product(s) my organization already has?
  • Is the software easy to use? How many clicks does it take to start a meeting?
  • Does it support screen sharing?
  • Is there a whiteboard function?
  • Are there browser, desktop, and mobile app options?
  • Does it integrate with my organization’s calendaring system and other key systems, such as our project management software?
  • Does it integrate seamlessly with our room conferencing system hardware?
  • How do you secure it for enterprise use? Does it support SSO MFA? LDAP? Watermarking for shared documents? What type of encryption is offered? Does it support BYOK encryption?
  • What administrative and data access controls does the software offer? For example, does it offer data sensitivity labeling, and can we restrict user or group access to specific documents?
  • What regulatory compliance standards does it meet?
  • What session quality enhancements does it support (image blurring, noise suppression, image upscaling, etc.)?
  • Does it support session recording and retention policies?
  • What is the vendor’s feature road map and plan for AI evolution? “Are they too dependent on external providers for AI? If so, they may not be very innovative,” says Gera.
  • Does the software have features specifically tailored to my industry vertical?
  • Where is data associated with videoconferencing sessions routed and hosted geographically? “We’ve seen instances where traffic was routed through countries that were less than desirable,” says McKeon-White.
  • What are the uptime and reliability guarantees?
  • Does the software support hybrid on-premises/cloud deployments for high availability? For example, Microsoft offers the Survivability Branch Appliance for Teams that can keep sessions going when the cloud-based service is unavailable.
  • What are my pricing options?

14 videoconferencing tools to consider

The top four videoconferencing software products by market share are Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Cisco Webex, and Google Meet, according to IDC and Forrester. Some tools are available only as part of broader UC&C offerings. Here’s a brief summary of products from 14 vendors, listed alphabetically, that have offerings in the videoconferencing services space.

8×8 Communications Platform

8×8’s videoconferencing software is just one feature of its 8×8 Communications Platform, a UC&C offering tailored to the needs of contact centers. It includes a 99.999% service level agreement with 24×7 technical support; can live stream meetings on YouTube; includes its own mobile, desktop, and web apps; and integrates with Teams as well as major CRM and service and support applications. The 8×8 Communications Platform supports polls and virtual break-out rooms for meetings; includes an intelligent assistant; and offers administrative controls, analytics, and reporting.

Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise Rainbow

Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, the French telecommunications hardware and software company, describes its Rainbow offering as “a secure ‘à-la-carte’ cloud-based communications and collaboration platform.” It supports meetings of up to 120 participants and 12 simultaneous video streams; is compliant with ISO 27001, GDPR, and CCPA; and can be deployed in on-premises or hybrid configurations. It offers integrations for Microsoft Teams as well as on-premises telephone systems. Other options include a system designed for use in conference rooms and another designed for virtual classrooms.

Avaya Spaces

Avaya Spaces, Avaya’s UC&C platform, includes “one-click” voice and videoconference calling as well as text chat, and supports meetings with up to 1,000 people. It’s compatible with Google, Microsoft 365, Teams, Salesforce, and Slack and offers an API for custom integrations. Spaces can record meetings, has retention policy controls, is HIPAA and GDPR compliant, and offers single sign-on and encryption for data in transit and at rest.

AI-driven features include background noise cancellation, meeting transcription, and closed captioning. Users can connect via browser, desktop, or mobile app, with user interface versions available in 26 languages.

Cisco Webex Meetings

Webex Meetings is part of Cisco’s comprehensive UC&C suite that also includes calling, event management, whiteboards, polling, messaging, webinar support, and other features. The software integrates with a wide array of general-business and vertical-specific enterprise apps.

A free version supports meeting durations of up to 40 minutes. The entry-level paid version includes an AI assistant that can translate conversations through closed captions, write messages, and summarize meetings and messages. All versions offer end-to-end encryption and HIPAA/BAA compliance; the enterprise version is FedRAMP authorized and offers bring your own key end-to-end encryption and watermarking. Cisco also sells several Webex-compatible desktop and meeting room video hardware devices.

Dialpad

Dialpad’s videoconferencing service includes enterprise, small business, and free versions, with UC&C editions designed for general business, sales, and contact centers. “Dialpad is strong in chat intelligence…business analytics…international support and real-time user insights,” according to Forrester. It integrates with Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Microsoft Teams, and several CRM tools, and includes AI-driven meeting and call transcription, screen and meeting recording, data retention policies, and analytics and reporting functions.

Dialpad adjusts video resolution to available bandwidth for each connection to reduce video freeze-ups. It can support up to 150 participants through browser, desktop, and mobile apps. A meeting room version is also available. Session encryption and single sign-on are supported, and Dialpad is HIPAA compliant.

Google Meet

Google’s cloud-based Google Meet videoconferencing software includes a free version that supports meetings up to one hour long. The Google One Premium version includes call recording, noise cancellation, and the ability to live stream meetings on YouTube. Chat is a separate app.

The business version, bundled into the Google Workspace collaboration suite, supports longer meetings, offers higher-quality video and includes meeting recording with transcripts. It works with Google’s Gemini AI assistant (which requires a separate subscription) for real-time translation and generating meeting summaries. The enterprise version of Meet includes more advanced security features such as bring your own key end-to-end encryption.

GoTo Meeting

GoTo Meeting (formerly LogMeIn), available in business and enterprise editions, is one element in a collaboration suite of UC&C offerings that also includes GoTo Webinars and GoTo Training. The GoTo UC&C offerings fall into three categories: business communications, contact centers, and IT management and support. The vendor promotes its security and privacy features (single sign-on, end-to-end encryption, HIPAA compliance, one-time meeting passwords, meeting locking) and 99.9999% uptime SLA.

Key features include recordings and transcriptions for meetings with up to 250 participants, background noise suppression, screen sharing, drawing tools, and virtual breakout rooms. GoTo Meeting also works with H.323-enabled room conferencing systems. A14-day free trial version of GoTo Meeting Business is available.

