Page 9 of 100

Google’s Agentspace will put AI agents in the hands of workers

December 13, 2024 /

Google has unveiled an AI agent builder tool designed to  automate repititive tasks and help workers find information held across their organization faster. 

AI agents have become a major focus for software vendors in recent months, including Atlassian, Microsoft, Salesforce, and numerous others. The “agent” concept is used in different ways, but generally refers to software systems that are able to take actions on behalf of a user, with varying degrees of autonomy. IDC analysts predict that at least 40% of Global 2000 businesses will use AI agents and agentic workflows to automate knowledge work, doubling productivity in the process — at least in cases where the technology is successfully implemented.

On Friday, Google unveiled Agentspace, its own application where workers can access and build agents. The standalone app  has three main purposes, according to Google.

One is to serve as the “launch point” for custom AI agents. These agents combine generative AI (genAI) large language models with multi-step workflows to automate repetitive tasks. Google said the application has an “intuitive interface” and intends it to serve as a space where workers can access pre-built agents created in Google’s VertexAI Agent Builder. A low-code tool is also in the works to enable a wider range of employees to set up their own agents.

Agentspace also provides an enterprise search function that Google said will help workers find information held in applications across their organization, includingboth structured and unstructured data such as documents and emails. Agentspace search is “multimodal,” Google said, meaning it should be possible to search across video and image files as well as text documents. 

Agentspace search can access data from a range of sources using connectors to third-party tools such as Confluence, Google Drive, Jira, Microsoft SharePoint, ServiceNow, and others. 

Users can interact with a conversational assistant that responds to search queries. Agentspace agents will also perform actions based on the information held in customers’ documents, Google said.

Finally, NotebookLM is also embedded in the Agentspace app. Unveiled as an “experimental” tool by Google Labs last year before a wider release in September, NotebookLM is billed as a “virtual research assistant” that provides responses grounded in documents and data supplied by a user. This includes the ability to create podcast-style voice summaries of selected documents, for example.

Agentspace is available now in early access with a 90-day free trial; it will require a monthly per user subscription fee after that period. Pricing details are yet to be announced, a Google spokesperson said. 

Google this week announced a range of AI “agent” tools, including  two research prototypes: Project Astra, which can perceive the physical world and provide assistance to users, and Project  Mariner, which understands and can take action on the contents of a computer screen. These are powered by Gemini 2.0, Google’s latest AI model which launched on Wednesday and is described by Google as its “model for the agentic era.”

18 indispensable Android travel apps

December 13, 2024 /

For all the ways travel’s evolved over the years, one thing has remained maddeningly steadfast: Moving from one place to another is almost always a hassle. There’s endless room for inconvenience and error, and a journey rarely goes according to plan.

But while there’s not much you can do about the late departures, the surly gate attendants, or the smelly fella somehow always seated right next to you, there are some tech-centric steps you can take to make your next business trip a little less unpleasant.

Android’s travel app selection has really taken off in recent years, and the Google Play Store now boasts an impressive array of genuinely useful titles for the traveling professional. After putting numerous standout candidates to the test, these are the apps I’d recommend stowing on your smartphone and keeping at arm’s reach whenever your work next has you hitting the road or flying the (allegedly) friendly skies.

(All apps are free unless otherwise specified.)

Android travel apps, part 1: Planning and preparing

Organize your packing process

PackPoint is a travel organization genie. You simply tell it where you’re going, when, and what you’ll be doing — and the app generates a detailed checklist of suggested items for your suitcase.

You can add your own items to the list, as needed, and then use it as a guide to make sure you remember everything, every time.

android travel app - packpoint

PackPoint takes some of the pain out of packing for a trip.

JR Raphael / IDG

PackPoint is free, with an optional one-time $3 upgrade that removes ads and gives you the ability to create your own custom packing templates. The paid version of the app also integrates with TripIt (more on that in a moment), which means it can import your travel plans automatically and create packing lists before you even ask.

Prepare for local navigation

Yeah, yeah, I know: You’re well aware of Google Maps. But what you might not realize — or maybe have just forgotten — is that with a teensy bit of planning, you can download all the data you need for a trip directly into Maps in advance. That way, you can navigate to your heart’s content, even in areas without strong mobile data signals, and you can avoid burning through mobile data unnecessarily on the road.

