The latest Microsoft Teams and Microsoft 365 expert community briefings, podcasts and upcoming community events.
Expert Briefings:
AI Voice Agents with Azure Communication Services
https://empowering.cloud/ai-voice-agents-with-azure-communication-services/
Sean Keegan, Developer Evangelist for Azure Communication Services at Microsoft, explores communication APIs and building AI-powered voice solutions with Tom Morgan, Microsoft MVP and Software Engineer at Cloud Interact.
- Recent advances in voice AI and how Azure Communication Services enables developers to embed voice, video, chat, email, and SMS into custom applications
- Low-code and pro-code approaches to building voice agents, from Copilot Studio to custom Azure solutions
- How AI is transforming legacy IVR systems with natural language understanding and sentiment analysis
- Microsoft Teams interoperability and how developers can create branded experiences whilst maintaining familiar Teams workflows
- Real-world use cases across healthcare, retail, and customer support.
Microsoft 365 Copilot Agents, Features and Control - Deep Dive with Rolf Tröndle
In this expert briefing, MVP Rolf Tröndle walks through what’s new with Microsoft 365 Copilot, taking us from Wave 0 to Wave 2, then demos the built‑in agents and the controls you need to run them safely.
For IT admins, platform owners, and business leads evaluating or expanding Copilot usage with the right governance and user experience.
- Key updates for both unlicensed and licensed users, including the unified Copilot UI, Office app chat integration, audio overviews, and Outlook prioritisation
- Pay‑as‑you‑go options for Copilot Chat and SharePoint Agents
- Live demos of Copilot Agents: SharePoint, Facilitator (meeting moderation), Interpreter (live translation and voice simulation), Project Manager (Planner Premium), Researcher and Analyst (deep reasoning and Python for data), Skills (people skills discovery), Service (Forms surveys and follow‑ups), and the new SharePoint Knowledge Agent for auto‑metadata and site improvements
- Governance and architecture essentials: Graph grounding vs web, storage locations, auditing in Purview, eDiscovery and retention, DLP to block sensitive content, and SharePoint site‑level exclusions
- Admin controls and licensing: Copilot control system, agent access and sharing, web search policy, Viva Insights inclusion, and when to use add‑on licences vs PAYG
Microsoft Teams Monthly Update January 2026
https://empowering.cloud/microsoft-365-and-copilot-enterprise-update-january-2026/
MVP Tom Arbuthnot shares all the latest Microsoft Teams and Copilot news and announcements in less than 15 minutes for the first update of 2026.
Many thanks to Landis for their continued support.
- Microsoft 365 AI Workplace - 2026 Focus Areas
- Microsoft’s continued AI Focus in 2026
- 7 New Microsoft Copilot Roadmap Features
- 26M Teams Phone Users
- 8 Microsoft Teams New Features and Updates
- 7 New Teams Rooms and Devices
- Events
Microsoft Teams Insider Podcast
From PBX to Microsoft Teams and Voca Contact Centre at the Chartered Institute of Housing
Richard Sewell, IT Manager, at the Chartered Institute of Housing discusses the organisation's decade-long telephony transformation, from traditional PBX through hosted VoIP to Microsoft Teams with Voca contact centre.
Copilot and Agent Adoption in the Big Four Professional Services Firms
Mo Khalifa, AI Workforce Specialist at Microsoft, discusses enterprise AI adoption, agent workflows, and Microsoft Copilot strategies with the Big Four professional services firms.
Scaling Microsoft Copilot Adoption 22,000 Diverse Users at Centrica
Bill Compton, Head of Digital Adoption at Centrica, shares how he's driven Microsoft Copilot adoption across a diverse 22,000-person organisation—from field engineers to call centre agents to knowledge workers.
Microsoft Teams Rooms and Phone Journey at Toyota Financial Services
JT Elliott, Unified Communications and Collaboration Manager, at Toyota Financial Services, shares his journey from traditional AV to deploying over 300 Microsoft Teams Rooms with Logitech.
Upcoming Community Events
Teams Fireside Chat – 12th February – 08:00 PST / 16:00 GMT
Joining us for February’s Teams Fireside chat will be Michel Bouman, AI Powered Workplace Lead EMEA, India and SEA - Teams Engineering at Microsoft. We’ll take a look at all the announcements from the ISE show.
Teams Fireside Chat is an open community chat that is held each month. In each session, we are joined by a guest speaker who shares their insights. In the latter half, we open the floor to discussion and Q&A.
Microsoft Teams Devices Ask Me Anything
January Sessions
APAC – 21st January | 16:30 AEDT
Hosts: MVP Graham Walsh, Phil Clapham, Justin O'Meara and Andrew Higgs at Microsoft
EMEA/NA - 21st January | 16:00 BST / 08:00 PT
Hosts: MVP Graham Walsh, Jimmy Vaughan at Microsoft and MVP Michael Tressler
Microsoft Teams Devices Ask Me Anything is a monthly community event which gives you all an update on the important and Microsoft Teams devices news, as well as the chance to ask questions and get them answered by the experts. We have 2 sessions to cover different time zones, so there's really no excuse not to come along to at least one!
Copilot Fireside Chat with Adam Harmetz, VP of Product Management, Data Science, and Tech Community at Microsoft will join Microsoft MVPs Zoe Wilson and Kevin McDonnell for January's Copilot Fireside Chat.
28th January | 08:00 PT / 16:00 GMT
Copilot Fireside Chat is a virtual event that usually takes place on the last Wednesday of each month at 16:00 GMT. All are welcome to come along and discuss everything Copilot. Bring along your Copilot questions and get them answered by the experts, with special guest appearances alongside hosts Zoe and Kevin.
M365 Change Community Round Up
Join MVPs Darrell Webster, Daniel Glenn from the M365 Message Center show, and Tom Arbuthnot on Thursday 22nd January at 13:00 UK / 08:00 ET / 07:00 CT
The M365 Change Community Round Up is a live monthly call open to all, where we take a closer look at the most impactful Microsoft updates and what they really mean for your organisation.
From urgent action items in the Microsoft 365 Message Center to exciting new features on the Microsoft 365 Roadmap, many changes will significantly impact your organisation's productivity and even have implications for your security and compliance policies.
Stay in the know —not just on new, shiny features, but also on the all-important, high-admin and high-user-impacting items.