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft’s Teams dominates in the enterprise videoconferencing space because it’s tightly integrated with Microsoft 365, the office productivity suite that many large organizations already use. Teams offers VoIP calling, webinar hosting, a whiteboard, and integration with PowerPoint, and it’s compatible with a wide range of room conferencing systems. Calls, meetings, chat sessions, and files can be encrypted.

Another element, Microsoft Mesh, creates “immersive 3D spaces” where participant avatars can interact in a virtual meeting room. The optional Microsoft 365 Copilot AI assistant can summarize, suggest action items, and provide real-time translation for videoconference and chat sessions.

Microsoft is “increasingly dictating the direction of the UCaaS market,” with many other vendors offering Teams integration, Forrester reports, although it adds that “licensing is needlessly complicated.” A basic version of Teams is available for free.

Mitel MiCollab

Videoconferencing is one element of the Mitel MiCollab UC&C suite, which includes voice, video, chat messaging, SMS messaging, web conferencing, and team collaboration tools. It can run on-site or over virtualized public or private cloud infrastructure. It integrates with the company’s business phone system offerings as well as Microsoft 365, Teams, and the Zoom Workplace Platform. MiCollab apps are available for Windows, macOS, and mobile devices.

Ooma Meetings

VoIP phone system provider Ooma offers Ooma Meetings as part of its Ooma Office Pro and Ooma Office Pro Plus collaboration and small business phone system services. It offers client software for macOS and Windows desktops as well as browser-based access. Features include a dashboard for scheduling meetings with up to 100 meeting participants, background noise cancellation, screen sharing, whiteboarding, chat, meeting recording (stored for three months), and integration with Microsoft and Google calendars.

RingCentral Video

UC&C platform vendor RingCentral offers a standalone enterprise edition of its videoconferencing offering, RingCentral Video Pro+, as well as a more limited, free version. Video Pro+ supports meetings of up to 200 participants for up to 24 hours’ duration. Features include a whiteboard, content sharing, meeting recording, a collaborative notes space, and background noise cancellation.

An AI assistant creates real-time closed captions, transcriptions, and meeting summaries. Security and administration features include end-to-end encryption, single sign-on, data retention policy controls, and usage and performance analytics. Versions for conference rooms and webinars are available as add-ons.

Vonage Meetings

Part of the Vonage Business Communications (VBC) software suite, Vonage Meetings supports meetings with up to 200 participants; includes chat, whiteboard, and recording features; integrates with both Google and Outlook calendars; and has desktop and mobile clients for macOS, Windows, iOS, and Android. Security and privacy features include support for SSO, MFA, and encryption. VBC is HIPAA and GDPR compliant.

Zoho Meeting

Zoho Meeting supports both videoconference meetings with up to 250 participants and webinars with up to 5,000 attendees for Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS devices. It integrates with the Zoho Workplace calendar and offers chat, digital whiteboards, screen sharing, session recording, virtual breakout rooms, live polls, and AI-generated meeting transcriptions and summaries.

Sessions can be streamed live on YouTube, and a version for meeting rooms is available as an add-on. It also offers session encryption and analytics for administrators. A feature-limited, free version supports up to 100 users per session for up to 60 minutes.

Zoom

Zoom, which rose to fame during the pandemic for its easy-to-use interface, remains a major player in the videoconferencing software space — Forrester says it offers a “best-in-class video experience.” Like its competitors, Zoom has expanded beyond video meetings, now offering a UC&C suite called Zoom Workplace that includes include chat, a whiteboard, meeting recording, email, a calendaring system for scheduling, and Zoom Docs, a built-in document creation tool.

While consumers may gravitate to the basic, free version, the business versions allow for longer meetings and provide an AI assistant, Zoom AI Companion, that can summarize meetings (including a catch-up summary if a user comes into a meeting late), draft messages, and provide real-time translation. Zoom Phone, the company’s VoIP telephony offering, is included with enterprise Zoom Workplace subscriptions and available as an add-on for small-business plans.

A one-year subscription to Essential Apps, a set of third-party add-ons with functions ranging from meeting summarization to gamification to virtual breakout rooms, is also included with enterprise licenses, except for organizations in government, education, and healthcare. Bring-your-own-key end-to-end encryption is a standard feature.

Related:

Federal judge slaps down Automattic, granting temporary injunction to WP Engine in ongoing WordPress squabble

December 11, 2024 /

The battle between WordPress owner Automattic and WP Engine seemingly struck US federal Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin as rather one-sided, as she ruled against Automattic on Tuesday and granted WP Engine the preliminary injunction it sought.

“Judge Martinez-Olguin’s ruling clearly explains why [Automattic founder] Matt Mullenweg’s campaign against WP Engine has been so misguided,” said IDC research manager Michele Rosen. “By going to war with one vendor that is engaging in a common business practice, Mullenweg caused irreparable damage to the WordPress ecosystem.”

The ruling

Martinez-Olguin ordered Automattic to reverse many of its actions against WP Engine, and gave Automattic 72 hours to:

  • Remove a list of exiting WP Engine customers that Automattic was publicizing to show how many of WP Engine’s customers were leaving.
  • “Restore WP Engine’s and Related Entities’ access to wordpress.org as it existed as of September 20, 2024, including: reactivating and restoring all WP Engine employee login credentials to wordpress.org resources (including login credentials to login.wordpress.org) as they existed as of September 20, 2024.”
  • Disable “any technological blocking of WP Engine’s and Related Entities’ access to wordpress.org that occurred on or around September 25, 2024, including IP address blocking or other blocking mechanisms”
  • “Restore WP Engine’s and Related Entities’ access to wordpress.org in the manner that such access existed as of September 20, 2024, including:
    • functionality and development resources;
    • data resources (WordPress Plugin, Theme, and Block Directories, repositories, listings, and other password-protected resources within wordpress.org);
    • security resources (login.wordpress.org);
    • support resources (trac.wordpress.org and slack.wordpress.org);
    • removing the checkbox at login.wordpress.org that Defendants added on or about October 8, 2024 asking users to confirm that they are ‘not affiliated with WP Engine in any way, financially or otherwise.’”
  • Return and restore “WP Engine’s “access to and control of its Advanced Custom Fields (“ACF”) plugin directory.”

