Azure Communication Services is upgrading to work faster and achieve more

Azure Communication Services is increasingly being used by companies across various industries to add voice, video, chat, and text messaging to their applications, thereby meeting business needs and enhancing the customer experience. Laerdal Medical uses the platform to host video calls during their training sessions to provide performance feedback, thereby reducing errors and saving lives. LinkedIn has added Azure Communication Services to offer members an easy way to set up video meetings on their websites and mobile apps. Many other organizations in the healthcare, banking, and public service sectors are developing experiences to connect with their customers usingAzure Communication Services.

LinkedIn offers members quick and convenient video calls optimized by Azure Communication Services

Over the past few months, Microsoft has responded to customer feedback and market demand by launching the open-source Azure Communication Services and aFigma design kit, both of which enable developers to design and build apps that help users communicate however they want, from any device.

This week, at Microsoft Build, Microsoft announced interoperability betweenAzure Communication Services for Microsoft Teams. With this additional feature, you can create a fully customized app that joins meetings Teams, discussion threads Teams , and uses Teams Phone.

Today, Microsoft is announcing new capabilities and tools:

• Public Preview of the New REST API , and SDK for SendingEmails
• Azure Communication Services Sample Builder, a new tool in the portal Azure supported by open-source examples that help you configure and deploy a sample virtual tour application. This is paired with a new feature in Microsoft 365 Bookings feature for scheduling virtual tours and onboarding end users into your Azure custom Communication Services application.
• General availability ofthe ACS Mobile UI SDKfor native iOS , and Android apps, joining theexisting UI SDK for React web appsand theFigma Design Kit.
• Option to obtain phone numbers directly fromAzure in Canada, Ireland, Italy, and Sweden.
• Public preview of the new Power Virtual Agent feature for running voice bots using phone numbers and the Azure Communication Services.
• Availability of Voice, Video Call, and Messaging Features Azure Communication Services in the cloud U.S. government.

Below, we have shared a little more information about these versions.

Reach more customers on any device or platform.

Azure Communication Services already provides SDKs and API for voice, video, chat, and SMS in several regions cloud Azure. But we’re working hard to add new types of communication and expand the global availability of our services so you can be confident that your Communication Services-based Azure Communication Services will reach your customers, no matter where they are or how they communicate.

API messaging

Azure Communication Service now offers new email API in public preview that enable application-to-person (A2P) communication. These emails can include a reminder for an upcoming virtual visit with a healthcare provider, notifications to customers about a sales promotion, or any other event that uses email as a communication channel. Like other API Azure Communication Services, the email feature is auto-scalable, multi-regional, and you pay only for what you use. Key email features include:

• Simple RESTful REST API , and SDKs with quickstarts and examples for easy integration.
• Supports high volume sending for A2P (Application to Person) use cases such as appointment reminders, alerts and notifications for multi-factor authentication or password resets.
• Support for custom domains to allow email to be sent from email domains verified by your domain providers.
• Reliable delivery status of emails sent from your application in near real time.
• Security and compliance features to meet your data handling and privacy requirements.

Telephone numbers in new regions - Canada, Ireland, Italy and Sweden

Voice calls over the traditional telephone network (Public Switched Telephone Network or PSTN) are essential for many businesses that interact with their customers—whether to answer questions about products and services, provide technical support, or resolve billing issues. If you need phone numbers, you can purchase U.S. phone numbers directly fromAzure Communication Services (direct offerings), or you can port your own numbers from your own telephone service provider to Azure Communication Services Direct Routing.

Today, we’re announcing thatdirect Azure Communication Services will soon be available in preview for Canada, Ireland, Italy, and Sweden. You’ll be able to purchase toll-free and local phone numbers in these countries, which will help you create engaging communication experiences to connect with mobile users around the world. In addition, the ability to send and receiveSMS messagesin Canada will also be available in public preview, enabling important customer scenarios such as appointment reminders, multi-factor authentication, and more.

Mobile User Interface SDK

Earlier this year, we released aWeb UI SDKand aFigma design library. Theseopen-sourcetools help developers quickly design and deliver beautiful end-user experiences. Of course, many developers build native mobile experiences, which is why we released our first general availability (GA) version ofthe Mobile UI SDK. Whether you’re shipping web, Android, or iOS apps, we have the tools and services to help you succeed.

Take advantage of Microsoft 365 to quickly create virtual tours

Virtual tours are a common scenario in which a company arranges a meeting for an external client or partner via a personalised application experience offering video, audio and chat communications. Virtual tours occur in all industries, but popular examples include a healthcare provider serving patients or a banking company helping customers with a mortgage. As an example, Degussa Bank AG now offers this value to its customers:

“Azure Communication Services (ACS) and other components Microsoft 365 inspired us to develop our Digital Bank-Shop. Our partner uses ACS to provide an Teams endpoint in our Digital Bank-Shop: our customers across the country can see their banking advisor’s availability status and initiate a video or voice call.”

Axel Schardt, Lead Skill & Service Level Management at Degussa Bank AG

Sample generator

To speed up the design and deployment of a sample application for virtual tours, Microsoft has released the Azure Communication Services Application Builder sample: a visual wizard in the portal Azure that lets you customize and deploy a virtual tour solution in just a few minutes.

Example of an Application Creation Wizard Azure Communication Services on the portal Azure

The solution provides a customer experience that allows customers to schedule and join virtual appointments via a web application, with providers joining via Microsoft Teams. The configured web application is seamlessly deployed on a subscription Azure and is entirely open source.

Schedule virtual tours with Microsoft Bookings

The application generator example creates a prototype for virtual tours that uses Microsoft Bookings to schedule appointments. Bookings and Teams address many essential use cases: configuring staff availability, deploying a calendar for end users, and managing appointment reminders. While you can create custom scheduling experiences, leveraging Bookings and Teams can significantly reduce the complexity of developing your custom app.

You can now configure Bookings to launch external consumers within your own custom app created with Azure Communication Services. This gives you additional flexibility to choose which parts Microsoft 365 you want to keep and which ones you want to replace with Azure custom components.

The sample application provides integration and Microsoft Bookings calling features to join meetings with Teams users from a custom web application.

Below is the overall workflow of a virtual tour application that combines reservations with a Azure for end users.