April 2025 Feature Updates

Microsoft

Apr 30, 2025

The Azure Communication Services team is excited to share several new product and feature updates released in March and April 2025. (You can view previous blog articles.)

Real Time Text

Status: GA

Real-Time Text (RTT), now in General Availability, is a transformative feature that enables text to be transmitted and displayed in real-time during voice and video calls. Unlike traditional messaging, where the recipient sees the full message only after it is sent, RTT ensures that each character appears on the recipient’s screen as it is typed. This creates a dynamic, conversational experience that mirrors spoken communication.

For developers, integrating RTT into their applications can significantly enhance user engagement and accessibility. By providing immediate and continuous text communication, RTT bridges the gap between spoken and written interactions, making conversations more inclusive and effective. This is particularly valuable in scenarios where clarity and real-time feedback are crucial, such as telehealth, remote banking, and customer support.

RTT also complies with European accessibility mandates, ensuring that voice and video calling services meet regulatory standards. By incorporating RTT, developers can offer a more inclusive communication experience, catering to users with diverse needs and preferences.

For more information, see:

Mobile Numbers for SMS

Status: Public Preview

We are excited to announce the Public Preview of Mobile Numbers for SMS in Azure Communication Services. This feature is now available in 10 countries across Europe and Australia, providing businesses with locally trusted, two-way messaging capabilities.

Key Benefits

Dedicated Sender Identity: Supports conversational scenarios across industries like healthcare, retail, public sector, and finance.
Interactive Conversations: Facilitates reply-enabled SMS flows with country-specific mobile numbers.
Improved Deliverability: Uses number types accepted and prioritized by local carriers.

Use Cases:

Inbound Communication: Customers can reply to alerts, offers, or initiate conversations, ensuring a seamless and engaging communication experience.

For more information, see:

Phone number types - An Azure Communication Services article | Microsoft Learn

1080p Web Send

Status: Public Preview

The Azure Communication Services WebJS calling SDK now supports sending video at 1080p resolution. By enabling this advanced video quality, developers can build solutions that enable their customers to use higher quality and more detailed video presentations. This enhancement provides developers and end-users with improved calling experience. Developers can opt-in to this feature using the Video Constraints API (see the following example), enabling higher quality video streams in their applications.

    const callOptions = {
        videoOptions: {
            localVideoStreams: [...],
            constraints: {
                send: {
                    height: {
                        max: 1080
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        audioOptions: {
            muted: false
        }
    };
    // make a call
    this.callAgent.startCall(identitiesToCall, callOptions);

For more information, see:

Place video on a web page based on resolution size - An Azure Communication Services quickstart | Microsoft Learn

Dual Pin 720p videos

Status: Public Preview

The Azure Communication Services Calling SDK now enables developers to spotlight up to two incoming video streams. These spotlighted streams can be sent at a higher resolution than other incoming streams, providing better quality for highlighted videos. This feature enables developers to deliver a more engaging and visually rich experience for end-users.

For more information, see

Place video on a web page based on resolution size - An Azure Communication Services quickstart | Microsoft Learn

Background Blur for Android Mobile browsers

Status: GA

The Azure Communication Services Calling SDK for Android Web mobile now enables developers to implement background blur. By enabling background blur, end users can enjoy calls with increased privacy and confidence, knowing that their background is obscured and won’t cause any disruptions during the call.

For more information, see

Quickstart - Add video effects to your video calls - An Azure Communication Services quickstart | Microsoft Learn.

Mobile Browsers support sending 720p resolution video

Status: GA

The Azure Communication Services Calling SDK for Web mobile browser now enables developers to send video by default at a 720p video resolution. Enabling a higher video resolution to be sent from mobile browsers provides all users with higher quality video and more intimate calling experience.

For more information, see