The judge further ordered Automattic to:

  • Stop “blocking, disabling, or interfering with WP Engine’s and/or its employees’, users’, customers’, or partners’ access to wordpress.org.”
  • Stop “interfering with WP Engine’s control over, or access to, plugins or extensions hosted on wordpress.org that were developed, published, or maintained by WP Engine, including those that had been published, developed, or maintained by WP Engine as of September 20, 2024.”
  • No longer interfere with “WP Engine’s and Related Entities’ WordPress installations (i.e., websites built with WordPress software) by using auto-migrate or auto-update commands to delete, overwrite, disable, or modify any WP Engine plugin without the express request by or consent of WP Engine and/or its users, customers, or partners.”
    However, she added, “The above does not preclude wordpress.org’s ability to ensure the security and operability of its site consistent with procedures and policies in place as of September 20, 2024.”

In her detailed decision, Martinez-Olguin reviewed every claim that WP Engine made against Automattic, and found for WP Engine in just about every instance, arguing that WP Engine “is likely to succeed on the merits.”

For example, Automattic had argued that there were no contracts between WP Engine and key customers. 

Although Automattic representatives “press WP Engine to identify specific contracts, there is no credible argument that contracts do not exist between WP Engine and its customers,” Martinez-Olguin wrote. “At a minimum, by seeking to entice WP Engine customers to move away from the company … defendants at least acknowledge that WP Engine has existing contracts with the customers Defendants are targeting.”

Additionally, she said, Automattic’s argument “that the interference WP Engine alleges consists of acts they had a right to take fares no better. They insist that Mullenweg was under no obligation to provide WP Engine access to some or all of the sources on the Website and that he had a right, under the Website’s developer guidelines, to fork the ACF plugin as he did, including to address outstanding issues.

“Mullenweg’s statement that he had the right to disable WP Engine’s account access and to make changes to the ACF plugin for the sake of public safety is belied by the declarations of WP Engine’s executives stating that the claimed vulnerability was minor, patched well before the fix-it window set by industry standard, and showing that Defendants tried to pass off the rating and reviews for the ACF plugin as those for their new purportedly forked SCF plugin.”

WP Engine ‘wins a battle but everyone continues to lose the war’

Automattic responded with a statement saying that the ruling “is a preliminary order designed to maintain the status quo. It was made without the benefit of discovery, our motion to dismiss, or the counterclaims we will be filing against WP Engine shortly. We look forward to prevailing at trial as we continue to protect the open source ecosystem during full-fact discovery and a full review of the merits.”

WP Engine also shared a statement on X (formerly Twitter), saying, “We are grateful that the court has granted our motion for a preliminary injunction that restores access to and functionality of wordpressdotorg for WP Engine, its customers, and its users. This ruling provides much-needed stability for the WordPress ecosystem. We deeply appreciate our customers for their continued trust and support. We remain committed to serving them and their sites with the performance, availability, and integrity they deserve, while collaborating to ensure a vigorous, thriving and stable WordPress community.”

The case has concerned many in the open source community, as the acrimonious war of actions and words between Automattic and WP Engine scared various open source companies, along with enterprise CIOs, who worry that these companies might become too toxic and they might need to keep their distance. 

One open source executive read the judge’s decision and said he was concerned that the ruling might have come too late to halt the damage done to the open source community.

“WP Engine wins a battle, but everyone continues to lose the war. WP Engine has had (about a) 15% increase in cancellations in the last few months, and 159 WordPress employees have quit. No doubt these distractions will negatively impact the innovation and evolution of the WordPress solution for months, if not years to come. It’s not hyperbole to say 40% of the internet is and will be losing in some way,” said Michael Sonier, general manager at ButterCMS.

“As a 20-year-old technology, WP remained ubiquitous because of its ecosystem, but now it’s turned on its own. Hard not to see this accelerating the adoption of technologies that are 20 years younger,” he noted. “More broadly, it sets back the open source movement, which was always about community, collaboration, and contribution. Now it’s going to be associated with potential legal battles, finger pointing, and volatility.”

Mozilla is removing Firefox’s anti-tracking function

December 11, 2024 /

Mozilla has announced that Do Not Track, a feature designed to prevent user tracking online, will be removed with version 135 of the company’s Firefox browser. The decision comes as more and more websites choose to ignore Do Not Track, leaving users with a false sense of security.

Privacy-conscious users are being encouraged to instead enable Global Privacy Control (GPC), a feature that tells sites your data may not be shared or resold to third parties.

Windowsreport notes that Do Not Track remains in place for the time being in other browsers, including Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge. So users who want to continue using the feature, might want to switch browsers.

Apple Intelligence arrives for the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand with iOS 18.2

December 11, 2024 /

Apple has released iOS 18.2, iPadOS 18.2, and macOS Sequoia 15.2, which means local language access to Apple Intelligence is now available to iPhone, Mac, and iPad users in the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand. (They’ve had to set their language to US English to use these features until now; users will need to update their software first, as it rolls out.)

It’s a critical release that puts direct, local language access to Apple Intelligence into the hands of tens of millions of new users. The release also introduces several additional tools to the Apple Intelligence arsenal, including new Writing Tools and integrated access to ChatGPT for some tasks. Though you aren’t obliged to use ChatGPT.

Back in the UK

The UK introduction is particularly interesting, coinciding as it does with a visit there by Apple CEO Tim Cook. During his visit, he discussed Apple’s ever-growing investments in the UK and confirmed company engineers are deeply involved in building components of those AI features, from silicon development to the company’s important work on Private Cloud Compute. It seems appropriate given his appearance in the UK to introduce Apple Intelligence at around the same time. Though I suspect if Steve Jobs had made the same journey, Apple might have run a “Meet Apple Intelligence” event to generate some media attention.

