The Competition Is On. Microsoft’s New Phone Features To Compete With Zoom

Microsoft wants to increase its competition with the video call platform Zoom and has launched new phone features.

Microsoft launches new phone features

Tech giant Microsoft announced earlier today that it had launched new phone features. This latest development would allow it to compete with the leading video meeting platform Zoom, which has gained massive adoption in recent years.

The tech giant stated that it is updating its Teams Phone service, a part of its Teams communication app. The new update will see the Teams Phone service get new features, including the ability to take calls in vehicles via Apple’s CarPlay and transcribe calls, transfer calls among devices, identify spam calls, make calls to five additional countries through calling plans, and integrate contact center software.

These features are already available on Zoom Phone. However, the spam service is still in beta testing. Microsoft is looking to add another feature that is not available on Zoom Phone. By next month, Teams Phone will integrate a virtual walkie-talkie. This feature will allow users to push a button to talk.

Microsoft is investing heavily in Teams

Microsoft has been investing heavily in Teams over the past few months. The start of the Coronavirus pandemic forced companies to work from home. As such, most of them started using Zoom.

Earlier this year, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told analysts that the company’s Team Phone had around 80 million monthly active users. Microsoft’s Skype hasn’t had as much engagement as Zoom in recent years.

Falling behind the likes of Zoom has forced Microsoft to increase its investments in these areas to take out or overtake the competition. The shares of Microsoft are down by nearly 2% over the past 24 hours.

MSFT is currently trading at $293 per share, down by 1.97% in the last few hours. Year-to-date, MSFT is up by more than 30%. The stock started in 2021 trading at $216 per share, but it is now trading at $293.