Here’s the trick: While you’re still in the comfort of your home or office, open up Maps on your phone and search for the city you’ll be visiting. Tap the city’s name within the search interface, then tap its name a second time when it appears in a panel at the bottom of the screen — or just swipe up on that panel to enlarge it.

From there, tap the More button in the row of options directly beneath the city’s name (and if you don’t see that button right away, try scrolling horizontally along that row to reveal it).

That’ll reveal a pop-up menu with an option to “Download offline map.” Tap that, then tap “Download” on the confirmation screen that appears. Once the download finishes, you’ll be able to access maps and directions within your destination without the need for an active connection.

Repeat as needed for any additional places on your agenda, then rest easy knowing your navigational guide will be there and waiting — no matter what sort of conditions you encounter.

Android travel apps, part 2: Flying

Manage your air travel

TripIt is an all-around air travel management companion, and it’ll make your life easier in some meaningful ways — especially if you do a fair amount of flying.

At its core, TripIt allows you to forward flight itineraries and other travel-related emails to a special address — or, if you want, to grant it direct access to your inbox so it can find and process such emails on its own — and it then extracts all the relevant details and organizes them into clean and easy-to-follow master itineraries.

Where TripIt really shines, though, is with its optional $49-a-year TripIt Pro service (which you can try out via a free 30-day trial). That service gives you real-time flight updates all throughout your trip — often beating notifications by airlines’ own apps, in my experience, as well as updates to the monitors in the terminal.

android travel app - tripit pro

Once you travel with TripIt — and specifically its TripIt Pro service — you won’t want to fly without it.

JR Raphael / IDG

Beyond that, TripIt Pro makes it dead simple to find alternate flights at any point in your adventure. If a connection is canceled or delayed, all it takes is a couple of taps to see what other flights are available — even down to the specific open seats — on your current airline or on another. That’s helped me stay a step ahead of the gate agent on multiple occasions when late departures have put connecting flights in jeopardy.

TripIt Pro comes with a few other perks, too, such as a two-month free trial of the CLEAR expedited airport access program. But the notifications and alternate flight finder are what really make the app invaluable. And while several other services offer similar sorts of travel planning features, no other app has been as consistently helpful, reliable, and easy to use as TripIt in my real-world travel testing. It’s the gold standard of travel organization and a must-have for any frequent flier or business traveler.

Find the best flights

Forget all the clunky, upsell-infested flight-finding services and instead, open up your Chrome Android browser and navigate to Google Flights. All right — so technically, it isn’t an Android app, but Google’s flight-searching system makes it super-easy to find and book flights across all airlines. You can save or share potential itineraries, monitor flights and get notified by email as soon as a specific fare goes up or down, and then buy your tickets directly with whatever airline (or airlines) you choose.

Pro tip: If you want to make the app easier to access, tap Chrome’s three-dot menu icon while viewing the website and select “Add to home screen.” That’ll give you a more traditional mobile-app-like icon that can then pull up the tool with a single tap.

One other utility that might be worth keeping handy is Hopper — but there’s a very specific purpose and also an important asterisk involved. Hopper watches flight prices over long periods of time in order to track trends and show you how fares are likely to fluctuate based on when you fly and when you make your purchase. If you’re booking your own travel and either footing the bill yourself or trying to stay within a limited company budget, that knowledge can be incredibly helpful to have.

android travel app - hopper

Hopper’s airfare-tracking system can give you valuable flight price knowledge.

JR Raphael / IDG

But Hopper’s ultimate goal is to get you to book your tickets through its service, and that doesn’t necessarily seem like the most advisable thing to do. User reviews on the Play Store mention difficulty changing itineraries once they’re booked with Hopper and challenges getting through to the company’s customer service.

So what I’d suggest is treating Hopper as a resource and not a ticket-purchasing portal: Use it to research optimal travel dates and purchasing windows, if you need to, and then take the info it gives you and plug it directly into either Google Flights or the appropriate airline’s website to buy the tickets directly from the source — and without the potentially problematic middleman.