What’s coming in Apple Intelligence?

We discussed the new Apple Intelligence features you’ll find in the latest updates already. To summarize, these include:

  • Improved Siri, with better natural language understanding and the capacity to handle more complex queries.
  • Better contextual awareness for better results.
  • Visual Intelligence — point your camera at your surroundings to learn more about them.
  • Imaging tools, including custom AI-generated emoji and automated image creation.

Apple promises additional capabilities “soon.” These will include on-screen contextual awareness, AI support across third-party apps, Priority Notifications to help you stay on top of the most important tasks/messages, and more.

As it seeks to convince its customers to place their trust in its artificial intelligence, Apple remains firmly focused on privacy. It continues to repeat the message that because many of its tools work on the device, using them brings all the convenience of generative AI (genAI), but not at the cost of data leak or privacy erosion. The company also wants people to understand those tasks it cannot handle are outsourced to third-party tools that may be less private and secure, though their use is optional. 

Why does privacy matter?

So, why does Apple’s privacy message matter? Surely the convenience of AI outweighs any impact on privacy.

In fact, it’s quite the reverse. Stop to consider the extent to which your iPhone already accumulates a plethora of deeply personal data reflecting your life, health, habits, and occupations; put that through a filter of non-private AI and you might get some sense of why privacy and trust will become even more important in the months and years ahead.

Take health, for example — if Apple really does plan to introduce AI-driven health data biometric systems in future satellite-connected Apple Watch devices, you really, really won’t want that information shared with anyone but your healthcare advisor and (possibly, but not always) your closest family members.

You certainly won’t want that data shared with even the fluffiest of Big Tech companies; and you won’t want every ad you see online to be dedicated to flogging you kit connected with your condition — or weird Facebook followers appearing to bombard you with fake facts and potentially life-threatening snake oil “treatments.”

That, and a warrant-free evolution of privatized surveillance and hacker-tempting data banks, is, of course, one of the potential futures for AI implementation in the world right now. With that in mind, Apple’s underlying message around privacy and security matters a great deal.

About you

All the same, for today at least, those concerns seem a little further down the line. After all, it is not yet the case that other people will be able to find out everything the online world knows about you by simply pointing their phone in your direction (though don’t be too surprised if that eventually becomes a law enforcement tool).  But you can now do this for your local surroundings using Visual Intelligence on your iPhone.

You can follow me on social media! Join me on BlueSky,  LinkedIn, Mastodon, and MeWe. 

8 brilliant browser tab tricks for Windows power users

December 11, 2024 /

Web browsers are essential for everything from business productivity to social media and online shopping. Whether you use Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, Brave, or something even more exotic, there’s a good chance your web browser is your most used Windows program.

While operating-system-level Windows PC productivity tricks are certainly helpful, tab management tricks for your browser might be even more useful for day-to-day productivity. They’re a must-know for anyone who uses a browser, whether at work or at home — in other words, just about everyone!

Unless otherwise specified, the tricks here should all work in Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Brave, and others — on either Windows 11 or Windows 10.

Want more Windows PC tips and tricks? Sign up for my free Windows Intelligence newsletter — three things to try every Friday. Plus, get free Windows Field Guides as a bonus when you sign up!

Windows tab trick #1: Put a pin in it

If you’d like to always keep a tab open, right-click it on your tab bar and select “Pin.” The tab will shrink to a small button — just the website icon — at the left side of your tab bar. Your browser will also automatically reopen any pinned tabs the next time you launch it.

You can pin multiple tabs and use drag and drop to reorder them. Plus, they work with the standard Windows browser Ctrl key shortcuts: Press Ctrl+1 to switch to the pinned tab on the left, Ctrl+2 to switch to the second-from-the-left pinned tab, and so on.

It’s a great way to ensure especially important tabs — perhaps your email inbox or social media feeds — are always loaded and just a click away.

Chrome pinned tabs
Pinned tabs appear in a compact form in your browser’s tab bar.

Chris Hoffman, IDG

Windows tab trick #2: Search your tabs

It’s easy to forget, but modern web browsers actually let you search through all the tabs you have open at any given moment. In Chrome and other Chromium-based browsers such as Edge and Brave, just press Ctrl+Shift+A. Then, you can search the tabs you have open across your browsing windows.

You can also click the button at the left side of your tab bar to open this interface. (In Firefox, click the button at the left side of your browser’s tab bar to open the Recent browsing interface, where you can search open tabs.)

Chrome search tabs
Chrome’s Search Tabs button is a convenient way to hunt down open tabs.

Chris Hoffman, IDG

Windows tab trick #3: Turn a tab into an app

For many people, the best tip may be going beyond the simple browser tab and turning websites you frequently use into their own application windows. This is an ideal option if you use something like Gmail for your email and want continuous access to it in a single click from your taskbar.

First, open the page you want to turn into an app in your browser. Then:

  • In Chrome, click menu > Cast, save, and share > Install page as app
  • In Edge, click menu > Apps > Install this site as an app

Unfortunately, this option isn’t available in Firefox — and it isn’t available out of the box for many sites in Brave, either. Where it’s supported, though, the web page will get its own unique window with its own taskbar icon and shortcut, freeing it from the confines of a typical browser tab.

Gmail as window in Chrome
Turning regular browser tabs into apps may be the best way to integrate Google’s web apps with Windows.

Chris Hoffman, IDG

Windows tab trick #4: Save across sessions

If you use lots of browser tabs, you’ll usually lose them whenever your browser closes — but you don’t have to let that happen. With a quick bit of planning, you can tell your browser to remember its open tabs across sessions. To do so:

  • In Chrome, click menu > Settings. Choose “On startup” at the left side of the page, and then select “Continue where you left off.”
  • In Edge, click menu > Settings. Choose “Start, home, and new tabs” at the left side of the page, and then select “Open tabs from previous session” under “When Edge starts.”
  • In Firefox, click menu > Settings. Choose “General” on the left, and then activate “Open previous windows and tabs” under Startup.
  • In Brave, click menu > Settings. Choose “Get started” on the left, and then select “Continue where you left off” under On startup.

If you have a single browser window open and close it, your open tabs in that window will appear the next time you open your browser. If you have multiple windows with open tabs, be sure to choose the “Exit” option from your browser’s menu rather than closing windows one by one. That will ensure your browser remembers all its open tabs and opens all of them when you start back again.

Edge reopen tabs
If you don’t want to lose tabs, tell your browser to remember them.

Chris Hoffman, IDG

Windows tab trick #5: Go for grouping

You can also create “tab groups” to better organize your browsing. Your groups will be saved to your bookmarks bar so you can come back to them later, and they’ll sync across your devices. This feature is most powerful in Chrome, but Edge and Brave have many of the same features. (Unfortunately, while Firefox had a similar feature in the past, it’s since been removed.)

To start using tab groups, right-click a tab on your browser’s tab bar and select the “Add tab to new group” option. To see how this works, take a look at everything you need to know about Tab Groups in Chrome and other Chromium-based browsers.

Chrome tab bar with groups
Tab Groups may be the most interesting browser feature many people haven’t used yet.

Chris Hoffman, IDG

Windows tab trick #6: Bookmark windows as folders

While tab groups are great, I’m also a fan of the old-fashioned way of saving groups of tabs for later as a bookmark folder. To do this, right-click an empty spot in your browser’s tab bar and select “Bookmark All Tabs” or press Ctrl+Shift+D. (In Firefox, you’ll have to select all tabs from the right-click menu and then right-click a second time to bookmark them.)

Consider placing the bookmark folder somewhere easy to access, like your browser’s bookmarks bar. You can then come back later and find them right there. Right-click the folder and select “Open all” to easily reopen them. When you’re done, you can delete the folder.

Firefox bookmark tabs
There’s no substitute for a good old-fashioned bookmarks folder when it comes to saving tabs for later.

Chris Hoffman, IDG

Windows tab trick #7: Reopen a closed tab

Want to get a tab back? Just right-click an empty spot on your browser’s tab bar and select “Reopen closed tab” or “Reopen closed window” — whatever you closed last.

You can also press Ctrl+Shift+T to reopen your last closed tab. For more, check out this list of excellent tab-related keyboard shortcuts.

Windows tab trick #8: Try a vertical tab bar

For a more transformative tab experience, try using a browser that places your tabs in a vertical sidebar rather than the typical tab bar across the top of the window. Many PC power users swear by this — especially on wide-screen displays.

  • Google Chrome doesn’t have this built-in, but you can install a browser extension such as the Vertical Tabs in Side Panel extension.
  • Microsoft Edge has this built-in! Just right-click an empty spot in the tab bar and select “Turn on vertical tabs.”
  • Mozilla Firefox doesn’t have this built in, either, although there are signs Mozilla might be experimenting with it. The Tree Style Tab extension is an excellent option for Firefox users.
  • Brave has this feature already built in, too. Click menu > Settings, select “Appearance” in the left pane, scroll down to Tabs, and activate “Use vertical tabs.”

Of course, the Arc browser always has vertical tabs — that’s part of its whole different way of working with tabs that some people are big fans of.

Brave vertical tabs
Like Microsoft Edge, Brave has a built-in vertical tab option.

Chris Hoffman, IDG

And there we are: an excellent round-up of tab-related upgrades for your PC web browser of choice.

This is just the start of all the excellent Windows PC and web browser tricks for you to discover! Sign up for my free Windows Intelligence newsletter to get three new things to try every Friday and free in-depth Windows Field Guides as a special welcome bonus.

AI in the workplace is forcing younger tech workers to rethink their career paths

December 11, 2024 /

Entry-level workers increasingly fear job loss or significant changes to their careers due to automation made possible by generative AI (genAI). Nearly one-in-four “early career” employees (24%) believe their job could be replaced by automation, according to survey results from professional services firm Deloitte.

Early-career workers (those with five years or less on the job) are more likely than their senior colleagues to voice concerns about AI’s impact on learning opportunities, workload, and job security. The increasingly unsettled view of the workplace as AI tools advance echoes similar sentiments from other recent surveys.

Nearly four in 10 Americans, for instance, believe genAI could diminish the number of available jobs as it advances, according to a study released in October by the New York Federal Reserve Bank. And the World Economic Forum’s Jobs Initiative study found that close to half (44%) of worker skills will be disrupted in the next five years — and 40% of tasks will be affected by the use of genAI tools and the large language models (LLMs) that underpin them.

The Deloitte results highlight younger workers’ growing anxiety around AI replacing jobs — and the actions they’re taking to improve their own job security. Deloitte’s survey of 1,874 full- and part-time workers from the US, Canada, India, and Australia — roughly two-thirds of whom are early career workers — found that 34% are pursuing a professional qualification or certification courses, 32% are starting their own businesses or becoming self-employed, and 28% are even adding part-time contractor or gig work to supplement their income.

AI impact on tech workers

Deloitte

The tech market is already showing signs of a decline in entry-level roles, as organizations increasingly require more years of experience, even for junior positions. In fields such as cybersecurity, where AI is rapidly advancing, entry-level analyst roles often demand at least four years of experience, according to Deloitte.

Workers’ fears are not misplaced. The rapid advance of AI could lead to significant job displacement: Goldman Sachs, for example, predicts that AI could displace 300 million full-time jobs globally, affecting up to two-thirds of jobs in Europe and the US. Similarly, McKinsey Global Institute estimates that 12 million people might actually need to change professions by 2030. And a study published by the European Student Think Tank found that AI and machine learning automation, particularly in roles traditionally filled by young workers, such as data entry, could reduce job availability.

The Think Tank also found that the arrival of AI technologies could be creating a skills mismatch, as automation increases demand for non-routine analytical and interpersonal skills. Without proper training in AI-related fields, young workers might struggle to adapt, leading to unemployment and exacerbating labor market inequalities.