Speed up your border entry

If you’re traveling internationally — and have a valid passport from the US or Canada, a US lawful permanent resident card, or a US Visa Waiver Program passport — the Mobile Passport Control app can save you precious time when you enter the US by letting you submit your passport info and customs declaration form ahead of time and then skip the regular line on your way through border patrol.

Despite what its name may suggest, though, the app doesn’t actually replace your passport. You’ll still need to carry that with you. It’s also currently supported only by certain airports, so you’ll want to make sure it’s available wherever you’re flying before you begin.

And not to worry: It’s created by the US Customs and Border Protections agency and 100% official and legit.

Android travel apps, part 3: Driving and public transit

Track your mileage

If you drive your own car for business, MileIQ — formerly owned by Microsoft but now back to being an independent entity — makes it as easy as can be to keep track of all your mileage for later reimbursement.

Once you set up the app on your phone and grant it the various permissions it requires, you don’t have to do a thing: It’ll just automatically detect when you’re driving and then log all your miles in the background. It even uses current IRS-mandated reimbursement rates to calculate what you’re owed.

The app has some interesting advanced options, too, such as the ability to set specific work hours and then ignore any drives that occur outside of those times.

MileIQ is free to use for up to 40 drives per month. For unlimited access, you’ll have to pony up $6 a month or $60 for a full year of service.

Pay less for gas

Why pay top dollar for top-offs when you can drive an extra minute from the highway and save yourself (or your company) some money? GasBuddy gives you the insight you need to find fuel that won’t break the bank: You just open up the app, tap the option to find gas near you, and then either look through a list of nearby gas stations and how much they’re currently charging or switch to a map view to see prices plotted out around your present location.

android travel app - gasbuddy

GasBuddy relies on user reports to provide up-to-date info on gas prices in your area.

JR Raphael / IDG

GasBuddy has a bunch of other features you probably won’t want to mess with, but the app’s price searching ability is worth every penny (particularly since the app is free and thus costs you precisely zero pennies to use).

Activate your highway X-ray

As anyone who’s ever taken a lengthy drive knows, fuel is only one tiny part of the highway exit decision matrix. Which exit you choose on your journey could determine if you end up with a gold mine of interesting options for dining, buying, and other delightful diversions — or if you find you’re facing a metaphorical (and maybe also literal) desert, with nothing of note anywhere around you.

An app called iExit will change the way you think about such choices.

iExit shows you a detailed breakdown of exactly what you’ll find at every exit on every interstate throughout the US, with a complete list of all restaurants, stores, parks, hotels, and other random attractions that are accessible from each exit you’re passing.

The app can use your current location to show you info as it becomes relevant, or you can manually search along any interstate to get an exit-by-exit overview. Either way, it’s completely free to use.

Find parking anywhere

When you’re traveling through a city, SpotHero will save you a substantial amount of time, money, and headaches with finding a place to park.

Just search the app for any specific location or let it scan your current location, and within a matter of seconds, you’ll see a list of available parking in the area — arranged by price, proximity, and even other drivers’ ratings.

android travel app - spothero

Searching for a parking spot is as simple as it gets with SpotHero by your side.

JR Raphael / IDG

You can often book a spot directly within the app, if you want — or you can just use it as a free and easy way to find a place to land.

Become a public transit master

If you’re ditching the car and relying on trains, buses, Ubers and Lyfts, or even bikes, scooters, and plain ol’ walking to get around your destination, Citymapper is the app you need.

In cities where it’s supported — a limited but reasonably extensive list — Citymapper lets you put in a starting and ending address and then explore the best ways to get from point A to point B using any combination of public transit options.

The app mixes and matches available methods and serves up an impressive menu of possibilities. You can pick the cheapest combo, the fastest path, or choose a specific way you prefer to travel and let Citymapper create a custom itinerary around that.

android travel app - citymapper

Citymapper goes above and beyond what Google Maps can do when it comes to public transit planning.

JR Raphael / IDG

Citymapper is free with an optional $1.50-a-month or $10-a-year ad-free upgrade.