Despite job security fears, Deloitte found many workers remain hopeful that genAI tools can take over more mundane, repetitive tasks, allowing them to focus on more interesting and creative roles. Even as the technology promises to disrupt past patterns, 79% of younger employees are excited about AI’s potential, compared to 66% of older workers. Similarly, more early-career workers (78%) view AI skills as essential, even in non-tech fields. Just 62% of older workers felt that way.

Deloitte AI graphic

Deloitte

Additionally, 75% of early-career employees believe AI will create new job opportunities in their field (compared to 58% of tenured workers), and 77% think AI will help them advance their careers (versus 56% for older employees).

“It’s difficult to generalize, but most studies show employees vacillating between fear and excitement,” said Arthur O’Connor, academic director of the City University of New York’s School (CUNY) of Professional Studies. O’Connor, who wrote a book on AI in the workplace titled “Organizing for Generative AI and the Productivity Revolution,” disagreed with Deloitte’s findings that concern about genAI is slanted toward younger workers.

“The exposure seems to be a function of what type of job you have, not how long you’ve been doing it,” O’Connor said. “But there is evidence to suggest that jobs that are most threatened may be senior-level, as research studies show…that genAI offers disproportionate benefits [to] junior-level employees over senior-level employees.”

Anyone in knowledge work — creating, summarizing, or visualizing content such as writing, coding, analyzing, or illustrating — should explore and learn to use the many genAI tools and platforms available, O’Connor argued. “With the evolution of intelligent agents, these tools are becoming increasingly sophisticated, with very powerful analytic and integrative capabilities.”

An uneven playing field

One study on software development found that less experienced coders using Microsoft’s Copilot improved the most, completing tasks 56% faster than the control group, O’Connor said. Similarly, a study on customer service showed that AI-assisted agents increased productivity by 14%, with the greatest benefits going to novices and low-skilled workers.

The job market, often referred to as being in a “white-collar recession,” could already be reflecting that shift. A 2023 LinkedIn study showed significant declines in hiring for high-paying roles since 2018: IT jobs (down 27%), quality assurance (off 32%), product management (a drop of 23%), program/project management (down 25%), and engineering (down 26%).

There is a skills transformation occurring right now, but how fast or pervasive it will be remains to be seen, according to Peter Miscovich, global future of work leader at Jones Lang LaSalle IP (JLL), a commercial real estate and investment management services firm. “Clearly 70% of the workforce will need to be upskilled in terms of genAI and AI. Whether you’re an entry level, mid-level or senior employee, we’re seeing a lot of focus on upskilling,” Miscovich said.

Early career workers are more concerned than tenured colleagues about AI’s impact on learning opportunities, workload, and job security. By 2027, genAI will likely be well on its journey of being orchestrated across workplace processes and embedded into workflows. As that’s happening now, enterprises are also grappling with re-evaluating existing processes, such as data mining and analytics as well as employee upskilling.

At the enterprise level, Miscovich said, from 50% to 75% of enterprises are already piloting genAI tools.

Fear of job disruption from automation and reduced learning opportunities may be fueling a third anxiety: early-career workers face fewer chances to build skills but are expected to perform at higher levels due to AI advances. Among surveyed workers, 77% of early-career and 67% of tenured workers believe AI raises expectations for entry-level roles, including handling more complex and strategic tasks, according to Deloitte.

The prevailing career advice seems to be, ‘Gen AI may not replace you, but others using it will,'” O’Connor said.

Getting workers up to speed on genAI

Many workers, regardless of experience, find current AI tools challenging to use effectively. While genAI tools can reduce time spent on some tasks, workers still need to verify accuracy and quality, which remains a significant concern. Other issues flagged by survey respondents include ethical and privacy challenges, reduced collaboration, and a perceived loss of personal connection in the workplace.

One issue for companies is getting new employees involved in inclusive training and encouraging them to be mentored and sponsored by mid-level and senior level manager, according to Miscovich.

Organizational training models, where skills-focused outcomes intentionally engage younger workers through microlearning and immersive spatial computing, are increasingly crucial for onboarding and training, helping workers feel supported, included, and developed, Miscovich said.

“This is a key challenge for many organizations, especially in the wake of workforce shifts during and after the pandemic. The Great Resignation has highlighted the need for greater guidance across teams, not just in adopting generative AI,” he said. “From a personal experience, it’s vital to invest in intentional, one-on-one time with younger team members to keep them engaged and continuously learning. Programs must also evolve to keep pace with rapidly advancing technologies.”

As AI automation infiltrates workflows, basic tasks like reporting and data analysis might limit early career workers’ opportunities to build skills gradually. Without these experiences, they risk advancing to complex tasks without a supportive learning environment, leading to skill gaps, according to Deloitte.

Miscovich pointed to research from PricewaterhouseCoopers, McKinsey & Co., and the World Economic Forum that shows most workers becoming comfortable with genAI. For example, last year, accounting and consulting PricewaterhouseCoopers announced it was spending $1 billion on expanding AI products and training for its 75,000 workers.

A major obstacle to organizational adoption is that data science expertise is not sufficiently diffused — for both senior managers and among rank-and-file workers, O’Connor said. “Such expertise tends to be concentrated in IT departments, most of which still operate as secret guilds with their own mysterious language and practices that are organizationally and functionally isolated from core business units.

“The most direct way would be to teach employees how to leverage the tremendous potential, as well as manage the considerable risks, of applying current AI tools in their everyday workflows. But this is a lot easier said than done, as most organizations aren’t currently staffed or structured to do this,” he said.

The European Student Think Tank recommends companies develop inclusive education and training programs to help employees adapt to rapid AI use. In particular, the organization recommends:

• Regular training that emphasizes promoting STEM education to boost employability in AI-related areas — especially for low-income youth who often lack access to such opportunities to ensure programs are accessible and inclusive.
• Employee involvement in decisions about AI implementation so workers better understand which tasks can be effectively automated. AI-related decisions should be made inclusively and transparently to align with employees’ insights and needs.
• Investments in AI research and development to foster innovation that enhances job automation without overshadowing human contributions. Research should prioritize streamlining tasks and integrating workers’ insights to empower young employees.
• Better collaboration among governments, the private sector, and academia to address AI-related employment challenges through public-private partnerships.

For employees hoping to keep up with the evolution of AI and its affects on their careers, O’Connor said pointed to an abundance of free content and opportunities to learn about AI. The challenge lies in using those resources effectively.

“Teaching and empowering employees to move past the experimental stage to embed these technologies into core business processes requires multi-disciplinary roles, functions and organizational structures most businesses don’t currently have,” O’Connor said. “As a data scientist who studies organizational behavior, I believe the coming Productivity Revolution calls for new types of roles and functions, in which data expertise is not a distinct organizational unit but an interconnected discipline spanning almost every aspect of a business.”

Android 2025 preview: 7 things to watch

December 11, 2024 /

As we look ahead to a whole new year of green-tinted Googley goodness, I’m feeling both guardedly excited — and curiously like Bill Murray in the movie Groundhog Day.

Google’s got some pretty weighty pivots in the works for the Android arena right now. It’s mostly good-seeming stuff, on the surface, and cause for cautious optimism. But some of it is also cause for a familiar-feeling sense of déjà vu — a sensation those of us who have watched Google closely for a while now are all too accustomed to experiencing.

Here, specifically, are seven key themes to keep an eye on as we make our way into 2025 and think through what Google might have in store for us in the land of Android — and some important accompanying questions to consider.

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Google Android 2025 theme #1: The Android/ChromeOS combo

We’ll start with the biggest and most consequential change to contemplate in the coming months. and that’s the alleged merger of Google’s Android and ChromeOS platforms.

This is absolutely a possibility we’ve heard before — more times that I can even count at this point. But for the first time now, it actually feels like something that could make sense and potentially be a positive for us as users, if Google manages to get it right.

The current rumor suggests Google wants to “unify its operating system efforts” by “fully migrating ChromeOS over to Android” and, in some way, having future Chromebooks ship with Android.

It’s an intriguing notion that could, in theory, bring us the best of both worlds — but you’d better believe there are more questions than answers around this one right now.

For instance:

  • When exactly would this happen? The latest rumors describe it as a “multi-year” project, but Google has yet to say a single peep — so we really don’t know if we’ll hear anything official about it in 2025 or not until much later.
  • How would current Chromebooks be affected? Some devices out there are already promised ongoing operating system updates through as late as 2034 right now. Would they continue to receive ChromeOS all that time, or would there be some sort of switch over to Android even for existing systems?
  • Would Chromebooks even be called Chromebooks if they’re actually running Android?
  • How would any sort of switch over to Android affect ChromeOS-specific advantages around security, update frequency, and software consistency?

Clearly, there’s a ton still unknown here, and Google has yet to confirm or deny the possibility in any way. (Believe me, I’ve asked!) But whether anything officially happens in 2025 on this front or not, it’s absolutely gonna be a story and a subject worth watching.

Google Android 2025 theme #2: The hardware evolution

Google’s self-made hardware focus has long been a roller coaster of uncertainty.

Back in 2019, the company said it was done making tablets and intended to focus entirely on laptop-style devices. Then, three years later, it seemingly cancelled its next Pixelbook laptop and decided to focus entirely on tablets (!) while making the case that they served a completely different purpose than the Chromebooks alongside ’em. And then, earlier this year, it apparently axed its next Pixel Tablet in favor of focusing on — wait for it… — a new Pixel Laptop instead.

It’s enough to make anyone’s head spin. So in 2025, we’ve got tons of pressing questions to chew over:

  • After all of that, will we ever see another Pixel Tablet? It’s possible Google’s still developing what would have been the third-generation version for release sometime next year or perhaps the year after.
  • Assuming the alleged Pixel Laptop pans out and actually gets released, meanwhile, will that device be a straightforward Android computer, without any hints of ChromeOS?
  • And if so, will it be a convertible or detachable device that effectively doubles as a tablet — or will it just be a traditional clamshell-style laptop?
  • When will we actually see the thing?
  • And will it be a lasting new line for Google or another one-off in the company’s notoriously short-attention-span pattern?

So much to chew over and watch for in this area as well.

Google Android 2025 theme #3: Updates, updates, updates

As part of a plan to get operating system updates out earlier in the year, Google’s shifting its Android release schedule to include a major Android version update in the second quarter and then a smaller Android version update in Q4 — starting in 2025.

This, too, brings a bit of déjà vu. In the platform’s earlier days, updates landed multiple times a year; it was only with 2015’s Android 6 release that Google got onto the annual cadence and laid the groundwork for the pattern we’ve grown accustomed to observing today — with just a single new major Android version coming out toward the end of each year.

The problem with that end-of-year timing is that lots of Android device-makers also like to launch their new flagship phone models around that same time, ahead of the holiday season — and so it becomes a scramble or sometimes even an impossibility for them to ship the latest and greatest Android version out of the box on those shiny new phones.

By pushing out Android 16 in the spring, companies will have much more time to get it onto their new goodies. But we’ve still got plenty of unanswered questions:

  • Google describes the Q2 release as being the “major” new Android release of the year, with the Q4 follow-up being “minor” in comparison — with “feature updates, optimizations, and bug fixes.” But Google already increasingly does quarterly feature drops with similar sorts of enhancements alongside the monthly security patches, too. So what exactly will the Q4 Android update include that sets it apart from those other ongoing updates?
  • Will the Q4 Android release have a whole new Android version number — like Android 17 — or will it take us back to the days of 0.1-style updates? (Or something else entirely?)
  • Most device-makers outside of Google already struggle to keep up with once-a-year Android updates. How will they fare with two rollouts in the equation? Will we see some manufacturers opt to skip over the Q4 release and focus only on the Q2 version? Or will our various high-tech tortoises finally step up to the plate and start exerting some actual effort around this stuff?