Android travel apps, part 4: At your destination

Track your travel expenses

When it comes to more general expense-tracking, Expensify is the app to have in your arsenal. Expensify lets you simply take photos of receipts with your phone — or forward invoices and receipts via email — and it then extracts the relevant details and organizes them into reports. The app is available on the web as well, and it offers direct-export integrations with QuickBooks, Xero, and other accounting services.

android travel app - expensify

Snap a photo of a receipt — or forward it in via email — and then forget about it with Expensify.

JR Raphael / IDG

Expensify costs either $5 or $9 per person per month for businesses, depending on your needs. You can try the app out with a free individual plan, too, though that limits you to just 25 imports per month and lacks many of the service’s advanced expense reporting and integration options.

Find a place to stay on short notice

The next time you find yourself unexpectedly stuck somewhere — be it due to a cancelled flight or a road trip gone awry — don’t panic. Instead, snag the free and easy to use HotelTonight app. HotelTonight searches around your current location to find hotels with open and available rooms, but that’s not all: It also scores you legitimate savings on the rates, by way of an apparent deal wherein hotels let the service sell rooms at a discount in order to fill last-minute vacancies. I spot-checked a handful of the app’s recommendations, and the savings were absolutely real.

android travel app - hoteltonight

HotelTonight provides an easy way to find last-minute rooms at discounted rates.

JR Raphael / IDG

HotelTonight has handy details and ratings for all the hotels it recommends. And once you find something suitable, all it takes is a few taps within the app to book your room and be ready to roll.

Find Wi-Fi anywhere

Why waste money on mobile data when Wi-Fi is all around you and waiting for the taking? Just open WiFi Map to see an interactive map showing available Wi-Fi networks in your area (or any other area you want to search). The app lists out speed information and even provides user-submitted passwords to secured public networks in some instances.

Just note: When you first open WiFi Map, you’ll be pressed to upgrade to a $15-a-year premium subscription. That allows you to eliminate some rather aggressive ads within the app and also gives you the ability to download information in advance for offline viewing. You don’t have to make the upgrade, though (and arguably shouldn’t bother); if you want to use the app for free, just tap the little “x” in the upper-right corner of the screen when the upgrade prompt appears.

Convert and translate anything

For your next border-crossing journey, let XE Currency Converter convert currency for you without the usual headache. Once you tell the app your home country’s currency and select which foreign currencies you want to convert into, all you have to do is type in a dollar amount to get an instant glimpse at the exact equivalent based on up-to-the-minute conversion rates.

And when language translation is what you require, the aptly named Google Translate app is the tool you want. It’s jam-packed with practical features, such as the ability to translate text instantly from an image you capture with your camera and a “conversation mode” that lets you have a (somewhat awkward) back-and-forth dialog, in real time, with someone speaking a different tongue.

Stay fit wherever you go

Who says you have to stay sedentary just because you’re traveling? Skip the underwhelming hotel “exercise facility” and turn to AllTrails to find and navigate popular running, biking, and hiking trails wherever you are instead. The app is free to use, with an optional $36-a-year premium upgrade that gives you a variety of extra features like live sharing, offline-friendly downloading, and an ad-free experience.

(When you first start using the app, you’ll see a full-screen prompt to start a free trial subscription. Just note that you don’t have to do that and can skip over the offer altogether by tapping the “x” in the upper-left corner of the screen.)

If you’d rather get your heart pumping from the privacy of your own room, snag the Nike Training Club app. It’s filled with easy-to-follow workouts, ranging from the intense and Crossfit-reminiscent “Total Body Burnout” to the simple and stretch-oriented “Run Ready Flow.”

android travel app - nike training club

The Nike Training Club app has tons of workouts you can do almost anywhere.

JR Raphael / IDG

You can find workouts for practically any amount of time you want — as little as five minutes, even! — and you can browse specifically through “no-equipment workouts,” assuming you don’t carry your entire collection of kettlebells with you every time you travel. And best of all? The app is completely free to use.

The only thing you’ll be missing is an excuse.

This article was originally published in June 2018 and most recently updated in December 2024.

Microsoft introduces Phi-4, an AI model for advanced reasoning tasks

December 13, 2024 /

Microsoft has announced Phi-4 — a new AI model with 14 billion parameters — designed for complex reasoning tasks, including mathematics. Phi-4 excels in areas such as STEM question-answering and advanced problem-solving, surpassing similar models in performance.

Phi-4, part of the Phi small language models (SLMs), is currently available on Azure AI Foundry under the Microsoft Research License Agreement and will launch on Hugging Face next week, the company said in a blog.

The company emphasized that Phi-4’s design focuses on improving accuracy through enhanced training and data curation.

To put into perspective, large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT 4 and Google Gemini Ultra operate with hundreds of billions of parameters.

“Phi-4 outperforms comparable and even larger models on tasks like mathematical reasoning, thanks to a training process that combines synthetic datasets, curated organic data, and innovative post-training techniques,” Microsoft said in its announcement.

How does it stack up against competitors?

The model leverages a new training approach that integrates multi-agent prompting workflows and data-driven innovations to enhance its reasoning efficiency. The accompanying report highlights that Phi-4 balances size and performance, challenging the industry norm of prioritizing larger models.

“The goal with Phi-4 is to explore the efficiency of smaller models while maintaining accuracy,” Microsoft researchers noted in the technical documentation.

Microsoft’s Phi-4 competes directly with models such as OpenAI’s GPT-4o Mini, Anthropic’s Claude 3 Haiku, and Google’s Gemini 1.5 Flash, each catering to specific applications in the small language model landscape.

While GPT-4o Mini is designed for cost-efficient customer support and operations requiring large context windows, Claude 3 Haiku excels in summarization and extracting insights from complex legal or unstructured documents. Meanwhile, Gemini 1.5 Flash offers better performance in multimodal applications, thanks to its ability to handle massive context windows, such as analyzing video, audio, and extensive text datasets.

Phi-4 achieved a score of 80.4 on the MATH benchmark and has surpassed other systems in problem-solving and reasoning evaluations, according to the technical report accompanying the release.

This makes it particularly appealing for domain-specific applications requiring precision, like scientific computation or advanced STEM problem-solving.

Focus on responsible AI

Microsoft emphasized its commitment to ethical AI development, integrating advanced safety measures into Phi-4. The model benefits from Azure AI Content Safety features such as prompt shields, protected material detection, and real-time application monitoring. These features, Microsoft explained, help users address risks like adversarial prompts and data security threats during AI deployment.

The company also reiterated that Azure AI Foundry, the platform hosting Phi-4, offers tools to measure and mitigate AI risks. Developers using the platform can evaluate and improve their models through built-in metrics and custom safety evaluations, Microsoft added.

Broader implications

Phi-4’s efficiency and reasoning capabilities may prompt organizations to reconsider the relationship between model size and performance. The release is expected to play a role in advancing applications requiring precise reasoning, from scientific computations to enterprise automation.

With Phi-4, Microsoft continues to evolve its AI offerings while promoting responsible use through robust safeguards. Industry watchers will observe how this approach shapes adoption in critical fields where reasoning and security are paramount.

Scale AI sued by former worker alleging unlawful business practices

December 12, 2024 /

A new class action lawsuit alleges poor working conditions and exploitive behavior by AI data processing company Scale AI, saying that workers responsible for generating much of its product were mischaracterized by the company as independent contractors, rather than full employees.

Scale A’s services include providing the human labor to label the data used in training AI models and in shaping their responses to queries. For instance, a worker might label images from a car’s LIDAR detector to help create an AI that more accurately identifies objects.

To get this kind of human input, according to a complaint filed Tuesday in the Superior Court of California, Scale AI outsources work through services like Outlier, where named plaintiff Steve McKinney worked until June. Tasks for Scale AI, the complaint alleges, were assigned algorithmically, with payments reduced or denied for projects that exceeded a designated time limit. McKinney’s suit said that this amounts to a bait-and-switch in terms of promised compensation. In addition, it noted, workers were not paid for peripheral functions such as reviewing project guidelines, seeking clarification, or attending required training webinars.

Moreover, the subject matter of many prompts, some of which involved suicidal ideation and violence, among other disturbing topics, coupled with restrictions from Scale AI around break times and outside research, created a grueling, authoritarian workplace in which workers could be terminated for complaining about working conditions, payments, or company processes, the complaint said.