And speaking of Android 16…

Google Android 2025 theme #4: Gemini’s mind-numbing march

It’s still too soon to say what, exactly, might end up being the most significant elements in Android 16, but it seems clear that Google’s next-gen Gemini assistant will play a key role in the software — in an extremely déjà-vu-inducing way.

Early reports make it look like Android 16 will allow Gemini to perform specific actions within apps on your behalf and handle all sorts of commands via simple spoken statements.

That, notably, is almost exactly what Google promised us with its “new Google Assistant” back in 2019, around the launch of the Pixel 4 phone, but never quite managed to deliver.

And so far, Gemini isn’t exactly wowing most of us with its skills and capabilities (to, erm, put it mildly).

2025 seems to be a bit of a repeat performance, at least in terms of the promise. Time will tell if this go-round ultimately ends up delivering or if we continue to feel like we’re taking baby steps back toward where we were already.

Google Android 2025 theme #5: Google Now, again

I’ve made no secret of my affection for Google’s smart new Circle to Search system. And I’ve made no qualms about the fact that everything about this system is eerily reminiscent of what we were given back in 2012, when Google launched an excellent but exceptionally short-lived Android feature called Google Now on Tap.

Circle to Search is without a doubt Now on Tap reincarnated. And while the déjà vu element of it is amusing, it’s also nice to have that once-fantastic idea back in the forefront again.

This time — so far, at least — Google seems gung-go about pushing Circle to Search forward and bringing more and more power into its terrain. Already, we’ve seen updates adding in an integrated screenshot option and QR code scanner, and all signs suggest the development will only continue charging forward while Circle to Search itself becomes more broadly available in the months ahead.

Bring it on, I say!

Google Android 2025 theme #6: Do Not Disturb redux

Another apparent priority for Google in 2025 is expanding Android’s Do Not Disturb system in a way that’ll introduce multiple customizable priority “modes” instead of just a single on/off switch.

In terms of pure function, this seems like a smart step forward — though it’s hard not to question if the complexity it introduces will create more confusion than benefit for many Android-owning animals.

And all such worries aside, it’s impossible to see what Google’s got goin’ with this new approach and not think back to the era of Android 5, when Do Not Disturb was similarly transformed into a multipronged “priority mode” system that ended up being a convoluted mess that was soon after abandoned.

With any luck, that’s a lesson Google will remember as it ventures into those waters once more.

Google Android 2025 theme #7: Bubbles floating back to the surface

Back in 2020, Google gave us a wacky-sounding new Android element called Bubbles.

Bubbles, in short, were meant to be a way to keep certain app functions readily available on your screen via a collapsible circle known as — yup — bubbles. You could tap on a bubble to expand it but then keep it out of the way (though still easily accessible) most of the time.

Bubbles ended up being relevant only for a small handful of messaging apps, where it’s generally more annoying than anything. But at the beginning, the system was supposed to have been so much more.

In its original vision for Bubbles, Google presented the system as a “new way for users to multitask and re-engage” with apps. And that was just the start:

Bubbles help users prioritize information and take action deep within another app, while maintaining their current context. They also let users carry an app’s functionality around with them as they move between activities on their device.

Bubbles are great for messaging because they let users keep important conversations within easy reach. They also provide a convenient view over ongoing tasks and updates, like phone calls or arrival times. They can provide quick access to portable UI like notes or translations and can be visual reminders of tasks, too.

So, yeah: Messaging was a small part of the picture, but Bubbles was supposed to be so much more than that. It was meant to represent a new way of getting stuff done on your phone — something that seemed, as I put it at the time, like it could be “a mobile multitasking breakthrough.”

Now, five years later, we may finally see that original vision play out. Under-development code reveals fresh progress on Android’s Bubbles system that’d let you put any app into a bubble and keep it available on demand, exactly as we’d seen teased several years ago. This could open the door to some seriously interesting new ways of multitasking and pulling up elements like notes, emails, documents, and even web pages while viewing something else at the same time — without having to resort to a much more rigid split-screen interface, which isn’t always optimal (especially on a smaller-screened device).

We don’t yet know exactly what form this could take or even if it’ll necessarily show up in Android 16, but seeing it come back to the forefront after all these years is a very welcome surprise and something well worth watching throughout 2025.

Stay tuned

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in analyzing Google all these years, it’s that you never fully know what the company might be thinking — and there’s always room for the element of surprise.

While many of the themes above may indeed be new twists on familiar concepts (as is the comically “new” capability of adding widgets onto your Android tablet’s home screen — hello, 2012!), so much has changed with Android over the past 16 years that certain things will inevitably be different with their implementation now.

And beyond those seven key themes, we’ll almost certainly see other Android-connected advancements and pivots as the year progresses.

As always, our adventure in this arena is only just beginning. And I, for one, can’t wait to experience all the twists and turns with you — every step of the way.

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Study: Scientists make more discoveries with help from AI

December 10, 2024 /

A new study by a PhD student at MIT indicates that AI tools can help scientists make more discoveries, according to Nature.

In the study by Aidan Toner-Rodgers, an unspecified laboratory in the US with 1,018 researchers used an unspecified custom machine-learning tool. The work teams that were randomly assigned to use the AI ​​tool then discovered 44% more materials and created 39% more patent applications than those that did not use the tool.

At the same time, the technology had different effects on how productivity was distributed. The bottom third of researchers saw little benefit, while output doubled for top researchers.

AI automated 57% of the “idea generation” tasks and reassigned scientists to the new task of evaluating model-produced material candidates. Top-performing researchers then used their expertise to prioritize promising AI proposals, while other researchers wound up wasting significant resources testing false positives.

The survey also showed that progress has a price: 82% of researchers reported decreased satisfaction with their work due to decreased creativity and underutilization of their skills. The study has not yet been peer-reviewed by other researchers.