Additionally, the suit says that McKinney and the many others in his position were misclassified under California law as independent contractors, rather than employees. Generally speaking, employers have fewer legal responsibilities to independent contractors than they have to full employees, who are more likely to be subject to state and federal laws about overtime payment, among other things.

California’s legal standard for deciding which workers are independent contractors and which are employees is fairly strict, and is referred to as an ABC test, for its three-pronged nature. According to the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency, workers are employees unless they are free from the control and direction of the hiring entity, are doing work outside the usual course of the hiring entity’s business, and are “customarily engaged” in an independent business of the type they’re being hired for. None of those standards, the lawsuit argues, are met in the case of McKinney and the other Scale AI workers in his position.

“Sordid underbelly”

“Scale AI is the sordid underbelly propping up the generative AI industry,” said the suit filed on McKinney’s behalf by the Clarkson Law Firm, based in Malibu, California. The firm has been at the forefront of civil litigation against the tech industry where AI is concerned, appearing for multiple plaintiffs in cases around copyright, privacy, and more.

Ryan Clarkson, the firm’s managing partner, said that the rapid growth of generative AI as a business has had corrosive effects on tech workers around the world.

“Scale AI has built its business on a model of exploitation, relying on thousands of workers from across the globe to be paid less than a living wage to train AI applications for hours on end,” he said in a statement. “These workers operate under strict company control and are being cheated out of labor code protections. It’s unlawful and unacceptable.”

Scale AI’s marketing materials advertise that it works with some of the biggest players in the AI space, including Microsoft, Meta, Alphabet, and Nvidia, although none of these companies had responded to requests for comment about the matter by the time this article was published. Earlier this year, Scale AI shut down its RemoteTasks subsidiary in several countries, including Nigeria, Kenya and Pakistan, without notice to its regular gig workers in those countries.

Scale AI under fire in suit filed by former worker alleging unlawful business practices

December 12, 2024 /

A new class action lawsuit alleges poor working conditions and “exploitive” behavior by AI data processing company Scale AI, saying that workers responsible for generating much of its product were mischaracterized by the company as independent contractors, rather than full employees.

Scale AI’s core business centers on using human input to label and shape AI responses to queries, helping to make responses more accurate and usable. For instance, a worker might label images from a car’s LIDAR detector to help create an AI that more accurately identifies objects.

To get this kind of human input, according to a complaint filed Tuesday in the Superior Court of California, Scale AI outsources work through services like Outlier, where named plaintiff Steve McKinney worked until June. Tasks for Scale AI, the complaint alleges, were assigned algorithmically, with payments reduced or denied for projects that exceeded a designated time limit. McKinney’s suit said that this amounts to a bait-and-switch in terms of promised compensation. In addition, it noted, workers were not paid for peripheral functions such as reviewing project guidelines, seeking clarification, or attending required training webinars.

Moreover, the subject matter of many prompts, some of which involved suicidal ideation and violence, among other disturbing topics, coupled with restrictions from Scale AI around break times and outside research, created a grueling, authoritarian workplace in which workers could be terminated for complaining about working conditions, payments, or company processes, the complaint said.

Additionally, the suit says that McKinney and the many others in his position were misclassified under California law as independent contractors, rather than employees. Generally speaking, employers have fewer legal responsibilities to independent contractors than they have to full employees, who are more likely to be subject to state and federal laws about overtime payment, among other things.

California’s legal standard for deciding which workers are independent contractors and which are employees is fairly strict, and is referred to as an ABC test, for its three-pronged nature. According to the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency, workers are employees unless they are free from the control and direction of the hiring entity, are doing work outside the usual course of the hiring entity’s business, and are “customarily engaged” in an independent business of the type they’re being hired for. None of those standards, the lawsuit argues, are met in the case of McKinney and the other Scale AI workers in his position.

The suit, which describes Scale AI as the “sordid underbelly propping up the generative AI industry”, was filed on McKinney’s behalf by the Clarkson Law Firm, based in Malibu, California. The firm has been at the forefront of civil litigation against the tech industry where AI is concerned, appearing for multiple plaintiffs in cases around copyright, privacy, and more.

Ryan Clarkson, the firm’s managing partner, said that the rapid growth of generative AI as a business has had corrosive effects on tech workers around the world.

“Scale AI has built its business on a model of exploitation, relying on thousands of workers from across the globe to be paid less than a living wage to train AI applications for hours on end,” he said in a statement. “These workers operate under strict company control and are being cheated out of labor code protections. It’s unlawful and unacceptable.”

Scale AI’s marketing materials advertise that it works with some of the biggest players in the AI space, including Microsoft, Meta, Alphabet, and Nvidia, although none of these companies had responded to requests for comment about the matter by the time this article was published. Earlier this year, Scale AI shut down its RemoteTasks subsidiary in several countries, including Nigeria, Kenya and Pakistan, without notice to its regular gig workers in those countries.

Microsoft: No support or updates for Windows 11 PCs without minimum hardware requirements

December 12, 2024 /

Microsoft has offered a miniscule concession to users determined to install Windows 11 on PCs that don’t meet its minimum hardware requirements: you will be able to do it, but on your own head be it should things go wrong.

The apparent moderation of its previously hardline upgrade policy appeared on a support page update which lists the numerous disadvantages of pressing ahead with a Windows 11 on an unsupported system.

These include unspecified compatibility problems, and a watermark noting a PC’s non-compliant status that will appear on the Windows 11 desktop. More significantly, it states:

“If you proceed with installing Windows 11, your PC will no longer be supported and won’t be entitled to receive updates.”

This is unambiguous – no security updates. And that’s in addition to the rather alarming warning that any “damages to your PC due to a lack of compatibility aren’t covered under the manufacturer warranty.”

Those are serious gotchas, the same ones Microsoft has been warning about for some time. Only a week ago, a blog by Microsoft senior program manager Steven Hosking described the most important element of the Windows 11 requirements, support for Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0, as “non-negotiable.” That remains the case.

Not sugarcoating it

What has changed? Despite some optimistic news reporting on this issue, nothing. Microsoft doesn’t want users to upgrade to Windows 11 on unsupported hardware, but is now acknowledging that some people will push ahead regardless. That being so, it wants to tell them what might happen, so they can’t say they weren’t warned.

The date Windows 10 is due to stop receiving updates, Oct. 14, 2025, remains the same. Upgrading to Windows 11 without meeting the hardware requirements won’t change the negative consequences of this. Nor does the update explain how users can bypass the minimum requirements, should they choose to do so.

Importantly, users who regret upgrading will only have ten days to revert to Windows 10. After that, the files enabling this function will be deleted to save disk space, and the “go back” button in Recovery options will disappear.

Microsoft also doesn’t elaborate on what it means by Windows 11 “compatibility issues,” so this is a matter of guesswork. However, it’s possible to imagine that new features that assume a TPM is available could cause instability on a machine lacking this facility. It could also affect drivers for older hardware no longer supported in Windows 11, although this would be likely to be an issue over the longer term.

Meet the TPM

Microsoft’s minimum requirements for Windows 11 cover several hardware components, including having enough RAM and a powerful enough microprocessor. But the most contentious issue is whether a PC contains or supports a Trusted Platform Module (TPM), specifically version 2.0, released in 2014.

A TPM is a secure enclave for storing data such as cryptographic keys, certificates, and biometric information fundamental for the security of a PC, including those required for low level PC checks such as Secure Boot, or for the use of Microsoft’s BitLocker in its more secure mode. Having one is somewhere between a good idea and essential, as more and more software systems going forward assume one will be there at the root of trust. For a summary of the arguments in favor of upgrading to a system with TPM 2.0, Hosking’s blog is a good place to start.

When it comes to TPMs and Windows, PCs divide into three categories, the first of which supports the functionality using a TPM 2.0 chip installed on the motherboard. The second doesn’t have a TPM chip, but can either have one installed using a chip upgrade kit from the motherboard vendor or can have TPM enabled through firmware at UEFI level. The third are PCs that don’t support either option, which means they can’t be upgraded to Windows 11 without a registry hack.

Intel and AMD PCs from about 2017 onwards should support a hardware or software TPM 2.0, while earlier ones going back to Intel’s Skylake 6th generation in 2015 might do so, depending on the specific processor and support at motherboard and UEFI level.

Extended support

For anyone who doesn’t want the risk of a Windows 11 upgrade on unsupported hardware, or just prefers Windows 10, after October 2025 the most secure option will be to pay for an Extended Security Updates (ESU) subscription at an unconfirmed cost of $30 per annum for individuals. That way, updates won’t disappear abruptly, putting the PC in peril as vulnerabilities pile up over time.

Not surprisingly, a lot of users are happy with the status quo and don’t feel they should be forced to upgrade to Windows 11 or to pay to remain on Windows 10. This, arguably, is Microsoft’s fault. It hasn’t always clearly explained the benefits of its minimum requirement. That, unfortunately, includes explaining why TPM 2.0 is a good idea, and how its software increasingly depends on it for security.

Apple updates MDM tools for new Apple Intelligence features

December 12, 2024 /

Apple has introduced significant improvements for enterprise IT admins in the newly-released iOS 18.2, including the power to manage the latest salvo of additional Apple Intelligence features and more.  Here’s a swift look at what’s new.

Giving you control of Apple Intelligence

Apple’s approach to generative AI (genAI) is all about combining convenience with privacy. That means it has built large language models (LLMs) that work on the device, supplemented by highly secure cloud-based models that use highly secure Apple servers in data centers, and partnerships with third-party services to handle tasks the company’s own models can’t accommodate.

That last thing — use of third-party services — is where some Apple customers might need reassurance. That’s because people might at times share what should be confidential data with these services, which could place companies or individuals at risk of running afoul of data protection laws. Apple has only one genAI partner at this time, OpenAI, and to help mitigate such issues the ChatGPT developer says it does not keep private information pertaining to a request. With cloud queries heavily encrypted, Apple keeps no information at all, which is part of the attraction of using its own LLM models, and users can choose not to work with ChatGPT at all, if they prefer.

But what about unauthorized use of ChatGPT? Or even Apple’s own genAI models? Is there any way a data security-conscious company can try to protect its data against unauthorized sharing?

Now, there is. Starting in iOS 18.2, Apple has, as promised, introduced tools that let Mobile Device Management (MDM) services manage all the latest Apple Intelligence integrations, including ChatGPT, which itself includes search.

What this means is that IT admins can permit use of some, none, or all of the available Apple Intelligence tools, including the capacity to generate images in Image Playground. How this control is made available will likely differ between MDM providers, but you should see tools to manage iOS 18.2’s newly-added Apple Intelligence features arrive in your management console soon. Apple introduced MDM controls for Writing tools, Mail summarization, phone call recoding, and hiding apps in iOS 18.1.

Setting a default browser

While it took time to be convinced, Apple is beginning to allow people to use more browsers than before, potentially opening up competition in the browser industry. The thing is, not all browsers are created equal and it’s possible that some companies might require employees to use a specific browser on a managed device. This has now been made possible with an MDM tool that lets admins set a default browser and prevent users from modifying that browser, or choosing an alternative. (This should help companies maintain specified browser security policies, for example.)

What else is new?

These additions supplement an earlier wave of enterprise-focused admin enhancements introduced with iOS 18.1. 

  • Hardware-based MFA in Safari is now more reliable when used with security keys.
  • You can disable RCS messages on managed devices — essential, given the standard doesn’t yet support encryption.
  • It is possible to prevent users from deactivating VPN use on a per-app basis.
  • Admins can prevent apps from being locked or hidden by users.
  • Service discovery in enrollment can request well-known resources from alternative locations specified by MDM 

Tell it from the rooftops

Each time Apple makes one of these iterative enhancements for enterprise deployments of its devices, it shows the extent to which it now deeply supports enterprise markets. If I’m honest, the company should try to make more out of this, particularly as its approach toward building an ecosystem for trusted AI marries so well and so deeply with its existing reputation around security, ease-of-use, customer satisfaction, employee loyalty and TCO advantages in contrast to other platforms. 

But for most admins, the critical piece in the company’s most recent MDM updates will likely be the control it gives them over Apple Intelligence, which should reassure business users that limited deployment of these tools can be accomplished in a deliberate and responsible manner.

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

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.

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